Flying Clipper - Traumreise unter weissen Segeln

When I saw this movie for the first time in 1963 (just 15 years old) it deeply impressed me.

A spectacular bit of cinema, a Geography lesson of the Mediterranean Sea second to none. The high society and the glamour of those years has been very well captured and the magnificent pictures taken with "Super 70mm" technology were something very special at that time!

The soundtrack composed by Riz Ortolani brought a beautiful background melody that I never forgot.

If you know the real value of dreams (like Alexis Zorbas!), go for it!

Obs.: When writing the review of a movie I take care to consider all factors and circumstances of that period, because otherwise I may measure things with inappropriate gauges.

While altogether an important German document from the past, this film can show you a great many scenes you will not be able to reproduce like that today. If you can sit through the film, that is.I barely managed to hang on.

Imagine some Germans, having seen windjammer, thinking we can do this too. Imagine stilted dialogs which would today probably count as made-for-TV quality, obviously overdubbed by Germans speaking English in a studio; Imagine the spirit of the German postwar generation,and what they would like to see, which means,in a nutshell : you get parades, marching bands, and vacation destinations not too far away from Germany. Contrary to the beautiful Windjammer everything in this film has a scripted, boring obviousness to it, and most attempts at humor never get out of the proverbial German fug. You are better of with trying to see a copy of Windjammer, which is a far superior film.

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.