Glimpses of Kentucky

James A. Fitzpatrick sends the Technicolor cameras to Kentucky under the supervision of Robert carney, so we can listen to "My Old Kentucky Home" twice, look at the Cumberland River, and a lot of famous horses. Given that Fitzpatrick claims there are over two and a half million people people in Old Kaintuck, it's interesting to realize that apparently the overwhelming majority of them are White. There's no sign of a Black man until more than halfway through this one-reel travelogue, and then it's a man serving mint juleps. It isn't until we get to the very end that we get to see other Black people; there are three of them leading horses around.

The copy of this movie that plays on Turner Classic Movies is in very good condition.

Glimpses of Kentucky (1940)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Another entry in MGM's TravelTalk series but this one is more interesting to me as I come from the state. We start off with a trip down the Cumberland River as well as visiting the grave site of Daniel Boone, visit certain sites of the Indian war and get a lot of talk about various horses. I guess since I'm from the state I'm going to scratch my head as to some bigger stuff that doesn't get talked about or mentioned but overall this is just like many other shorts in the series. I'm sure at the time these were very important to get information out to people who might not know about a certain state but today this comes off rather bland since we have better information out there.

I'll not list a summary of the sites visited, as other reviewers already have. But, I'll echo another reviewer hailing from The Bluegrass State. There were some important aspects not mentioned. The travelogue starts off nicely with Cumberland Falls in what surely was the first moment it was ever filmed. Fort Harrod and Daniel Boone's grave was nice, as was My Old Kentucky Home. After a nice, brisk pace to open and whet one's appetite for Kentucky, especially in a day when travel was limited for most, it bogs down and never goes past horse farms. That's certainly an integral part of Kentucky's identity, but so too are bourbon and fried chicken. At Cumberland Falls, they were at Colonel Sanders first "Kentucky Fried Chicken" (Sanders' Cafe) and by 1941 it was already a Southern landmark. Yet, we don't even get a passing glance. Imagine capturing Colonel Sanders honing his craft and extending Southern hospitality to the table. The other notable exclusion is bourbon. It was another region they were already in, and a visit to a historic distillery would have been a perfect touch. At the very least, a passing mention of bourbon. It's hard to fathom when a scene of serving mint juleps doesn't lead into it. Lastly, Mammoth Cave was another big miss. It became a national park that year, but had long been a popular tour spot and gained worldwide fame with the Floyd Collins rescue, which would have provided the interesting story Mr. FitzPatrick enjoyed relaying. So, cutting down the long horse scenes in favor of the three mentioned exclusions would have made this an easy 10. We do get to see the iconic racehorse Man O' War, however. As it is, it's still one of my favorite TravelTalks entires.

Traveltalks visits Kentucky during the war years. They visit memorials to noted politician Henry Clay and Daniel Boone. They visit a recreation of a fort where white folks fought off the savage Indians. Then they spend time with horse racing enjoying the splendor of the ole south. The war has kept Traveltalks from traveling too far. This is a lesser episode. It probably spends too much time with horse racing but it's better than pontificating on battling the Indians in the good ole days.

An MGM TRAVELTALK Short Subject.

In this film we are treated to a few GLIMPSES OF KENTUCKY. Starting at the Cumberland River, we visit reconstructed Fort Harris, a reminder of the days of the Indian Wars. We are then taken to see the Henry Clay Monument and the grave of Daniel Boone. We also view the log cabin which was the inspiration for Stephen Foster's `My Old Kentucky Home' - as well as the gracious mansion which hosted the composer. Finally, during a visit to the Bluegrass Country, we are shown beautiful examples of Kentucky horseflesh, culminating with an appearance by Man O' War, the greatest racehorse of them all.

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 commentary. These films were produced & narrated by James A. FitzPatrick.