BOAC And Bwia Present A Flying Visit To The Caribbean (1960-1969)
Published on Apr 13, 2014
Title credits superimposed over an air routes map read: "BOAC and BWIA present FLYING VISIT TO THE CARIBBEAN - Produced by Associated British-Pathe Ltd. in conjunction with Film Centre - Photography - Stan Goozee, Martin Rolfe - Film Editor - Lionel Hoare - Script - Robert Hirst - Sound - WS Bland, George Newberry - Colour by Technicolor - Directed by Terry Ashwood".
Air to air shots of BOAC and BWIA (British Airways) aeroplanes. In Trinidad we see a man in a garden playing drums for a ritual dance display by a girl and three men. They dance about in a frenzied way, the girl falling to the ground to supposedly drink from a bowl. After she is carried off a man in flouncy sleeves and scarves appears, leaping through the air. He dances with the bowl.
Beside a beach we see a man climb up a palm tree to pick green coconuts. Beautiful beach scenes; palm trees, a fisherman tending his nets. Off the coast of Jamaica we see a western couple looking through a glass panel in the bottom of their small boat to see "the exotic sea gardens of Montego Bay". Shots of coral and fish seen through the panel. The Jamaican boatman dives into the water to fetch a souvenir piece of coral for the tourists.
On the coast of Tobago we see two western women and a man putting on scuba-diving masks and walking through the shallows to swim and fish. Underwater shots of the coral and women swimming. One woman brings a sea fan to the surface. Colourful striped fish swim about.
General view of a Caribbean town with mountain rising in the background. People get off buses in the town centre. At the harbour in Bridgetown, capital of Barbados, we see a woman carrying a fruit juice (?) urn on her head; she siphons off a glass for another lady. Two policemen of Bridgetown wander along the quay; their uniform looks like a sailor suit with an old-fashioned sailor's straw boater. Potters display their wares on the dockside. An open-sided bus drives off.
In Grenada we see women and men sorting and shelling nutmegs on wooden trays on their laps. On the seas around Grenada and Barbados we see fishermen of the Flying Fish Fleet at work. One of the men brings in a flying fish on a line and holds its wings out for us to see - amazing!
Beautiful scenic shots of Caribbean beaches. Brief air to air shots of BOAC and BWIA aircraft in flight (as seen earlier), intercut with aerial views of the Caribbean coastline.
Back in Trinidad we see (and hear!) a steel band playing wonderful music in a garden and men and women in traditional costume dancing. The women wear colourful turbans and flouncy Carmen Miranda-style skirts, the men have flouncy-sleeved shirts. Some other girls sit on the grass, swaying to the music.
End titles read: "BOAC and BWIA For your flying visit to the Caribbean - THE END".
Cataloguer's note: there is some brilliant and infectious calypso music all the way through this film that really brightened up my day!
90,000 historic films, all SEARCHABLE on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/britishpathe Join us on Facebook at:http://www.facebook.com/britishpathe Tweet us @britishpathe FILM ID:1219.03
