The Flying Clipper is a wonderful travelogue journey, featuring an international crew of nordics, that set off from Malmo, Sweden, on a sailing adventure across the Mediterranean (and back), as part of their sail school experience.
Shot in Cinerama, the ship they use (a clipper class sailing vessel) bears the same name as does the Panamerican Cinerama jet, responsible for shooting all the epic aerial footage we see throughout the documentary.
We watch as the crew settles in, before they head across the Northern Atlantic, around the European coast, and through the Suez canal, on their way to the Golden Horn (off the coast of Istanbul).
They undergo a series a competitions to see who gets the privilege of travelling through to the middle East, as all but 3 members of this young crew are given the oppourtunity to pass through the Suez canal, into Egypt, and onto Turkey (while the rest are left back on shore to get up to their regular sailor shenanigans).
These games include a pillow fight on a greased mast, a sort of blindfolded slaps type game, and a no handed eating competition.
After this select crew navigates us through Egypt and Turkey, one member is selected to visit an American aircraft carrier called the Shangri La.
Where he gets to witness how planes take off and land on the craft, and a new haircut.
On their way home, they pick up the rest of the crew, and go on a grand tour through Monaco (where they watch the Grand Prix), Rhodes, Italy, and Spain...before they round their way back past Denmark, on their way home to Sweden.
The whole thing is a wonderfully alluring adventure, with Cinerama's trademark shots from the air, from cars, and static shots of a variety of cultural exhibitions...all of which are complimented by a narrator that provides us with historical context and explanations.
I liked this much better than Seven Wonders Of The World, which had way too much outdated political propaganda spun into the film.
Less the aircraft carrier angle, such additions are much more subtle in this picture.
A truly excellent travelogue documentary that I'd love to get to see on the real Cinerama screen someday, even if it was manufactured for the screen.
8.5 out of 10.
