MARINA DEL REY
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Year Published: 1965
Creator: l-a-county-small-craft-harbor-commission-and-the-l-a-county-board-of-supervisors
Description: This 1960s film "Marina Del Rey" was presented by the L.A. County Small Craft Harbor Commission and the L.A. County Board of Supervisors. It is a documentary that blends a child's whimsical imagination with a factual look at the daily operations of Marina Del Rey, California. Rather than a standard travelogue, it frames the harbor as a magical kingdom where industry and recreation coexist. It was written by Gary Philp, with music by Charles Bernstein, narration by Shari Friedland, and was directed by James Tartan. The film probably dates to just after the time that Marina del Rey was formally dedicated in 1965. At that time, it was North America's largest man-made small craft harbor. LA County authorized a loan to start the project in 1953, and in 1957 construction of the jetties for the entrance channel began. In 1963, construction of the breakwater started and was finished in January 1965. On April 10, 1965 the harbor was officially dedicated. The development transformed former marshlands into a thriving community with apartments, restaurants, and recreational facilities, culminating in its grand opening in the mid-1960s. 0:00 Main titles. The King of the Little Sea. The narrator introduces a mythical king who lives deep in the harbor, whose throne is made of sea flowers and whose movements control the tides and the fish. 2:09 The Forest of Towers. A description of the many boat masts along the shore, standing tall like a forest. 3:49 The Harbor Patrol. The narrator’s father and his friends are described as "guardians" who watch over the "water horses" (boats) to ensure they are safe at the docks. 4:23 Observation of the proud and wise birds of the marina, who preen themselves whenever they see their reflections in the water. 5:12 The Rowing Team. Students from UCLA are described as a creature with eight pairs of legs as they practice rowing in unison. 6:43 The Cormorant. This bird is personified as the king’s wizard, rising from the water to cast spells that "wake up" the boats and make them ready for their owners. 8:20 The Craftsmen. A look at the workers in the shipyard who spend their days mending, cleaning, and maintaining the vessels to keep the kingdom in order. 8:58 The Boat Elevator. A technical look at the process of lifting a 60,000-pound yacht out of the water using a massive mechanical lift for cleaning and grooming. 10:35 The narrator describes the heavy machinery and sleds used to transport boats across the dockyard as "sleeping giants" with metal muscles. 11:00 Various ways boats return to the water are shown, including powerboats being lowered by steel threads, small boats using a water slide, and people using rollers and manual muscle. 12:18 Sailing with Paul. The narrator’s brother Paul and his wife are shown sailing. Paul explains that a sail is like a wedding veil that catches the wind to make the heavy things of life disappear. 14:35 The Poetry of Sailing. A poem describes the freedom of riding "burrows of foam" and the feeling of flying across the water. 16:46 The Harbor Patrol is shown towing in a boat with a breakdown (called "nautical neurosis") and ensuring all vessels are properly moored and safe within the stone jetties. 17:30 People are shown enjoying the marina through various activities, including eating at restaurants and fishing from the banks. 18:41 Children play on the sand, building pillars and tunnels, while a boy in a mask explores the shallow water like a frog. 21:14 The narrator looks at a collection of items found during the quest: a smooth stone, a forgotten bathing cap, a seashell, and a bird's egg. 23:43 Conclusion. As the sun sets, the narrator reflects on the day’s "miracles"—the seagulls, the machines, and the salt spray—concluding that a quest is about the beauty you leave behind.
