Best movie of this year hands down!

Strong and Moving!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Mediterranean Ports of Call (1941)** 1/2 (out of 4) Another entry in MGM's TravelTalks series with this one taking a look at ports in Algiers and Monaco. In Algiers we learn that the place was an original piracy hot spot for various sea thieves until the French government finally got them under control. In the slums we see the various costumes being worn by the people and how women still go around with veils on their faces. We also see a war memorial and in Monaco we see the infamous Suicide Rock and learn that there really aren't too many suicides there after all. Once again this is your typical entry in the series, which means we learn a few interesting things and the Technicolor gives us a lot of great stuff to look at. There are certainly some beautiful images but the stand out would have to be the beautiful waters that we see.

Here is another Technicolor "Ports of Call" entry, Mediterranean PORTS OF CALL ('41), that is not listed under James A. FitzPatrick's credits but was shown today on TCM, not to be confused with "Colorful Ports of Call" from 1934.It's a Technicolor short, a 9-minute documentary that concentrates on Algiers and Monaco. The Algiers segment deals mainly with the Casbah (no Charles Boyer in sight), the busy market populated with people from France, Africa and Arabia. Shown is a beautiful war monument celebrating Algeria's part in World War II under French auspices and mention of the French Foreign Legion is made.Then we switch to the picturesque port of call of Monaco, a principality under France and the palace of the Prince of Monaco that looms over the waterfront even at a distance. A short discussion of Monaco's policies (no income tax) and its economy partially subsidized by France as views of Monaco's port are shown, gleaming in the sunlight. A high cliff overlooking the sea was named Suicide Rock for all those who jumped from it in the past.The short ends with a shot of Monaco's quaint looking harbor as the suns goes down. Nice entry in the "ports of call" department.