Traveltalks leaves the big city for a small farming community. It's interesting to see the old Hungarian society. Their costumes look like they are being outfitted for visiting tourists. I doubt they are all dressed up only for Traveltalks which claims that they are dressed to go to church. This is an interesting visual record of an old world which probably doesn't exist other than in a traditional cultural performance. This seems to be a snapshot of one small community and who knows how true to life this actually was. War would come and this would be gone no matter what.
6 Reviews
Everything Seems To Be Calm
boblipton7 August 2019
James A. Fitzpatrick sends his Technicolor cameras to Hungary under the supervision of cinematographer of Winton C. Hoch. It's a view of the agricultural districts, providing food to its neighbors like Germany and Italy. It's a land where people in colorful dress dance the chardash to gypsy music, sometimes wearing as many as twenty petticoats under their dresses: the girls, that is. I don't know what the boys wear under their clothing.
This is almost the last of the Traveltalks produced before first political tension, then war made. There would be one more from India, then seven years of travelogues set almost entirely in the US and Mexico. When Fitzgerald tells us we're saying farewell to Hungary, we're saying farewell to a word at peace.
This is almost the last of the Traveltalks produced before first political tension, then war made. There would be one more from India, then seven years of travelogues set almost entirely in the US and Mexico. When Fitzgerald tells us we're saying farewell to Hungary, we're saying farewell to a word at peace.
My sister used to collect kewpie dolls of the world . . .
pixrox12 November 2019
Warning: Spoilers
. . . all dressed in colorful native costumes. According to RURAL HUNGARY, the entire female population of this backwards region was forced to exhibit themselves as life-sized kewpie dolls prior to the Hungarian Revolution. In one particularly brackish backwater, floozies had to flaunt 20 lace petticoats under their skirts due to a total lack of trust on the part of their men folk. (If a kewpie wife decked out like this waddled over to her lover's hovel, home economists estimate it would take her about 17 hours to get undressed and then buttoned back up--IF her fingers were especially nimble--after her seven minutes of fun!) No wonder that most of the outer get-ups that the wenches wear during RURAL HUNGARY are RED: It's like a HANDMAID'S TALE waiting to explode over there! When Hungarian dames are not tied up washing the multi-generational felt suits of the local cowboys, they waltz around cutting bread loaves the size of cheese wheels totally free-hand (no bread boards in sight). In case it's YOUR dinner time, RURAL HUNGARY does NOT dwell of the consequent amputations.
Rural countryside views of Hungary...
Doylenf23 June 2009
Another in the James A. FitzPatrick series of travelogues featuring RURAL HUNGARY, one hundred miles from Budapest.
Three-fourths of the country is devoted to agriculture, so we get a series of scenes illustrating the simple country lives of the inhabitants--beginning with washing day at the start of the week where the women come to do clothes and gossip. We see the colorful costumes worn by many of the villagers who make their own clothing.
The big day for wearing their Sunday best involves going to Church (Roman Catholicism is the religion) on Sundays wearing their finest finery. Afterwards, folk singing and dancing and other such festivities often lead to matrimonial matches.
Finally, a visit to the plains where cowboys are tending to horses and cattle. Some of the horses become race horses at the race track and are often winners.
The travelogue ends with a harvest festival where the villagers celebrate a good harvest with their neighbors.
Three-fourths of the country is devoted to agriculture, so we get a series of scenes illustrating the simple country lives of the inhabitants--beginning with washing day at the start of the week where the women come to do clothes and gossip. We see the colorful costumes worn by many of the villagers who make their own clothing.
The big day for wearing their Sunday best involves going to Church (Roman Catholicism is the religion) on Sundays wearing their finest finery. Afterwards, folk singing and dancing and other such festivities often lead to matrimonial matches.
Finally, a visit to the plains where cowboys are tending to horses and cattle. Some of the horses become race horses at the race track and are often winners.
The travelogue ends with a harvest festival where the villagers celebrate a good harvest with their neighbors.
This travel short deserves to be docked four ratings points . . .
cricket308 October 2020
Warning: Spoilers
. . . because the narrator is so obtuse about the lay of the land. When you go traipsing around foreign countries, it is a vital survival strategy to employ "situational awareness" to your utmost ability. This is especially important if you're some sort of self-appointed travel guide (whether in person or virtually), expecting others to rely upon your astute insights. Though the narrator of RURAL HUNGARY is constantly referencing "gypsies" throughout his voice-over spiel--from music to costumes to dance--he never once refers to The Fuhrer's concurrent rants against Europe's population of this broadly brushed ethnicity! Furthermore, we see NO armaments of self-defense whatsoever (unless you count bread knives and cowboys' lassos). Tragically, many if not most of the people pictured here were slaughtered over the next decade during World War Two. So please, after watching this piece, make a generous contribution to your local chapter of BANGS (Broke Americans Need Gun Stamps)!
TravelTalks
Michael_Elliott3 July 2009
Rural Hungary (1939)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
MGM's TravelTalks series with James A. FitzPatrick heads to Hungary where we learn that three-fourths of the land is all agriculture. Also on hand is how people go to church on Sunday as well as seeing how they wash their clothing. We also see some festive folk dancing and a harvest festival. This is another decent entry in the series, which is no better or worse than the many other places visited by FitzPatrick and his camera. The best part of this short for me was all the stuff dealing with the cowboys and their way of life, which basically has them living off the land and taking care of various animals including cows and sheep. Seeing their small lives was very interesting and made for some nice entertainment. The Technicolor once again really brings the locations to life.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
MGM's TravelTalks series with James A. FitzPatrick heads to Hungary where we learn that three-fourths of the land is all agriculture. Also on hand is how people go to church on Sunday as well as seeing how they wash their clothing. We also see some festive folk dancing and a harvest festival. This is another decent entry in the series, which is no better or worse than the many other places visited by FitzPatrick and his camera. The best part of this short for me was all the stuff dealing with the cowboys and their way of life, which basically has them living off the land and taking care of various animals including cows and sheep. Seeing their small lives was very interesting and made for some nice entertainment. The Technicolor once again really brings the locations to life.
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