Zeeland: 'the Hidden Paradise' (1935) User Reviews

James Fitzpatrick Shouts About A Part Of Holland

[boblipton · 5/10 · 11 January 2020]

James A Fitzpatrick sends the Technicolor cameras to Zeeland in the Netherlands, to take pictures. Although his commentary is more straightforward than usual - probably due to the direction being by Ruth Fitzpatrick - he makes up for this by shouting his comments. He did this a lot, leading me to suspect he was hard of hearing.

It's one of the better preserved Traveltalks that play frequently on Turner Classic Movies. Although the pictures are standard for the tourist-style series, he manages to get in some interesting facts, including the inevitable dog carts, but also the golden blinders that the ladies wear as part of their Sunday-go-to-church finery.

never seen that before

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 21 May 2023]

It's an early TravelTalks short where they visit Zeeland, a province of the Netherlands. It's a lot of traditional Dutch costumes, even with the wooden shoes. I can't tell if they are everyday people or performers wearing costumes. I have to assume that these are traditional communities which go back centuries. There are traditional religious farming communities even today. One thing is for sure. I have never seen that type of golden headwear. They can't be wearing that every day. For that piece of gear, I have to give this extra mark. It's amazing that I've never seen anything like that before.

TravelTalks

[Michael_Elliott · 29 August 2009]

Zeeland: The Hidden Paradise (1935)

*** (out of 4)

Early entry in MGM's TravelTalks series is also one of their best. We visit the small Dutch province of Zeeland, which as James A. FitzPatrick says best, is a hidden jewel of a community. Here we learn why different religions might where different clothing, why wooden shoes aren't allowed to be worn inside and we get to see some special cows being milked. We also learn that the Dutch are constantly cleaning their houses and that includes painting them each year and sweeping in front of them daily. This is certainly one of the best shorts in the series because after these 9-minutes you can't help but really feel like you know the people living there. Unlike many of the future entries in the series, this one here goes into great detail about everything they talk about and throw out constantly interesting facts about the people and place. Even if you're not a fan of the series, you should enjoy this one.