Night Descends on Treasure Island (1940) User Reviews

Art picks up where nature ends

[nickenchuggets · 7/10 · 8 September 2022]

So far, I have seen about half of the TravelTalks that have ever been made, but this one follows a unique format and I've never really seen one like it. In a previous installment (which I may or may not write about), Fitzpatrick visits the San Francisco Exposition of 1939 to 1940 (also known as Treasure Island) in order to tell people about the exciting and culturally significant things going on there. In addition to showcasing art from countries around the world, the fair was mostly there to celebrate the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge. This TravelTalks doesn't talk about the backstory of the fair or why it was being held that much, and most of the runtime is devoted to showing various pieces of artwork that have lasted throughout the ages. We see amazingly lifelike European art such as Pope Paul III, painted by the Italian artist Titian. Even centuries later, it still looks extremely realistic. Fitzpatrick also showcases more modern pieces by artists from the US, such as a painting by Rockwell Kent. I'm a little surprised he didn't show American Gothic, arguably the most famous american painting ever, especially considering it was relatively new at the time. Aside from the art, we're shown just a sliver of footage from Treasure Island itself, including fountains, and a large tower constructed just for the fair called the Tower of the Sun. It's really cool to see these things, but depressing when you remember they no longer exist. Although there isn't much else to comment on, I do know this: this is another perfect example of a short that makes perfect use of Technicolor. If they didn't use it, the experience just wouldn't be the same. Overall, I liked this short, even if it's pretty average and doesn't have many distinguishing features (like most other Traveltalks).

Visually Among The Best Traveltalks

[boblipton · 6/10 · 3 February 2021]

James A. Fitzpatrick sends the Technicolor cameras up to San Francisco to shoot this companion piece to A DAY ON TREASURE ISLAND. visually it's certainly worth the ten minutes it takes to watch this. I don't know if Carney defocused the cameras slightly, the water from the fountains produced a bit of mist, the print was a tad blotchy, or some combination of these factors, but the lit fountains at night, the illuminated Art Noveau facades are quite lovely like that. So are the pictures drawn from around the world.... which seems to consists og the US, England, France, the Netherlands and Italy.

Of course no Traveltalk would be complete without Fitzpatrick shouting out some ridiculous polysyballic phrase or two, and offers one or two of those. My favorite incongruity is when he calls Raphael "immortal" and then immediately gives 1520 as the date of his death.

good double dipping

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 5 August 2023]

TravelTalks double-dips after doing A Day on Treasure Island (1939). It does the night time version. It's the 1939 Golden Gate Exposition in San Francisco. The night time lighting is colorful. They go inside the exhibits to film the classic paintings on display.

I almost want to subtract the rating for this cheap trick of double dipping. Although the nighttime visuals are worth it. It's a great use of Technicolor. The primary colors really pop. The paintings are also nice although I'm sure that they look the same today. I wouldn't mind simply walking the empty paths and inside the empty exhibits.

TravelTalks

[Michael_Elliott · 15 May 2011]

Night Descends on Treasure Island (1940)

*** (out of 4)

This TravelTalks entry is actually a sequel to A DAY ON TREASURE ISLAND and pretty much starts off where the previous film left us. The night comes and we're shown some incredible looking light/fountain exhibits, which were all done by A.F. Dickerson from General Electric. After this we visit some of the famous artwork gathered in a variety of exhibits. These paintings include: Pope Paul III by Titian, Thomas Hart Benton's Romance and Rockwell Kent's To the Stars to name just a few. After going through some of the famous paintings the short ends with another look of the famous statues on the outside and again they're all lite up with the terrific light show. This is one of the stranger shorts in the series because we don't get to learn too much and instead it's just showing off what people would have been seeing at the Golden Gate International Exposition. I thought the Technicolor was put to perfect use during the light show as some of the images are just so amazing that you really want to pause the film and really take everything in. The stuff dealing with the paintings isn't something you'd normally see in the series or at least it wouldn't get as much attention but I thought it was fascinating as well.

Narrator Jim Fitz makes no mention . . .

[oscaralbert · 7/10 · 21 March 2017]

. . . of whether the "priceless masterpieces" featured in Treasure Island's Exposition of 1939 and 1940 were bull-dozed along with the buildings housing them when America got Pearl Harbored, causing the Expo site to be transformed into a major U.S Naval Facility overnight. Obviously, folks cannot be bothered by the trivial niceties of "Art Preservation" when they're expecting a sneak invasion of San Francisco at any moment. Though common sense would suggest that it could have taken a couple pick-up trucks "just" a few hours to load up the more valuable and portable paintings and begin the journey to a safer inland storage unit, the fact that narrator Jim Fitzpatrick never mentions any such convoy may be a dead giveaway that The Authorities That Were did not think they had even a few hours to waste upon fiddling with such Artsy Fartsy cannon fodder. After all, who could argue that ALL the paintings in the world were worth the life of even ONE American serviceman? Fortunately, ALL of the art focused upon by Jim is from the brushes of over-rated third-string flashes-in-the-pan totally forgotten Today (except for a pair of minor efforts by Titian and Raphael--and Titian doesn't even have a Ninja Turtle named after him!).

It's said that when Hank Ford essentially invented cars with his "Model T" . . .

[pixrox1 · 6/10 · 6 October 2020]

. . . he said that families could tool around in any color of automobile that they wanted, as long as it was black. Back in the 1800's, Ford's buddy Tom Edison set this sort of one-choice-fits-all pattern for American consumers by gaining a virtual monopoly on the light bulb market. What sort of hues were available at the Yule Tide or for Halloween frights, you might wonder. The answer: white, white and white. NIGHT DESCENDS ON TREASURE ISLAND details the work of an upstart God of Lighting named Westinghouse, who ordained "Let there be color!" Though quaint by Modern Standards, the rainbow riot pictured here was probably enough to spin Old Alva in his grave. Which may lead Today's viewers to ask themselves, "Have you REALLY made an adequate effort to climb into the Fifth Dimension, which is known as a Super-Spreader Free Zone?"

good example of what would appeal to the audiences of the day

[skiddoo · 27 August 2011]

"Art, no matter what its origin or time, is clearly a joy forever." This short shows the interest the audiences between the wars had in all things artistic, which is why studios like MGM put so many different kinds of music into movies. There was enthusiasm for gaining in sophistication and taste, whether through classes or through their own efforts. It wasn't unusual for people whose only formal instruction was in reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic, to improve their skills outside the classroom. And those who got to college were just as likely to collect Bach and Beethoven as swing 78s. European hymns existed side by side with American gospel. Simple ballads were popular and so was complex jazz. The 1939-40 public would have oohed and ahed over the light show AND been thrilled to see famous paintings.

Excellent as history and beautiful as art. Having missed the first half showing the exhibition by day I didn't have the background on the exhibition that would have made it more interesting but I can't blame this film for my not seeing part one.