Beautiful Budapest

Beautiful Budapest (1938)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

This TravelTalks entry takes us to Budapest, the capital of Hungary and the biggest commercial and tourist visited place in the country. We get to learn about their long history, the fact that the population had tripled in the matter of years and the fact that there are plenty of geothermal springs that are visited by thousands each year. Once again, if you know what to expect from this series then you're going to find this entry to be pretty good as we get plenty of nice, trivial knowledge and of course the beautiful Technicolor is here to enjoy. The color really comes off well when we're looking at the Danube River as well as plenty of the outdoor pools from the springs. The short also spends the last minute looking over the women of Budapest, which wasn't a normal thing for this series.

Traveltalks goes to Budapest, the capital of Hungary, before the approaching war. While watching this, I kept wondering how much is still standing in another decade. They probably escaped the massive Allied bombings. I recognize a few of the landmarks. This is truly a time capsule. It's not only a place but of a time.

James A. Fitzpatrick sends the Technicolor cameras Budapest so he can shoot pictures of the Hungarian capital for Fitzpatrick to shout about.

Over the years I have seen a lot of the hundreds of Traveltalk travelogues that Fitzpatrick produced for twenty years and distributed through MGM. I have grown resigned, if not quite accustomed to his shouting out guidebook facts in long-winded terms, while whoever is leading the Traveltalk Orchestra -- here Nathan Shilkret -- plays some stereotyped selection at the moment of music -- here 'The Blue Danube.'

Instead, I try to concentrate on the quality of presentation. How good are the pictures, and how good does the copy that plays on Turner Classic Movies look? Here they're in very good shape. Enjoy.