Colorful Islands Madagascar and Seychelles (1935)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
This TravelTalks episode takes us to a couple islands on the coast of Africa. In Madagascar we learn that there are about three and a half million people living there (at least in 1935) and how the place actually features a lot of women in power, which wasn't the norm for this type of country back then. We also learn that France took the place over in 1896 and that in 1916 many people were arrested for a plot to poison all French people living there. We learn that rice, coffee and salt are the main exports. In Seychelles we learn about their colorful spiders that are apparently very dumb as well as their double coconuts. The actual stories being told here are fairly interesting and I certainly would have liked to had heard more about that 1916 poisoning case but the real reason to check this out is for the Technicolor and some of the amazing shots. There's a scene towards the end where we see the skies sitting over the beach and I must say this was perhaps the most breathtaking images I've seen from the several dozen TravelTalks shorts I've seen.