Colorful Holland

Colorful Holland (1950)

*** (out of 4)

Another pleasant entry in MGM's TravelTalks series has James A. FitzPatrick traveling to Holland where we learn about cheese but more on that in a minute. The second portion of this short shines the spotlight on a couple small villages where young sons are expected to help their fathers in the field and we also get to see a wedding outfit that was popular back in the day and continues to be so. This second half is mildly entertaining but the real highlight comes in the first half as we learn about Holland's cheese craze. It was rather fun seeing how they handle the product (rolling it into balls) and how it eventually gets sold. One of the strangest moments shows a couple men carrying the product and we're told that these men are looked at very highly in terms of their position of cheese carriers yet we're then told that they don't get much money. The entire love story to cheese is something that I must admit I've never seen before on this alone makes the film worth viewing. As usual, the Technicolor is a major asset as it helps bring the scenes to life and this is especially true of the fields and a quick look at some water. It should be noted that FitzPatrick and MGM must have filmed quite a few stuff in Holland because the following year they released LAND OF THE ZUIDER ZEE.