James A. Fitzpatrick sends the Technicolor cameras to London under the supervision of Virgil Miller and S.D. Onions. It's the first Traveltalk shot away from the Americas since before the War, and surprisingly for the series, it's not a bunch of picture postcards intended to lure the tourist with the pretty sights. Although it is bookended by normality, more than half of it recounts the destruction that war had wrought on the cities, with St. Paul's standing amidst ruin, and a gutted government office building, with one window showing a typist, still at work.
It's practically the first acknowledgement in the series that there was a war at all. Still, after the tough, proud documentaries like LONDON CAN TAKE IT and THIS IS LONDON, there was no point in claiming that things were normal.
The copy of this that plays occasionally on TCM is one of the best preserved and presented of the series.
It's practically the first acknowledgement in the series that there was a war at all. Still, after the tough, proud documentaries like LONDON CAN TAKE IT and THIS IS LONDON, there was no point in claiming that things were normal.
The copy of this that plays occasionally on TCM is one of the best preserved and presented of the series.