Complete Record: This 1960s film "Marina Del Rey" was presented by the L.A. County Small Craft Harbor Commission and the L.A. County Board of Supervisors. It is a documentary that blends a child's whimsical imagination with a factual look at the daily operations of Marina Del Rey, California. Rather than a standard travelogue, it frames the harbor as a magical kingdom where industry and recreation coexist. It was written by Gary Philp, with music by Charles Bernstein, narration by Shari Friedland, and was directed by James Tartan. The film probably dates to just after the time that Marina del Rey was formally dedicated in 1965. At that time, it was North America's largest man-made small craft harbor. LA County authorized a loan to start the project in 1953, and in 1957 construction of the jetties for the entrance channel began. In 1963, construction of the breakwater started and was finished in January 1965. On April 10, 1965 the harbor was officially dedicated. The development transformed former marshlands into a thriving community with apartments, restaurants, and recreational facilities, culminating in its grand opening in the mid-1960s. 0:00 Main titles. The King of the Little Sea. The narrator introduces a mythical king who lives deep in the harbor, whose throne is made of sea flowers and whose movements control the tides and the fish. 2:09 The Forest of Towers. A description of the many boat masts along the shore, standing tall like a forest. 3:49 The Harbor Patrol. The narrator’s father and his friends are described as "guardians" who watch over the "water horses" (boats) to ensure they are safe at the docks. 4:23 Observation of the proud and wise birds of the marina, who preen themselves whenever they see their reflections in the water. 5:12 The Rowing Team. Students from UCLA are described as a creature with eight pairs of legs as they practice rowing in unison. 6:43 The Cormorant. This bird is personified as the king’s wizard, rising from the water to cast spells that "wake up" the boats and make them ready for their owners. 8:20 The Craftsmen. A look at the workers in the shipyard who spend their days mending, cleaning, and maintaining the vessels to keep the kingdom in order. 8:58 The Boat Elevator. A technical look at the process of lifting a 60,000-pound yacht out of the water using a massive mechanical lift for cleaning and grooming. 10:35 The narrator describes the heavy machinery and sleds used to transport boats across the dockyard as "sleeping giants" with metal muscles. 11:00 Various ways boats return to the water are shown, including powerboats being lowered by steel threads, small boats using a water slide, and people using rollers and manual muscle. 12:18 Sailing with Paul. The narrator’s brother Paul and his wife are shown sailing. Paul explains that a sail is like a wedding veil that catches the wind to make the heavy things of life disappear. 14:35 The Poetry of Sailing. A poem describes the freedom of riding "burrows of foam" and the feeling of flying across the water. 16:46 The Harbor Patrol is shown towing in a boat with a breakdown (called "nautical neurosis") and ensuring all vessels are properly moored and safe within the stone jetties. 17:30 People are shown enjoying the marina through various activities, including eating at restaurants and fishing from the banks. 18:41 Children play on the sand, building pillars and tunnels, while a boy in a mask explores the shallow water like a frog. 21:14 The narrator looks at a collection of items found during the quest: a smooth stone, a forgotten bathing cap, a seashell, and a bird's egg. 23:43 Conclusion. As the sun sets, the narrator reflects on the day’s "miracles"—the seagulls, the machines, and the salt spray—concluding that a quest is about the beauty you leave behind.
Transcription
[music] [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Deep down in the dark dwells the king of the little sea. He's very old and of course never seen him. His throne is woven from sea flowers. And when his head is bowed, [music] the world above is all black. But when the moon tides move, silver circles of fish lift up their heads and listen while he talks. And then they race like shooting stars to the far corners of the harbor. And then the king puts [music] on his golden crown and he smiles and he says, "Oos Galadriel." I made that up, but I'm sure that's what he says. Cuz then the happening begins. I see the water like the top of a [music] table and round the edges as fitted the circle of the king's crown. Way up high, the points are very sharp, kindling [music] a bonfire in the sky. Down here inside the kingdom, it's all cool and quiet. So silent, even the wind has put on his gloves and folded his fingers. Along the shore is a great forest [music] of tall towers. Nothing moves except the king's royal guardian boat sneaking along like a lazy dolphin with a sharp nose and bright eyes. Inside that dolphin is [music] my father. He also has a sharp nose and bright eyes. He says that every single thing is a reflection of the king's treasure down below. And at just exactly the right moment, the forest of boats will suddenly become an orchard of branches scattering golden dust, and everything will