This is a 1955, color movie about Belgium, produced by CalTex as part of their public relations outreach. The music is by Paul Gilson and Victor Legley, played by the National Orchestra of Belgium. Featuring the Ghent Oratorio and The Sint Lutgardiskoor of Brugcs. The film was written and produced by veteran photographer and filmmaker Ernest Kleinberg. The movie opens in a quaint Belgian town, horses are carrying wagons, 1:18. Old castles in Belgium, 2:02. Children run through the streets, 2:30. Coal mines and industrial towns are shown, 3:08. A Belgian boatman sails down the river, 4:19. Belgian tradespeople work through the day, 5:00. A Belgian farmer surveys the land, 5:40. Hay is harvested from the field, 6:09. The rivers of Bruges are featured, 6:45. Ancient castles of Bruges are shown, 8:10. A man sailing down the river shows the sites of Belgium, 8:50. Art from Bruges is displayed, 9:40. Hans Memling (also spelled Memlinc; c. 1430 – 11 August 1494) was a German painter who moved to Flanders and worked in the tradition of Early Netherlandish painting. He was born in the Middle Rhine region, and probably spent his childhood in Mainz. He had moved to the Netherlands by 1465 and spent time in the Brussels workshop of Rogier van der Weyden. He was subsequently made a citizen of Bruges, where he became one of the leading artists in which he painted religious works that often-incorporated portraits of his wealthy patrons. Memling’s patrons included wealthy burghers (bankers, merchants, and politicians), clergymen, and aristocrats. A 13th century church is shown, 11:05. Young girls creating crafts in a courtyard, 11:45. Ghent is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the second largest municipality in Belgium, after Antwerp. The city originally started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Leie and in the Late Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of northern Europe, with some 50,000 people in 1300. It is a port and university city. The coal mining cities in Belgium are featured, 15:32. Coal mining work is featured, 16:20. Coal is being produced, 17:10. Glassworkers ply their trade, 17:50. Steel is produced, 18:32. The Belgian shipping process is featured; imports and exports, 19:35. Belgian fishing ships are featured, 20:20. The Belgian people hard at work, 21:15. Belgians attend religious services; 22:14. Belgian man sets windmill for operation, 23:20. Belgian men haggle about the price of a cow, 24:05. Belgian street festival, 26:10. Italian shipmates, holding at knifepoint a captive savage, 26:40. Dancing dolls in the parade – over 12 feet high, 27:10. A military regalia adorns the streets of Belgium, 27:30. Horses run down the street to celebrate, 29:35. The crowd applauds at the parade, 29:50. Presented by Caltex.

Belgium is a sovereign state in Western Europe. It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of 30,688 km2 (11,849 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.4 million. The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi and Liège.

Ernest Kleinberg (1910-1980) was born in Breslau, Germany (present-day Wrocław, Poland) and grew up in Vienna. Kleinberg became a photographer for various news agencies and Life magazine. In March of 1938 he was arrested by the Gestapo for photographing Hitler’s arrival in Vienna. He was released after protests from American friends, and was able to emigrate to New York. He soon resumed his photography career and was able to rescue his entire family from Austria. In the early 1950s he became a self-taught film producer and director. He subsequently completed more than 25 documentaries.

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