Traveltalks goes to pre-war Tokyo. That alone makes this, a most fascinating entry in the series. The roads are wide in this westernized cityscape. Tokyo is a modern city. It's a lot of new grey modern concrete buildings. Most of them have been built after a fire and earthquake in 1923. This is pre-neon and there are large banner signs. There are still the old while plenty of new exists. There is a demonstration of Jiu Jitsu. All of it is fascinating snapshot of pre-war Japan without looking into the military situation. This is just an interesting time capsule of an important time in world history.
5 Reviews
tokyo just before WW II
ksf-226 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Initially, i thought this collection of scenes and commentary on Tokyo was showing post-war views.. there are very modern looking buildings, cars, and even talk of theaters, where the Japanese enjoyed showing american films. imagine my surprise when i looked at imdb and found this was made in 1935! Our tour guide James FitzPatrick brought us looks at culture and people from countries around the world from the silent 1920s into the 1950s. he talks about the great earthquake of 1923, which explains the new, tall, recent buildings of Tokyo we're seeing from 1935. then he compares the junks still sailing in the bay to the newer, modern motorized shipping boats moving cargo. and we hear about Doll Festival day, march 3 and Kite Day, May 5. an informative look at Pre-WW II Tokyo. the irony of looking at "modern tokyo" just a couple years before the war, and the changes it brought. the irony.
An interesting look at Japan before they went to war with America.
planktonrules1 November 2022
MGM had a series of short travelogue films in the 1930s and it's interesting they made them in color...back when color films weren't all that common. I normally don't watch them when they air on Turner Classic Movies but watched this one because the timing when it was made is unusual...just a few years before Japan declared war on the United States.
In this film, there is no hint as to the militarism that was now controlling Japan and no mention of their invasion of China. But on the positive side, the film was not condescending in how it talked about the people of Japan. It also gives you a view of Tokyo, most of which was destroyed just a few years later.
Overall, mildly interesting though it's sad how faded and brown the print looks today.
In this film, there is no hint as to the militarism that was now controlling Japan and no mention of their invasion of China. But on the positive side, the film was not condescending in how it talked about the people of Japan. It also gives you a view of Tokyo, most of which was destroyed just a few years later.
Overall, mildly interesting though it's sad how faded and brown the print looks today.
TravelTalks
Michael_Elliott27 May 2011
Modern Tokyo (1935)
*** (out of 4)
Nice entry in James A. Fitzpatrick's TravelTalks series from MGM takes us to Tokyo years before the destruction of WWII. We start off learning that the six million people living there makes it the third biggest city in the world and for the longest time the city had no aspirations to become anything special until a Western cult began to take over. Fitzpatrick says that a lot of the current look of the buildings are due to a massive earthquake and fire that struck the city on September 1, 1923, which was the biggest disaster until the eventual war and resent tsunami. From here we visit several streets where we learn about the popularity an American movies and how Hollywood has left an impact on the people there. We also get to see various signs that show off the culture as well as some judo fighters. If you're a fan of the series then you already know that the main draw of these shorts were to show people what other parts of the world looked like. This might seem old-fashioned today but it's easy to see why this series was so popular back in the day. This is a pretty good entry in the series as we're told some fascinating history and the visuals are always good.
*** (out of 4)
Nice entry in James A. Fitzpatrick's TravelTalks series from MGM takes us to Tokyo years before the destruction of WWII. We start off learning that the six million people living there makes it the third biggest city in the world and for the longest time the city had no aspirations to become anything special until a Western cult began to take over. Fitzpatrick says that a lot of the current look of the buildings are due to a massive earthquake and fire that struck the city on September 1, 1923, which was the biggest disaster until the eventual war and resent tsunami. From here we visit several streets where we learn about the popularity an American movies and how Hollywood has left an impact on the people there. We also get to see various signs that show off the culture as well as some judo fighters. If you're a fan of the series then you already know that the main draw of these shorts were to show people what other parts of the world looked like. This might seem old-fashioned today but it's easy to see why this series was so popular back in the day. This is a pretty good entry in the series as we're told some fascinating history and the visuals are always good.
"Consider What A Little Time May Do For Tokyo"
boblipton27 April 2020
It's hard not to listen to James A. FItzpatricks' shouted words as we contemplate -- for with Fitzpatrick, we never look or see, according to him, we contemplate at the very least -- at the Technicolor images and not think ironic thoughts. Ah, yes, are we discussing the next ten years, the next fifty, or are we thinking about the 21st Century? Or perhaps even further ahead? Unless you're talking about no more than a couple of years, there's an ironic component to looking at this travelogue.
Oh well. This is one of the bettered preserved and presented of the Traveltalks that play frequently on TCM.
Oh well. This is one of the bettered preserved and presented of the Traveltalks that play frequently on TCM.
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