be made new all over again. Last night, I told him I wanted so much to see the [music] king's face and learn his secret. He said that first I must [music] make a special journey around all the parts of the realm. I should touch my fingertips to the water. Try to catch the fast wind between my teeth. And if I [music] can collect a palm full of beautiful things and care for them so much I'm not even afraid [music] to let them go, I might find what I'm looking for. That's called a quest. I want that very much. >> [music] [music] [music] >> The guardians, my father and his friends, ride silent. ently and wake up the morning. They call themselves the harbor patrol. That seems like a very ordinary name, but they're not very ordinary people. They watch over all the water horses stable to the docks, just waiting for their owners to mount them and glide far away in search of adventure. [music] Here all days begin with water birds. They're very proud, you know, and they ought to be very wise. After all, they've been here a lot longer than we have. Father says they're very common birds. I'm sure he's right. But I like common birds. The minute they see themselves in the water, they're all shook up about the state of their feathers. >> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> What's got an enormous beak, eight pairs of legs, and bursts out of its cocoon all brighteyed and bushy tailed. [music] It's a rowing team made out of students [music] from UCLA. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] [music] [music] >> [music] [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Way down in the dark lives the conjure bird. He even has a magic name, Cormarant. He's the king's wizard who rises up from the golden treasure deep under the water and glides along casting spells on the boats. He makes everything look like it isn't all wobbly like being inside a goldfish bowl looking out. He makes the boats come alive and the boats become restless, anxious for people to ride them. [music] Listen, they're calling to their owners. Get up. Open your eyes. This is 365th of a year at the Marina del Rey. [music] [music] Get up. [music] Open your eyes. >> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Each person making safe and beautiful his own private version of the Queen of Sheba or Cleopatra, well-dressed and prepared to be launched into each special venture of the day, and the craftsmen who live by mending other people's dreams. It's their job to keep all the parts of the kingdom in order, making everything fresh and new. [music] Sometimes they're very proud and their faces shine. These men are going to give the orders for the performance of a true miracle. An island of wood is made to sink down into the water and the most incredible voyage begins. >> [music] >> The land is calling out to a great lady of the sea. [music] Drawn softly onto the island, made vast and secure. A hand moves a dial and the island is transformed into an elevator lifted on columns. A lady who tips the scales at 60,000 lb. Carefully groomed, burnished bright and clean with water, her royalty made ready for new journeys to new places. Carried across the width of the dockyard on a sled with more power than all the shoulders of all the slaves old pharaoh could get together in a whole week. When I listen with my whole body, I can hear the sound of metal breathing. And deep down inside, I can feel the cords of the muscles in the machine stretch tight and strong. Then the wheel inside my heart turns around. And even my bones want to dance. Because I know somebody's put breath back into those old sleeping giants. And we're using their muscles to perform 12 dozen great labors just for us. All this power for one delicate vessel held together by a spiderweb. Catamaran. Catamaran. That's like corarant. A magic word. [music] [music] When the boats lie on their bellies on the shore, they're [music] quite helpless. Somehow or other, they've got to get back to the water. Here, there's as many ways of getting them there as there are kinds of boats. A power boat resting like a child in a cradle, picked up by threads [music] of steel and set down very tenderly. There's a water slide for small [music] boats with great courage. >> [music] >> And on another part of the beach, there's even a place for people's muscles. They [music] can set their boat on a little roller and push and shove till they get it just exactly where they want it. That's [music] the beginning of things. Do it yourself and let the children believe they're the sleeping giants. [music] >> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> That's my brother Paul and his wife. They got married and came here [music] to live. At first, I didn't like her cuz she kept him so busy. He didn't pay any attention to me. Besides, she looks so smiley, it makes you positively nervous. If nobody was watching, I think she'd [music] sprout wings and fly. But when she looks like that, I just can't help it. I like her anyhow. Paul says that a sail is like a fine wedding veil. He says, "When you get [music] married, you expect to have to tackle both the good and the bad. But when the four winds hit you in the face, the sail opens like a lovely [music] crescent moon. And all the heavy things that sit on the lids of your eyes are gone, [music] and you fly on the water very fast and very free. >> [music] [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] [music] [music] >> [music] [music] >> Paul made a poem about sailing. Who dares to catch the sun when he flies? What creature could harvest the sea? Who tries to cradle the world in his arms and rock the wild map on his knee? You who ride on burrows of foam. Shape your hands to the windb blown high. Bend your back to the curve of a dream. Shout loud and you shatter the wall of the sky. