TAHITI ON THE CORAL ROUTE

Rights Information
Year
1955
Reference
F1439
Media type
Moving image
Item unavailable online
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Rights Information
Year
1955
Reference
F1439
Media type
Moving image
Item unavailable online
Place of production
New Zealand/Aotearoa
Categories
Short
Duration
0:26:13
Production company
Robert Steele Productions
Credits
Director: Robert Steele
Photography: Robert Steele

The film is separated into ‘chapters’: ‘en voyage’; ‘tour d’ lile’, ‘en fete’, ‘huahine et moorea’, ‘le gourmet’ and ‘au revoir’. Made for TEAL (Tasman Empire Airways Limited).

Opens with a map of the Pacific and a description of where TEAL flights go.

View of the plane (a Solent Flying Boat) over the sea, with islands visible below; tourists in the plane; they disembark at Aitutaki for a swim and to buy souvenirs; plane flies over Tetiaroa; the travellers arrive in Tahiti, are welcomed by local women and given garlands of flowers; street scenes in Papeete; life in Tahiti from a tourist’s perspective (focuses on Tahitian people and lifestyle, flowers, hotels, beaches - including what could be an ancient tapu tiki, on the grounds of the Gauguin Museum? ); Rupert Brook’s poetry about Tahiti; a Tahitian festival on the water, with decorated canoes, dancing and fireworks; a man named Tiatia (?) demonstrates his fishing and canoe-making skills; the community having a feast (cooked in an umu?); views of the harbour at Moorea; eating and drinking in Tahiti’s restaurants, including the bar called ‘Quinns’; the tourists reboard the plane and fly away.

Note: Some of the footage in ‘Tahiti on the Coral Route’ can also be found in ‘Away to the South Seas’ by Bathie Stuart. It is possible Robert Steele purchased footage from Stuart for this film.