Photos
James A. FitzPatrick
- Self - Narrator
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe Repulse Bay Hotel, seen in this film, was built in 1920 and demolished in 1982.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story (2002)
Featured review
Pride of the east
I've been writing about a lot of long movies lately that take a while to explain the gist of, so I think it's about time I described another one of James Fitzpatrick's Traveltalks. These are short films that were produced from the 1930s to the early 50s by MGM that tell audiences about different parts of the world in an engaging way, and they're all made in wonderful technicolor. This particular one focuses on Hong Kong, a port city on China's southern coast that (at the time) was under British control. Hong Kong's strategic position makes it an incredibly important region, as it basically serves as the gateway to and from Asia. Even though I like these shorts, the narration is never really their strong suit. The narrator explains how Hong Kong has been a part of Britain since a war in the 1840s between the UK and Qing Era China, but doesn't actually name the conflict (First Opium War). We also get to see Hong Kong's very busy fishing industry, which has chinese sailboats and sampans that contribute substantially to the region's food supply. At the time, a market area of Hong Kong was actually the most densely populated place on earth, basically making it the asian equivalent to New York. Today, Hong Kong has the highest number of skyscrapers in the world so it's a fitting comparison. Lastly, we see a hotel in Hong Kong frequented by women who still prefer to wear traditional chinese garbs and dresses instead of the more british inspired clothes their colonial rulers have brought to them. There's not that much to say about Traveltalks shorts, but each one is interesting because they offer insight into a world that is gone forever.
- nickenchuggets
- Jan 10, 2022
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Hong Kong: 'The Hub of the Orient'
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime8 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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Top Gap
By what name was Hong Kong: 'the Hub of the Orient' (1937) officially released in Canada in English?
Answer