8 minutes of 1952 Ceylon—glamour travel before Instagram ruined it.
In this travelogue of Ceylon, the first stop is Colombo, the capital and chief seaport of this island nation. A short train ride from Colombo is Mount Lavinia, one of the country's most popular pleasure resorts. The next stop is the Peradeniya Gardens, the highlight of which is a magnificent avenue of majestic royal palms. Another botanical item of interest in Ceylon is the manufacture of rubber and the abundance of rubber trees in cultivation. The final stop is the city of Kandy, the primary attraction of which is the Temple of the Tooth.
Cinematography
Technicolor palm trees that look edible.
Production
FitzPatrick's voice could sell sand in a desert.
Editing
Rapid-fire travel montage before it was a TikTok trend.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Ceylon became Sri Lanka in 1972; this film captures a nation still branded by its colonial name for Western audiences.
James A. FitzPatrick narrated hundreds of 'Traveltalks' shorts—this was assembly-line exoticism for Depression-era and postwar escapism.
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