Port O'Call: Rare Archival Short Subjects (DVD)

These vintage short subjects, never before released on DVD, bring together artful cinematography, poetic voice-over and unusual music to present the wonders of the Third World in a unique manner. All of these films were produced, directed, and narrated by Deane H. Dickason (1898-1953), a fearless explorer who started touring the world at an early age. By the 1930s, he had achieved fame as a radio personality, broadcasting "live" descriptions of his journeys to rapt audiences across America. For his 1934 tour of India, Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Far East, Dickason chose for the first time to take a camera crew with him. He subsequently made a deal with distributor William M. Pizor's Imperial Pictures to release the footage as a series of short films called Port O'Call. Monogram Pictures stepped in to distribute the final installment when Imperial ran into financial difficulties. The mood-setting music accompanying the films is performed by Louis Betancourt's Orchestra. Betancourt's group was the first marimba band ever to record for RCA Victor.

• Ghosts of Empire
• The First Paradise
• Sunny Splendor
• Castilian Memoirs
• The City of David
• The Seventh Wonder

• documentary