Best Documentary Movies of 1932
Congorilla
The first sound movie made entirely in Africa, Congorilla premiered in 1932 and permitted audiences to hear what they had only been able to see during previous safari films. Martin and Osa Johnson began in Kenya and Tanzania before moving to Uganda and the Congo Basin (Zaire). Along the way they filmed Zebra in the Serengeti, charging Rhinos in the Northern Frontier District (Southern Somalia), and recorded exciting encounters with Crocodiles and Hippos as they went down the Nile. The latter part of the film is devoted to the 7 months the filmmakers spent in the Ituri Forest with the Mbuti people as they captured village life despite the humidity, which caused batteries to deteriorate, wires and connections to erode, and mildew to form on camera cases.
The Mystery of Marriage
The courtship rituals of animals and plants are compared to those of contemporary society, with educational and frequently humorous results.
Just a Gigolo
Irene Bordoni sings the title song in French and English with a Bouncing Ball. Cartoon sequences: Betty Boop as a cabaret emcee and cigarette girl; a romantic tom-cat gigolo.
Bring 'Em Back Alive
American animal trapper Frank Buck travels with Ali, his "number one boy," on an expedition into the Malayan jungle. From their jungle headquarters just north of Singapore, Frank, Ali and a team of native helpers roam the area from Northern Johore to Perak in search of interesting wild animals, reptiles and birds. Hoping to find a tiger, Buck captures a monitor lizard and a black leopard, while another black leopard narrowly escapes an encounter with a giant python and then battles a bigger and stronger tiger. After trapping a spotted leopard, Frank adopts a baby honey bear and a baby elephant. The team catches an orangutan, but the tiger eludes their camouflaged pit. Meanwhile, Frank visits the "bathing festival" of a local tribe and watches as tribesmen kill an intruding spotted leopard with blow darts. The tiger then meets an enormous regal python, who has just crushed a crocodile, and fights to a draw with it.
Swing High
The Flying Codonas, fourth generation of a family of trapeze artists, practice and perform amazing feats high in the air. Close-up and slow motion photography show how it's done.
Microscopic Mysteries
This short film takes a look through a microscope's lens at insect life.
Snow Birds
This Pete Smith Sports Champion short visits Southern California where it quickly moves from orange orchards to the mountain snow playground at Big Pines L.A. County Camp for some winter sports including sledding, skating, and ski jumping.
Color Scales
This short film shows various species of tropical fish at the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco, California.
Olympic Events
This short film presents several athletes preparing for the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California.
Desert Regatta
In this Sports Champions entry, power boat racers use specially designed outboard motor boats in a race on California's Salton Sea.
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