PEARL OF THE GULF

Year Published: 1949

Description: This fascinating educational film was created by two oil companies, Caltex and Regent Oil, which were actively working to develop and exploit Bahrain's petroleum resources in the mid to late 1950s. The film follows two characters, Abdullah and John Winters. Winters acted as Abdullah’s guide through Europe as he studied. In this film Abdullah takes the opportunity to show Winters his own home. The Dilmun burial grounds and are visited and features the Sheik at the time; Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa KCMG. It shows a land contrasted by old and new. The film opens with a note it was distributed for the Seafarers Education service (:06). This service got its start in 1919 and operates as an advice bureau with focus on the education of seafarers. It is presented by Regent Oil company Ltd (:09) and Caltex. The Caltex logo follows (:23). The island nation of Bahrain is highlighted on a map (:52). A note informs viewers this is an area where ancient tradition contrast against modern industries with a rapidly growing Sheikdom. The film is dedicated to those who live and work in Bahrain (1:02). The coastline of Bahrain appears (1:43). Characters Abdullah; from Bahrain, and John Winters (2:11) sit in the backseat of a 1955 Chevrolet heading for the west coast. The streets of the capital city of Bahrain; Manama appear (2:45). They head for the countryside (2:59). They stop at the luxury home of Abdullah’s father (3:32). His brothers and friends greet the new arrival (4:04). They pass refreshments amongst one another (4:52). He begins to explain the country's history over vast burial grounds (5:40). Archaeologists from Denmark (6:03) dig at the site known as the Dilmun burial grounds. Close shots follow of the archaeologists at the dig site (6:46). The men use a primitive well to drag up water (7:04). They wash clothes using the traditional methods as well (7:29). Cows stand behind a wooden fence (7:49) as Abdullah discusses modern farming and irrigation techniques. Dates hang in high trees; a popular crop of the area (7:58). A man climbs to the top of the tree to show how to collect the dates (8:13). Youth rough house below (8:25). While climbing a date tree, one of the boys falls and injures his ankle due to the antics of his friend (9:04). The boy is carted off to a doctor's office (9:36). The following morning, John and Abdullah visit two newly erected hospitals (10:30). The car drives through Manama, Bahrain (11:33). A tower of the Bahrain mosque rises in the back left (11:37). A horse drawn cart rides past modern automobiles (11:51). A wooden boat is pictured under construction (12:23) as the film turns to detail the merchant fishing industry of Bahrain. The camera view pans around the harbor’s blue waters (12:54). Fishermen move out on traditional merchant fishing vessels (14:09). A sail is lifted up (14:20). Inshore fishermen operate using traditional methods (14:47). A fisherman pulls a small cage up (14:53). Another jumps in to pull a net up (15:13). The pearling fleet bobs in the water (15:36). Pearling is an ancient tradition here. The diver is pulled up after collecting enough oysters (16:07). The oysters are cracked open at dawn (16:40). The pearls are inspected (16:56). Students play outside the Alice School (17:58). Abdullah takes John to a club he is a part of (18:37). They play a football game against a European team here (18:39). The site where oil was first discovered is pictured (19:59). A plaque commemorates this occasion (20:02). Modern apparatus drag up oil from the ground to the refinery (20:13). The pair drive away from the oil fields for A'ail (21:19). A stop sign is pictured (21:46). Black smoke billows up from smokestacks (22:25). This refinery is one of the largest in the Middle East (22:34). Shots follow from around the plant (22:55). A massive liner of the Caltex oil company (23:41) gets filled up. Scenes follow from John’s last day on the island (24:19). It was also the same day as the Annual Agriculture Fair. The Sheik is first pictured (24:35). The brass band plays under red hats (25:27). Closing scenes appear at the Bahrain airport (26:26). A stewardess checks the passenger’s tickets (26:38) as they board. The coastline falls away as the film concludes (27:23). This was a Greenpark Production in association the Film Producers Guild (27:30). The film was produced and directed by Humphrey Swingler (27:49).

