Land of the Taj Mahal (1952) User Reviews

James A. Fitzpatrick spends his resources on horses here . . .

[oscaralbert · 6/10 · 14 May 2015]

. . . prior to tossing in the Taj Mahal as an obligatory afterthought. Obviously, his distributors at film studio MGM rejected Fitz's rough cut (working title: MY DAY AT THE TRACK), and sent a second unit to Agra for some location shots of India's most famous tomb. (Or perhaps they had file footage of the 17th Century Wonder on hand already to splice in at a moment's notice.) Just as many compulsive players of the ponies make an annual pilgrimage to Chuchill Downs on the pretense that they're "into" the latest in ladies' hats, Fitz makes a lame attempt here to claim that he's some sort of a fashion guru, qualified to offer critiques of comparable modes of women's dress. Perhaps a rogue "Traveltalks" editor was responsible for "The Voice of the Globe" spending double the time with the Horsey Set as the few seconds devoted to India's national shrine. Maybe Fitz's tout talk is intended as a warning--"Don't make the mistakes I have done"--HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN style. Possibly horses, saris, and tombs constitute a Trifecta bet in his book.

Independent India

[boblipton · 5/10 · 14 July 2019]

Fifteen years after INDIA ON PARADE, James Fitzpatrick sent the Technicolor cameras back to India for a look at the land after independence. Gone are the bejeweled elephants, but we do get to see the well-to-do at their leisure, at the horse races, dancing and, of course, going to the movies. Bollywood was not the major force it is now, but was it wise for Hollywood to even acknowledge its competitor? Wasn't there a Loew's theater to put on view in an MGM release.

One thing unchanged from the earlier Traveltalk is the ending with the Taj Mahal. Fitzpatrick's narration concerning it is a paraphrase of his discussion in the earlier movie. Perhaps it was the same speech he gave his rich and elderly customers at the travel agency he also ran. Maybe that is the answer to the mystery of why he always sounded like he was talking to people who were hard of hearing: they usually were.

It's a little harder to find fault with this Travel Talk episode . . .

[pixrox1 · 7/10 · 11 March 2021]

. . . then many of its brothers. Off the top of my head, I cannot think of a single world war that LAND OF THE TAJ MAHAL inspired. You would have to read between the lines to find calls for ethnic cleansing, historic revisionist pogroms or pale face supremacy. Perhaps some viewers will take issue with the narrator's comparison of race track patrons to zoo animals. But maybe he can be given the proverbial "benefit of the doubt," since this piece did not originate during an Era of Enlightenment.

TravelTalks

[Michael_Elliott · 30 May 2011]

Land of the Taj Mahal (1952)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Another good entry in MGM's TravelTalks series has James A. Fitzpatrick going to India where we learn that the place was under British hands until 1947 when it broke into India and Pakistan. We learns about the importance of the sea port and how customs are currently changing but the people there still remember their past. We start off in Bombay where we see their famous gardens where they show off the farms and animals and especially the beloved elephant. We also see the Bombay racetrack, which we're told gathers up every kind of race and creed. We then stop in Delhi where we see some religious temples as well as how the city operates including a look at movie advertising. Seeing how the theater owners advertise their new movies was pretty funny to see. Fans of the MGM series will certainly want to check this one out as we're told some nice information but of course the visuals are once again the real selling point. The Technicolor really brings the city and the clothing to life and makes this worth watching if you have eight-minutes to kill.

a time and place

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 19 October 2019]

It's a ten minute James A. FitzPatrick Traveltalks. The journey starts in Bombay with a garden and a horse race. It goes to Delhi where it finally touches on something like street life. There is the government troops, a dance troupe, and finally a quick visit to the Taj Mahal. Despite getting independence in 1947, this short still makes India look like a jewel in the British crown. It's very colonial. It's historic in its way.