This late 1940s Kodachrome 16mm home movie was shot by an unknown tourist. It shows a visit to Catalina Island, off the coast of Los Angeles California in the gulf of Santa Catalina. Catalina is characterized by stunning blue waters, coastal cliffs and sandy beaches. It remains a popular tourist destination. The film traces a trip among friends and their cocker spaniel pup as they embark on pleasure crafts to the island later touring the grounds on vintage mini scooter bikes and taking a fishing trip. The theme is of gorgeous boats and friendship. Footage captures intimacy and good humor between the travelers. They ship out aboard a 1926 designed schooner LA Volpe and later take an evening cruise aboard a cabin cruiser. Two Harbors and Catalina Casino are featured. The finale is a fishing trip ending with a shark catch.

00:00 A woman affectionately plucks bread pieces for herself and the cocker spaniel aboard the schooner La Volpe (:28). Hugh Angleman designed this lovely 46′ LOA schooner, built by Wilmington (CA) Boat Works in 1926 and currently owned by Tim O’Brien. A group of friends (:42) as they enjoy the waves and toast beers (1:22). The pup sniffs sea air in front of the cabin (1:46). The film flicks to land footage, friends take turns swinging on a bench surrounded by lush greens (1:58). On a small dinghy boat (2:59), the stern man holds the camera. A female in dark shades is shown on a Excelsior Welbike minibike / motorcycle (3:11). A segment of dark footage follows the Cavalier as it wades through rough sea waters in the evening (3:48-5:17). A Chris Craft type boat, the Silver Spray, is shown. Views from behind capture the wake (5:36) and travelers hanging from the open back (7:02). More dark shots wander down the dock (7:05) as they return to land. Yachts, sailboats and other pleasure crafts bob in Two Harbors (7:13). A man with the black captains hat rides the mini scooter (7:40). This appears to be an Excelsior Welbike, known as a “parascooter” because it was one of the smallest military motorcycles ever made. A woman in white leaps up on the back of the bike (8:01). The pair pass Catalina Casino in Avalon. The Via Casino archway (8:13) was commissioned by gum magnate William Wrigley Jr. in 1929 in art deco and Mediterranean style. Ground views (920) and aerial shots (9:22) watch boats in the harbor. Wide shots capture a speedboat and it’s trailing white wake (11:04) panning over for the Catalina Casino (11:11). The historic facility, contrary to the name, hosts no gambling. The title is an Italian reference to place of gathering. It has a movie theater and ballroom. The structure was designed by Sumner Spaulding and Walter Webber. It received an Honor Award from the California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and is considered an outstanding architectural accomplishments. It stands at about 11 stories on a site once referred to as Sugarloaf Point. Shaky footage pass around the interior of the boat cabin (11:40) capturing the closeness and comradery between members. A traveler dips in and out of the blue waters off the boat side (13:09). Seafarers smile, swigging from brown bottles (13:49). The large cruiser liner, SS Catalina (14:50) appears at the harbor. Nicknamed the “Great White Steamer” the liner was the primary passenger ferry boat providing passage between LA and Catalina Island. It was constructed for $1 million by the LA Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company for the Wilmington Transportation Company. Woman and dog twirl on the vintage mini scooter together again (14:56). They pass through a marina (15:19). Scenes follow as a young man on the boat (16:05) hooks a shark (16:25), drags the catch aboard the boat (17:01) and holds it by the tail showing off it’s size (17:10). They drag the shark from the back of the boat on the trip back (17:42). Coastline images conclude the film (18:19).

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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