Complete Record: This fascinating educational film was created by two oil companies, Caltex and Regent Oil, which were actively working to develop and exploit Bahrain's petroleum resources in the mid to late 1950s. The film follows two characters, Abdullah and John Winters. Winters acted as Abdullah’s guide through Europe as he studied. In this film Abdullah takes the opportunity to show Winters his own home. The Dilmun burial grounds and are visited and features the Sheik at the time; Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa KCMG. It shows a land contrasted by old and new. The film opens with a note it was distributed for the Seafarers Education service (:06). This service got its start in 1919 and operates as an advice bureau with focus on the education of seafarers. It is presented by Regent Oil company Ltd (:09) and Caltex. The Caltex logo follows (:23). The island nation of Bahrain is highlighted on a map (:52). A note informs viewers this is an area where ancient tradition contrast against modern industries with a rapidly growing Sheikdom. The film is dedicated to those who live and work in Bahrain (1:02). The coastline of Bahrain appears (1:43). Characters Abdullah; from Bahrain, and John Winters (2:11) sit in the backseat of a 1955 Chevrolet heading for the west coast. The streets of the capital city of Bahrain; Manama appear (2:45). They head for the countryside (2:59). They stop at the luxury home of Abdullah’s father (3:32). His brothers and friends greet the new arrival (4:04). They pass refreshments amongst one another (4:52). He begins to explain the country's history over vast burial grounds (5:40). Archaeologists from Denmark (6:03) dig at the site known as the Dilmun burial grounds. Close shots follow of the archaeologists at the dig site (6:46). The men use a primitive well to drag up water (7:04). They wash clothes using the traditional methods as well (7:29). Cows stand behind a wooden fence (7:49) as Abdullah discusses modern farming and irrigation techniques. Dates hang in high trees; a popular crop of the area (7:58). A man climbs to the top of the tree to show how to collect the dates (8:13). Youth rough house below (8:25). While climbing a date tree, one of the boys falls and injures his ankle due to the antics of his friend (9:04). The boy is carted off to a doctor's office (9:36). The following morning, John and Abdullah visit two newly erected hospitals (10:30). The car drives through Manama, Bahrain (11:33). A tower of the Bahrain mosque rises in the back left (11:37). A horse drawn cart rides past modern automobiles (11:51). A wooden boat is pictured under construction (12:23) as the film turns to detail the merchant fishing industry of Bahrain. The camera view pans around the harbor’s blue waters (12:54). Fishermen move out on traditional merchant fishing vessels (14:09). A sail is lifted up (14:20). Inshore fishermen operate using traditional methods (14:47). A fisherman pulls a small cage up (14:53). Another jumps in to pull a net up (15:13). The pearling fleet bobs in the water (15:36). Pearling is an ancient tradition here. The diver is pulled up after collecting enough oysters (16:07). The oysters are cracked open at dawn (16:40). The pearls are inspected (16:56). Students play outside the Alice School (17:58). Abdullah takes John to a club he is a part of (18:37). They play a football game against a European team here (18:39). The site where oil was first discovered is pictured (19:59). A plaque commemorates this occasion (20:02). Modern apparatus drag up oil from the ground to the refinery (20:13). The pair drive away from the oil fields for A'ail (21:19). A stop sign is pictured (21:46). Black smoke billows up from smokestacks (22:25). This refinery is one of the largest in the Middle East (22:34). Shots follow from around the plant (22:55). A massive liner of the Caltex oil company (23:41) gets filled up. Scenes follow from John’s last day on the island (24:19). It was also the same day as the Annual Agriculture Fair. The Sheik is first pictured (24:35). The brass band plays under red hats (25:27). Closing scenes appear at the Bahrain airport (26:26). A stewardess checks the passenger’s tickets (26:38) as they board. The coastline falls away as the film concludes (27:23). This was a Greenpark Production in association the Film Producers Guild (27:30). The film was produced and directed by Humphrey Swingler (27:49).

