Synopsis
This black and white 1940 travelogue film produced and directed by Armand Denis and his wife Leila Roosevelt for the Chrysler Corporation documents their 1939 expedition to Burma (now Myanmar), depicting landmarks and customs with an air of exoticism (TRT 31:48). Titles: “Dodge Division, Chrysler Corporation presents'' over automobiles driving through rugged off-road terrain. “Wheels Across India'' (0:10). Title card: “New England. Cows graze. A white colonial style home on a well-manicured estate (0:49). Children play in a nearby pond with a small, handmade, outrigger style boat fitted with a sail. Girls watch from a meadow pan to a pair of leopards (1:28). A group of Dodge T-series trucks loaded with rooftop cargo (2:32). A stenciled car door: “Denis-Roosevelt Asiatic Expedition” (2:42). Armand Denis directs workmen in closeup (2:58). Young boys play with leopards that wear collars and leashes. A girl feeds the cats raw meat (3:33). The Denis home exterior at night. The leopards recline by fireside (4:14). Mr. Denis produces a globe and charts the course of his travels before his gathered family (4:44). A map shows India, Nepal, Burma, Ceylon. A dotted line leads from Colombo to Rangoon (now Yangon) (5:13). Shwedagon Pagoda, aka the Great Dagon Pagoda, Great Dragon Pagoda, Golden Pagoda from afar and in closeup. Statues line the base of the gilded stupa (5:34). A seated buddha and a pair of chinthes or leogryphs (5:51). Immense bamboo water wheels turn in a riverbed,…
Uploader's description on archive.org
Details
- Running time
- 31 minutes
- Collection
- Ephemeral Films
Subjects on the Internet Archive
- Wheels Across India
- 1940s
- Armand
- Denis