53304 FANTASY OF SIAM / THAILAND 1947 TRAVELOGUE MOVIE

This black and white documentary film on Siam is dated 1947. (The name Siam was changed back to Thailand in 1948.) It was produced by Edmund Reek, and narrated by George Carson Putnam. It opens with the Democracy Monument in Bangkok, Thailand, followed by views of the streets and shrines (:11-:36). Buddhist monks enter the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall, where the magnificent royal architecture is shown (:37-:51). The Golden Urn receives the bodies of kings when they die (:52-1:02). Military dignitaries arrive and are seated (1:04-1:17), and King Rama IX arrives (1:18-1:40). The Bangkok streets are full of people, rickshaws, and coolies (1:42-1:58). The market is full of buyers (1:59). There are many networks of canals full of small boats (2:15). Some sell rice (2:28), others tropical fruit (2:37). Elephants, coolies, and a primitive railroad are used to move teak wood logs (2:50-3:35). A sacred white elephant (actually just a lighter shade of gray according to the film) bathes and is fed (3:36-4:04). A religious procession of people in traditional garb with the tall pointed white hats march down the street carrying floats (4:06-4:37). As part of the ceremony, men swing on a suspended scaffold to snatch a bag of money with their teeth off a pole (4:38-5:22). Children temple dancers perform traditional dances in full ceremonial costume while a band of seated men play various drum instruments (5:24-6:20). Ruins of temples are shown with their giant statues of people (6:21-6:40). The Temple of the Golden Mountain (Wat Phra That Doi Kham) is accessed via a long winding stairway (6:41-6:55). The Temple of the Dog is one of over 18,000 temples, some shown in quick sequence (6:56-7:40).

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