Desert Empire(1948)
A travelogue, this film provides a guided tour of pre-World War II Utah and of course does not pretend to cinematic greatness. Recommended viewing for those in search of introductory Utah history. Also valuable for persons seeking insight into the state as it would have looked during this time period. Especially informative for those desiring a window into the past for a view of how Utah was in the days of their pre-World War II progenitors living in the state. Those whose Utah ancestors were involved in mining, railroading, sugar beets, and other featured industries; featured towns, sights, recreational attractions, and industries may find this otherwise banal travelogue a quite valuable addition to their family history.
Movie: Desert Empire
Top 2 Billed Cast
Narration
Desert Empire
HomePage
Overview
A travelogue, this film provides a guided tour of pre-World War II Utah and of course does not pretend to cinematic greatness. Recommended viewing for those in search of introductory Utah history. Also valuable for persons seeking insight into the state as it would have looked during this time period. Especially informative for those desiring a window into the past for a view of how Utah was in the days of their pre-World War II progenitors living in the state. Those whose Utah ancestors were involved in mining, railroading, sugar beets, and other featured industries; featured towns, sights, recreational attractions, and industries may find this otherwise banal travelogue a quite valuable addition to their family history.
Release Date
1948-01-01
Average
0
Rating:
0.0 startsTagline
Genres
Languages:
Keywords
Similar Movies
KEATON × SSR(en)
A side-by-side analysis of Buster Keaton's Our Hospitality and S.S. Rajamouli's Maryada Ramanna.
Elizabethan Express(en)
Originally intended as an advertising short, this film follows The Elizabethan, a non-stop British Railways service from London to Edinburgh along the East Coast Main Line. A nostalgic record of the halcyon years of steam on British Railways and the ex-LNER Class A4.
Train Time(en)
A short documentary about the transportation of goods and livestock by train around the UK.
Cavalcade of San Francisco(en)
This Traveltalk series short celebrates San Francisco, past and present.
What Makes Me Tic?(en)
Facing community misconceptions, four people diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome find themselves living a fulfilling and ambitious life despite consent and sometimes debilitating effects of the misunderstood disorder.
Life Under The Horseshoe(en)
Life Under the Horseshoe is a fun, entertaining and historical look at Spring City, Utah's only live FM stage radio show. The film teaches us a little about history while taking us back to the golden age of radio. The documentary interviews Mark and Vicki Allen, the show hosts while learning more about their interesting, but opposite family history. The film also highlights the historical Victory Hall, a one-hundred-year-old restored vaudeville theater on Main Street, and "Spit & Whittle" Avenue, where Charlie (1885-1936), son of Simon Beck, had a bench the women of the town called the "Bummer's Bench." The men claimed it was where important community events were discussed and decisions made. Simon's son Charlie, paralyzed at an early age, presided at the bench providing advice and wisdom to all comers.
Trains(en)
After shooting more short films and documentaries, Deschanel wrote, directed and shot Trains, a short film that won the Silver Bear at the 1976 Berlin Film Festival. Trains is an exquisitely filmed short format documentary on passenger trains throughout the course of one day.
The White Pass Journey(en)
Includes all new footage which captures the WP&YR experience and history from Skagway, Alaska to Fraser, B.C. and from Fraser, B.C. to Carcross, Yukon. Fully narrated with insights and historical context.
Trains: Two Centuries of Innovation(fr)
Nearly 200 years ago, the train revolutionized our lives. It redrew the maps of states and nations, and changed concepts of distance and time like no other invention before. What visionaries imagined the development of the railroad? How did we get from the first chugging locomotives to the smooth giants of speed we see today? How does France's extensive rail network keep running smoothly, 24/7?
The Great Train Robbery(en)
It was one of the greatest heists in British history. £3 million – worth over £40 million today – stolen from a moving train by a gang of thieves who almost got away with it.
Now Return Us To Normal(en)
After experiencing flashbacks surrounding her years at a behavior modification school in rural Utah, a filmmaker seeks answers from those responsible for her mistreatment only to find that she already possesses the truth.
Christmas with the Desert Children(en)
A short documentary about Father Christmas' annual six-day trek through the Australian desert aboard the Tea and Sugar Train.
3rd Ave. El(en)
Impressionistic picture of the Third Avenue Elevated Railway in Manhattan, New York City, before it was demolished. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2010.
A Train Arrives at the Station(en)
“This film was a gift to me. I make no claims for it, nor do I offer any apologies. It comes from work on The Thoughts That Once We Had. There was one shot we had to cut whose loss I particularly regretted. It was a shot of a train pulling into Tokyo Station from Ozu’s The Only Son (1936). So I decided to make a film around this shot, an anthology of train arrivals. It comprises 26 scenes or shots from movies, 1904-2015. It has a simple serial structure: each black & white sequence in the first half rhymes with a color sequence in the second half. Thus the first shot and the final shot show trains arriving at stations in Japan from a low camera height. In the first shot (The Only Son), the train moves toward the right; in the last shot, it moves toward the left. A bullet train has replaced a steam locomotive. So after all these years, I’ve made another structural film, although that was not my original intention.”
How They Dug the Victoria Line(en)
First transmitted in 1969, this documentary follows the construction of the world’s most advanced underground system. Macdonald Hastings narrates the story of one of the most complex tunnel engineering feats of its time. He reveals the isolation felt by the miners who spent six years burrowing deep beneath the streets of London, shows what they did beneath one of London's most famous department stores and explains why the ground at Tottenham Court Road had to be frozen during the hottest weeks of 1966. The result is a brave new world of transport with automated trains, two way mirrors, automatic fare collection and closed-circuit television, all choreographed by a computer programme played out by an updated version of a pianola located in a control room somewhere near Euston station.
Engineering Tragedy: The Ashtabula Train Disaster(en)
The Ashtabula train disaster and bridge collapse was the worst train disaster of the 19th century, claiming the lives of 97 people. The engineering and structural failures that caused the collapse of a bridge that stood for over a decade, also took down the most luxurious train of the day, “The Pacific Express #5.” The accident happened in Ashtabula, Ohio on December 29, 1876 during a raging blizzard, sending the luxury train crashing 70-feet into a river gorge and costing the lives of 97 people. The disaster shocked the nation, yet it’s a story that’s been lost in the pages of history. In a strange twist of fate and intrigue, the bridge disaster also became the backdrop to the still unsolved murder of Charles Collins, the railroad’s chief engineer. It also contributed to the eventual suicide of millionaire Amasa Stone, the president of the railroad and the designer and builder of the bridge.
Salt Lake Diversions(en)
About an hour's drive from Salt Lake City, Utah is the ski resort of Alta, a former mining town, nestled within the Wasatch Mountains. Skiing and other winter alpine pursuits take place well into mid-spring. The relatively new ski lift is one of the longest in the western US. Some ride the lift not to ski down but to glance at the view from the 1,500 foot summit. Being the end of May, people at nearby Salt Lake are instead enjoying more summerly pursuits, such as boating. Behind only the Dead Sea, it ranks second among all large inland lakes for the saline content at 27%, the buoyancy from which makes it almost impossible to sink in. On shore at Black Rock Beach of the Bonneville Salt Flats is the site of many attempts of land speed records, most records held by Ab Jenkins. Another popular activity in the lake itself is the crystallization of salt around wire forms, the process which requires relatively still water and takes about two hours.