Cruising the Mediterranean

This was one of the first, one the longest and one of the finest of Amdré de la Varre's "The Screen Traveler" series which ran throughout the 1930s. There are many out-takes in existence and the 38-minute version that I have seen actually lacks footage that is available elswhere and has a section (Algiers to Naples) mispleaced to the end and without commentary. In fact, it all the parts could be properly assembled, it is a good hour-long film if not longer. The film should end with the trip to Damascus (and perhaps Jerusalem), the last part of which was issued separately as Damascus and Jerusalem in 1936.

The first part missing is the trip through Spain (which can be found as From Gibraltar through Southern Spain to Granada. This should come at about 17 minutes into the film. This in turn should be followed by From Granada South to Algiers. The silent section should come here and is followed by footage one finds in yet another out-take From Naples to Tunis. After Tunis comes the footage of Malta and Tripoli available in the 38-minute film but Egypt, Tunisia and Malta contains some additional footage of the ship's journey past Egypt that must presumably intervene before the arrival in Beirut and Damascus unless it was shot right at the end of the cruise after the visits to Damascus and Palestine. The "Peoples of the Mediterranean" that I have seen is, on the other hand, an abbreviated silent version of no interest. The later 1936 short Cities of North Africa: Tunis, Algiers, Rabat is also just a repeat off footage from this film/

But it is a shame that, in the case of such a good film and such a major travelogue, no one has done the work to create a full and coherent version.