Shot by an unknown American military officer in 1931, this silent 16mm home movie shows views of colonial life in the American protectorate in this period. The film begins with shots of what might be the main gate of Fort Santiago or Fort McKinley in Manila at :46. At 1:18 is a view of Manila’s harbor with ships plying the waters including merchant ships and a four stack destroyer. At 2:00 is what the Manila Hotel, designed by architect William Parsons around 1915 in a Mission style. At 2:17, golf swings are practiced while at 2:35 drivers wait. At 2:41 the local sport of cock fighting is explored with the metal spur shown at 2:50. At 5:15 the road to Cavite Naval Base is shown with lots of Navy laundry on display. Looks like everyone was employed taking care of the sailors!
At 6:47 a water buffalo is shown getting a mud bath. At 7:06 are views of manila with both water buffalo and car traffic, as well as horse drawn carts visible. At 7:32, the “morning after the Game” (possibly the Army-Navy Football game?) is shown with men and women in proper clothes enjoying breakfast at what might be the Manila Hotel. Life for these Americans seemed to be rather gay and sweet based on these images. At 9:20 a goat (symbol of the U.S. Army football team, os possibly a mascot) is shown on display. At 9:44 swimming in the Hotel Manila pool. At 10:09, close up views of the Hotel and at 10:18, more shots of Manila harbor.
At 11:00, the film switches to a submarine, which is seen at 11:46. The name of the submarine is unknown but the size of it makes it look like an S-class boat. At 12:07 a transfer is made to a larger ship, the ill-fated Clemson-class destroyer USS Truxton DD-229. At 12:33 depth charge practice is seen from the Truxton’s stern. At 13:35, possibly shot aboard another ship, one of the vessel’s small boats is shown with the writing “CaN” on it. This might mean it is USS Canopus, a submarine tender which operated with the Asiatic Fleet in this period. The boat rendezvous with the submarine at 14:27, apparently to bring aboard a sick sailor.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
