Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Turner Classic Movies played this on St. Patrick's Day 2018. It was shown actually with a Droopy cartoon called "Droopy Leprechaun" which has Droopy's nemesis chasing him around a Irish castle thinking Droopy is a leprechaun. It's a typical low end animation of the late 1950s made by Hanna/ Barbera. Then this travel-talks was shown, immediately followed by one they did in Northern Ireland 15 years later called Roaming Through Northern Ireland (1949). I am of Irish blood so was interested in watching something authentic from Ireland in the 1930s. The contrast between the two shorts is interesting. Perhaps the 1930s audience was less demanding of seeing the places and were entertained more by the pretty color photography as we don't see a whole lot of Ireland in the 1934 episode but do see a lot of Northern Ireland in the 1949 episode. This one we see mostly closeups of the residents faces and that is about it. They have a young woman on in a close up with a face full of freckles on the order of the Our Gang actor Mickey Daniels, so I'm going to guess there was a casting call for that look. There is an old white bearded man who resembles a Barry Fitzgerald in The Quiet Man, again with a close up to get some "real" Ireland in you, but not a whole lot of scenery compared to the 1949 episode. Overall I was happy to watch this but the one on Northern Ireland is much more interesting so I'm only giving this one a 6. Erin go bragh (Ireland Forever). FYI, TCM when you record their shorts often do not set the correct start time up for DVRs, and though I had only intended to record this I got a cartoon, another travel-talks episode on Northern Ireland AND a real early John Wayne western called The Big Stampede (1932) where Wayne has a white horse named "Duke". Who knew? Not me and I like John Wayne! So you may be in for a surprise next time you record a short off of TCM!

Not the best Travel Talk in James Fitzpatrick's collection. He was doing this from 1925 to 1955, so this was plunk in the middle. He made twelve in 1934 alone, so he probably wasn't putting much time into each one. And this one is directed by "Ruth FitzPatrick".. who must have been a family member of some sort. Can't find any record of a wife. In this episode, we're off to Ireland, and granted, its in glorious Technicolor. Bright whites, beautiful blues. We DO get to see the girl's red hair. The camera lingers on the old couple standing in front of their house for a VERY long time. We can't hear what they are saying, so its a little weird. They could be from anywhere in this shot. Fitz talks about the legend of the highlighted castle, and various bits of info. There are SO many fun other features he could have mentioned. The beehive formations, the peninsulas, all the castle ruins. the tiny little country roads. Watch the other ones. They are better.

Ireland: The Emerald Isle (1934) *** (out of 4) Early TravelTalks entry from MGM takes us to Ireland where we get plenty of nice things to see. We start off taking a stop at the Ancient Round Towers and hear briefly about them before moving onto the farm land where we're told that most farmers live off the land and might just make pennies a week. We learn that the green that's all around is due to constantly rain fall and we get to see many rocks and boulders that separate the farms. We learn how important donkeys are and we get to hear the story behind Hope Castle. Then, for some reason, we're told that beautiful children is a must but we're never told what happens if the kids aren't beautiful (and they examples they give are very short of beauty). If you're a fan of the series then you'll certainly want to view this one as it's pretty clear that the earliest shorts in the series were always among the best. The beautiful Technicolor gives us plenty of terrific looking visuals and as usual James A. Fitzpatrick's narration is grand.

This is one of the infamous Traveltalks, of which James A. FitzPatrick made more than 220 till well into the 50s. Since he was one of the first to use the newly perfected 3-strip Technicolor-Process, we get a chance to see what the 30s looked like in Color. After Holland and Switzerland this is the third Traveltalk in color and was released in Dec. 34. It is preserved in a stunningly beautiful Print. Look for it on TCM.