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] [music] >> [music] [music] >> Sometimes boats have breakdowns and have to be towed in. Father calls it nautical neurosis. Like when your rut is confused and going in the wrong direction. That's his job. Making sure that everything in the whole kingdom goes in the right direction so that everybody's safe. Watchmen on floating battlements making certain that boats are properly mored. helping lost boats find their [music] way back inside the protection of the stone jetties. And sometimes they even rescue people who get halfway out to sea and discover they just haven't got enough of what it takes [music] to get there. But most everything I could wants right here, places to live, restaurants where you can eat all different kinds of food, lots of places to fish. To me, fishing is like being part of a mystery. I hold my breath in hopes I can fool the fish into making this awful mistake. [music] [music] >> [music] [music] >> Dad says that Earth's pages are filled with a record of each living thing wrestling with one another to find out who's the strongest and the smartest. [music] And nothing stays the same cuz all the characters are forever rolling from one side of the page to the other. He says it's the aliveness on the face of the wrestler that counts. [music] From all over, people come to play on the king's beach. I can't figure how anyone could ever give names to all the fabulous doings of children on a beach. They plant their fingers and toes in the sand like 20 little crooked tower pillars, making imaginary minnows swim through the tower gates. A boy puts on a mask and hops about in the water like a frog. What will he find? [music] I wonder. [music] >> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Now [music] with the afternoon polished smooth as a looking glass, the stone arms present a passage for a congregation of pilgrims gathered together in the aisles of the sea. [music] I look at things I've collected. A stone that fitted in my hand just right. A bathing cap some fine lady had forgotten on the beach. A seashell [music] that made rumble sounds in my ear. And a bird's egg I'd found nestled in the corner of a spar. And deep down inside, I think that maybe, just perhaps, if I rub the stone, the shell will grow large as the deck of a boat. The lady's cap will open to the size of a sail. And if I warm the egg with my hand, [music] it will hatch and the bird will fly to the sun, calling out a song to make the boat dance around and around. And there I'll be sailing away in the middle of my own magic circle. [music] >> [music] [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. [music] [music] Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] [music] >> When the sharp prows of the sailboats have carved feathering crisscrosses on the map of the sea, and when all the luminous paths they've made vanish away, now's the time to go home. Now's my time to capture the day and hold it tight. This morning when I opened my eyes, I saw a miracle. I saw the seagulls wearing the dawn on their wings and the willlets watching the sunrise with gold on their feathers. I've seen the corrant conjure boats to life and heard the voices of machines singing work songs raising their arms in praise. I've tasted the wind seasoned by sea salt whistling between my teeth. And I've met and memorized bases I may not ever see again. That man looking at the fish he just caught. How far away was the crease at the corner of his eyelid. A smile has so many shapes. And the children who built freeways out of sand [music] and then stood right on top of all their work and laughed for no reason at all. I want to find the reason. I want to make every hour into a thousand minutes and give a 100 hours to every day. I don't want to let the time just [music] pass away. In a quest, you're supposed to find a holy treasure. And once you've got it, nothing else is supposed to matter anymore. Is it what you find that counts? Or what you leave when you go? [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] [music] [music] [music] >> [music] [music] >> Now the slow solemn march of my night kings drip across the margins of the sky. Even the songirds carry the candle of the day in their peaks. They cover the evening with their wings. I'll gather together a golden heart of dreams chosen from the treasures of all my days and ways. I'll hold in my palm the pleasures I borrow with such care. Then let them fly like [music] feathers to the corners of the wind. [music] [music] >> [music] [music] [music] [music]
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