Rio de Janeiro 'City of Splendour' (1936) Poster

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6/10
Rio de Janeiro -- a bustling metropolis...
Doylenf5 April 2009
A rather ordinary Traveltalk from James A. Fitzpatrick about Rio de Janeiro, described as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

The emphasis, of course, is on the beautiful mosaic patterns on the sidewalks; the numerous parks and fountains; the Royal palm trees; and the smart shops that comprise the bustling metropolis of Rio. The city began the turnover from old to new during the period from 1902-06.

But still, the most imposing sight is the outstanding landmark--Sugarloaf Mountain. Replicas of it are shown on various ornamental objects for the tourist trade--as are the colorful butterfly specimens that appear on much of the art work.

An interesting glimpse at a beautiful city.
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8/10
another chapter in these shorties
ksf-221 May 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Spoilers.... In this quick, little shortie from the collection of James FitzPatrick, it's even more interesting what they DON'T talk about; Discovered in the month of January, they DO talk about Mount Sugarloaf, but they DON'T discuss the Cristo statue, which was completed in 1931, and placed on Mount Corcovado. guess they only had so much time, or maybe they were using old footage, and didn't have recent footage of these newer landmarks. Much talk about the rebirth from the early 1900s. Napoleon setting up shop here. and the really exquisite mosaic sidewalks. and how the butterfly wings were worked into local artwork. But they also don't mention Copacabana Beach, which, according to wikipedia.org had been around with that same name since the mid 1800s. anyhoo... Really interesting script. Photography is a bit iffy, but it was still early technology. Good stuff.
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6/10
color and empty
SnoopyStyle27 June 2020
The opening song is horribly ill-fitting for Rio. Non of the music feels Brazilian. It's in Technicolor and that is the most impressive part of this Traveltalks short. It's great to see such an old film in color documenting a wonderful city of the world. There are surprisingly few people in the streets. Is this Sunday morning with everybody at church? They don't even film a passing scene with Christ the Redeemer which was finished a few years before this. It's interesting to see Rio in another light but this short makes Rio look like a sleepy provincial town.
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10/10
In The Shadow Of Sugar Loaf
Ron Oliver3 August 2000
An MGM TRAVELTALK Short Subject.

Sailing in under striking Sugar Loaf Mountain, this film introduces us to RIO DE JANEIRO, CITY OF SPLENDOUR. We visit some of the beautiful parks & gorgeous beaches, as well as view the intriguingly intricate patterned sidewalks. Finally, we are shown examples of the butterfly industry, in which tiny bits of the luminescent wings are glued together on glass to form pictures - the perfect souvenir of Rio.

This is one of a large series of succinct travelogues turned out by MGM, beginning in the 1930's. They featured Technicolor views of beautiful & unusual sights around the globe, as well as vivid, concise narration. These films were produced & narrated by James A. FitzPatrick.
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5/10
South American Way
boblipton27 June 2020
James A. Fitzpatrick sends the Technicolor cameras to Rio by the Sea-o for Winton Hoch to take takes of the romantic city. While the audience is treated to usual tourist sights, like Sugarloaf and ornately designed cobblestones, the Traveltalks are treated to Fitzpatrick's usual thesaurus-written narrations, as well as the music of that Americans associated with Latin America in the era, with plenty of castanets.

It's as pleasant as Fitzpatrick got in this era. He speaks emphatically, but does not shout. While the print that plays on Turner Classic Movies shows some blurring, the colors are sharp and lovely in a pastel way.
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TravelTalks
Michael_Elliott19 April 2009
Rio de Janeiro: City of Splendour (1936)

** (out of 4)

A rather bland entry in MGM's TravelTalks series with James A. FitzPatrick. This time out we visit Rio de Janeiro where we see some famous palm trees, Sugarloaf Mountains and various other landmarks and how they've changed over the years. The beauty of the Technicolor is the main reason to watch this film as the colors leap off the screen but outside of that this is a pretty bland entry. The narration is also rather bland but the biggest problem is that nothing we see is all that special. Most of these shorts at least have a few moments that really make your eyes drop but I never got that feeling here. That's not to say there's nothing good in Rio but this short just doesn't capture it.
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