Natural Wonders of Washington State (1939) User Reviews (3)

college prank

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 8 July 2023]

TravelTalks goes to Washington State. The narration states that the world is on the brink of war. This seems to be filmed during the summer of 39. The crew probably had to scramble back to the States ahead of the coming conflict.

It's a lot of wilderness. They visit Mount Baker and a bunch of young skiers at the resort. That's the most interesting part. It's watching very modern looking young people skiing old skis in shorts. Then there's the weird tin pan sliding. It looks like a college prank gone wrong or it's an excuse to heat up young ladies' butts. Then it's back to nature and Mount Rainier. Bear!

Often Hard To Tell From Post Cards

[boblipton · 5/10 · 8 July 2023]

James A. Fitzpatrick sends the Technicolor north to Washington, with Bob Carney to run them. Then he stands in the studio and babbles about geology, which he admits he knows nothing about.

There are some lovely views here, but the lack of people means a lack of movement. So, as the camera pans slowly across the vista, it's often only the camera motion the audience can see. This makes me wonder if these are pictures of Washington State or of postcards. Eventually there are people skiing down Mt. Rainier in shorts, and engaging in "tin-pants sliding" in which people wax the backs of their shorts -- no, that's not an euphemism -- and then slide down the snowy mountain.

The copy that plays on Turner Classic Movies is in pretty good shape.

TravelTalks

[Michael_Elliott · 24 May 2011]

Natural Wonders of Washington State (1939)

*** (out of 4)

Fans of James A. Fitzpatrick's TravelTalks series will certainly want to check out this entry as it's one of the best ever made. We visit Washington State to see, as the title says, some "natural wonders" but even though the film at times gets off its subject matter there's still some really beautiful images to take in. Snoquality Falls, Mount Shuksan, Mount Baker volcano and Mount Rainier National Park are a few of the locations that we visit and it's clear that Fitzpatrick wants to bring attention to the beautiful mountaintops covered in snow as well as the white stuff on the ground. One of the funniest bits shows a group of people going down a mountain of snow on their butts. We're shown a group of people putting wax on their behinds then putting a wooden board down their pants so that the wax can be ironed to where it gets hard and allows them to go down the mountain. I've certainly never seen anything quite like this so at least the short will offer you something new. The rest of the film takes a look at the snow, the waters, the falls and various other sites and in all the glorious Technicolor that the series is best known for. The images are all quite striking as they jump off the screen and you can't help but get caught up in their beauty.