This is a color episode of Bill Burrud’s “Vagabond” series from the late 1950’s, focusing on New Orleans landmarks and the customs of the Mardis Gras Carnival celebration.
A seagull soars. (0:07). Waves crash on a sandy beach with footprints (0:15). Title card (0:28). The French Quarter in New Orleans (0:44). A female nightclub barker with red lipstick dances in a long skirt. A man passes by (0:52). Crowds packed shoulder to shoulder outside Stein Bros. (1:00). Parade floats: A golden dragon and horses pulling a seashell chariot (1:08). A man in silver makeup bounces a feathered headdress. (1:15). Men and women wave from a balcony (1:22). A boy in a bicorn hat shines an elderly man’s shoes (1:27). Ships at harbor and water birds (1:29). Our host appears with a red mask (1:49). Host moves to a painted map of Louisiana and another mask (2:10). Aerial shots of urban architecture downtown (2:45). Creole or “French Colonial” style buildings (2:59). Aging architectural features (3:18). A serious man in a black beret strolls slowly (3:57). St. Louis Cathedral from afar (4:09) and in close up (4:21). Equestrian statue of General Andrew Jackson (4:35). The Cabildo (4:50). Jean Lafitte’s Old Absinthe House and signage (5:17). Lafitte’s Rendezvous, a blacksmith shop founded in 1810, has become a bar. Its tiled roof needs repair (6:01). Street signs: Pirate’s Alley (6:32). A caricature artist sketches a portrait of a silver-haired woman. (6:52). A courtyard filled with diners (7:22). Pat O’Brien’s restaurant. A sign: “Famous New Orleans French Market: Doughnuts and Coffee” (7:41). Wide shot of Café Du Monde (7:52). A horse in a pink hat pulls a surrey style carriage (7:57). Ornate french ironwork (8:12). Trees and bricks in a graveyard. Tombs and mausoleums (8:32). Street sign: Bourbon St. and Orleans St. (9:09). A man and a woman walk past a hunched man with garbage (9:16). A sign: “Neatly furnished rooms $5.00 up. No female impersonators allowed. Colored Only” sign from segregation era (9:24). Street signs: Bienville and Basin St. (9:37). A woman speaking from a balcony (9:51). The shoeshine boy twirls a brush with a flourish (9:58). Signs of burlesque clubs: “Playboy Lounge, Kalantan, Dream Rooms Cocktail Lounge” (10:22). Neon sign montage: “Girls Girls Girls, View Carré, Johnny’s Pirates Den, Diamond Jim Moran’s food for kings, Famous Door, Sahara, El Morocco, Adam Comeaux’s Lounge – Bar” (10:49). People dressed in Zulu costumes wave at a riverboat. (10:58). White tourists point and leer (11:11). Men in Zulu regalia and grass skirts on parade. Some men appear in blackface (11:17). A black woman sits atop a float populated by black children in formal suits and ball gowns (12:11). Host in studio (12:46). A marching band (13:13). The parade king (13:36). A lobster costume and a fanged devil’s head (14:02). “Noah’s Ark” and “Wizard of Oz” costumes (14:10). Toddlers eating popcorn (14:26). A shirtless man in glasses, wig, and tutu dances (14:53). A patriotic “Uncle Sam” float (15:42). Milling crowds (15:54). A woman and man in pseudo Egyptian garb, men in drag smoking and drinking (16:29). Float riders throw party favors into the crowd (17:43). Paraders carry flaming and sparking torches at night (18:31). A medieval float (19:40). Empty New Orleans street scenes in daylight (20:11). A ship unloads cargo (21:00). Stacks of imports, trains leaving a station (21:22). The General Beauregard Equestrian Statue, flowers and oak trees in City Park (21:55). Storyland, a children’s theme park, draws families, offers rowboats (22:12). A young woman feeds and pets ducks (23:55). Our host dons and removes the red mask (24:33). End credits (25:17).
Bill Burrud was a television host and producer best known for his travel shows, which he called “traventure” television. to describe the programs he intended to produce. KTTV in Los Angeles purchased his series The Open Road in 1951. In 1954 he founded Bill Burrud Productions and produced a series of pioneering programs that included True Adventure, Vagabond, Wanderlust, Animal World, Islands in the Sun, Wonderful World of Women, Safari to Adventure, Treasure, and Natural Wonders.
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