Serene Siam (1937)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Early entry in James A. FitzPatrick's TravelTalks series takes a look at Bangkok, the capital of Thailand when it was still known as Siam. The main thing FitzPatrick tries to tell the viewers here is that the thousands of people living here are quite simple and happy to live off the land. Coconuts, sugar cane and rice are the main draws for business as people travel via canoes to do their jobs. We also get to see some of their folk lore being acted out in a street play, which contains some very interesting images including one where a dragon tries to steal a pearl. This is certainly a nice entry in the series as we get to learn a great deal about the place, its people and the history, which doesn't seem to have changed much over the years. Fans of the series will certainly enjoy this but so will new viewers.