Americans tour cities in Europe and Russia before World War II
Creator(s)
- Metro Theatre Center Foundation
Scope and Content
Touring Europe before World War II, probably in the year 1930. Home movies by an unknown American cameraperson. Consists of two 14" reels which contain short 16mm rolls spliced together. Includes segments of rare Kodacolor (lenticular) film. The Americans travel by bus, boat, and train across Europe with stops in England, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Finland to Russia, Belarus, Poland, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy. Reel One begins in Michigan with a ferry trip to Canada where the group of Americans board the SS Athenia ship. Folks play games on the ship. Icebergs. (10:35) Docking at the harbor in UK. Sightseeing. Bus trip. Castle. Shakespeare's birthplace. (15:19) Purchasing Kodak film supplies. (20:30) London. Boat: SS Sir Walter Scott Glasgow. Trossachs tour. Newlyweds. (30:55) Sea passage to Norway. "Hotel Norge" Market in Oslo. (38:44) Waterfall. Nature tour. Fjords. Boating. Huge dog. (53:49) Mountains. Skoaffar. Parade. Sweden. Boat: “NordStjernan.” Passengers waving. Helsinki harbor. "A.O. Seeck" Cafe “Spenner Valio” Seashore. Laundry on boat. Poster in Finnish. (01:03:18) Street scenes in Russia, city with trams, horse/buggies, cobblestone streets. Great CUs of local people. HAS, filming from window. Signs in Cyrillic. (01:05:52) St. Isaacs Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Street scenes with crowds of local people. More distinctive architecture. Children, women. (01:08:33) Reel Two. Street scenes continue in St. Petersburg, Russia. Palace square. (01:10:50) Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood (lenticular). Women digging. Sightseeing. Travel by train. Another city (Russia? Belarus?) with church, street scenes. (01:16:25) Stolpce train station in Poland (now Belarus). Luggage. Windmill. Market stalls. Families pose for camera, prewar Jews. Well. (01:18:24) Krakow, Poland. American visitors filming with home movie cameras. Town square, clocktower. Street sweeper. Horse/buggies. River/bridge. Street scenes. Tram 5 “Dworska” Park. Statues. “American depot” shop. (01:21:30) Flag. Hotel Metropole in Vienna. Sightseeing at Schonbrunn manicured gardens (lenticular). Model airplanes. Clock tower. Boat ride. People on the shore. “Cafe Restaurant - J. Lanzendorfer” “Wien” boat. Kritzendorfer Sportklub. Dining, piano, dancing. Wurst, pretzels. (01:31:16) Train travel. Mountains. Pension Ludwig Wolf. (01:43:59) Zeppelin. Swiss Alps. Nature, glaciers, waterfalls. Swimming pool. Good CUs of American travelers. "E. Wormser" (02:07:56) Train travel through station in Chiasso, Switzerland. (02:08:04) "Como" train station in Italy. Church. Poster "Wednesday, August 6th Raise the Devil in the Merry Hell of Chez-Vous" for theatre/dinner. Beach, cabanas. (02:17:34) End of reel.
Note(s)
A poster in Italy appearing near the end of this film shows an event on "Wednesday August 6th" which dates this trip to the year 1930. The SS Athenia linked Liverpool and Glasgow with Quebec and Montreal in summer and to Halifax in winter. It was the first UK ship to be sunk by Germany. The sinking by U-boat on September 3, 1939 was considered a war crime. Stolpce (now in Belarus) had a population of 3,000 Jews nearly all of whom were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Film quality: Some vinegar odor, not brittle, some roughness to the sprocket holes.
Subjects
- TRAINS
- FAMILIES
- BUSES
- JEWISH LIFE (PRE-WAR)
- SHIPS
- VACATIONS
Places
- , Italy
- , Sweden
- , England
- , Belarus
- , Austria
- Stolpce, Poland
- St. Petersburg, Russia
- , Finland
- , Switzerland
- , Scotland
- , Norway
Genre
- Film
- Amateur.