Transcription

[Music] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] My name is Abdullah Muhammad and I was born and live on the island of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. This was a very happy day for me as we drove John Winter and I across the island to my home on the west coast. John was an old friend who had been my host and my guide while I was studying in Europe two years ago. And now for a few days I was going to be able to show him my island and my home and the way my people live and work. [Music] This was John's first visit to the east, and he was full of questions and amazement at the varied scene as we drove from the busy streets of Manama out into the sunless country. [Music] [Music] At home, my father was waiting to greet our guests and to entertain him in the manner which is traditional to us. Two of my brothers and some friends were there as well to meet us. Heat. Heat. [Music] Over [Music] coffee in the garden, we discussed among ourselves held a schedule for John's visit. And that same afternoon, he and I started off on a sightseeing tour. [Music] My country's history reaches far back into the past. Vast burial grounds stretch across the landscape. Perhaps the last resting place of the earliest inhabitants of this island 3 or 4 thousand years ago. [Music] To probe that history, archaeologists have come from Denmark and piece by piece are unearthing the ancient story of our island. [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] Time honored methods of drawing water and of washing clothes still persist side by side with all the amenities of modern technology. And today I was able to take John to see one of the results of the progress we have achieved on this desert island. Because of our efforts in employing modern methods of irrigation and farming technique, we are now able to grow crops and flowers and to rare livestock and poultry which 50 years ago were but a dream. For centuries, dates have been one of our staple products. And today, with improved methods, it is possible for us to grow a much wider range of products. Yeah. [Music] I thought John had seen enough for one day and we were going home. But the children playing among the dead palms altered our plan. The boy who was hurt was my brother's son, young Ali Muhammad. Though the damage to his leg did not appear to be very serious, he was obviously in great pain and we decided to get him to a doctor as quickly as possible. I love you. [Music] The accident to little Ali and our visit to the village clinic with him on his first day in Bahrain opened John's eyes to the progress we had made with our medical services. [Music] So next morning I took him to two of our new hospitals as well as the clinics which we have established in many of the villages. Our medical department has in recent years been responsible for a great expansion in its services. Both the TB hospital which I showed to John and the maternity hospital are equipped to most upto-ate standards. And every year development continues. New hospitals are built, new training centers opened to meet the needs of our people. [Music] The capital city of Bahrain, the busy town of Manama, is the center of the island's life and work. Some people say that the ancient Phoenicians, the ancestors of all boat builders, started in Bahrain. Whether that's true or not, we Bahinis have built boats for centuries and sailed them across the oceans of the eastern world. For centuries, we have been seagoing people and our seabboard is always crowded with craft of every description bearing goods of all kinds to and from the ports of the world. Today, Manama is a free port and its harbor facilities are continuously being expanded with an everinccreasing volume of trade. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] like islanders the world over. Our people are fishermen. And here once again we see the old and the new side by side. Ancient Dows sail out to the fishing grounds, crossing the lanes used by modern oil tankers. [Music] The inshore fishermen with a variety of traps still fish in the same way as their ancestors have done for hundreds of years. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Once a year, the pearling flea drops anchor out in the Gulf. Pearl diving is probably our oldest industry and from earliest times Bahrain has been famous for its pearls. In fact, it is said that Bahrain pearls is the finest and most delicately colored in the world. The pearling ships are equipped with special OS with square blades and these are tied so that they project over the water while diving is going on. Each diver has a mate whose job it is to hold the diver to the surface as soon as he has collected enough oysters or when he can hold his breath no longer. These men can stay 12 fathoms down on the ocean bed for as long as one and a half minutes at a stretch. And in this time they will collect up to a dozen oysters. At dawn each day, the oysters are opened and even the tiniest seed pearls are treasured and sold by weight. While as much as £15,000 was once paid for just one Baharini pearl. [Music] Next day I took John to visit Alid School, one of many which have been built during the last 10 years. [Music] 30 years ago, Bahrain had but two primary schools. Today there are more than 30 boys schools and 13 girls schools as well as a technical college. While we were watching a game of softball, I told John about the club I belonged to at Maharak and suggested that he come and watch our football match that evening against a European team. [Music] Hallelujah. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Not many years ago, oil was found under the sands of Bahrain. A new industry flared and in the south of the island, as if out of the desert, pipes and tanks appeared on the landscape. This was the apparatus to bring the oil from the ground to the great refinery on the east coast. And today the search goes on for new sources of oil and new wells are drilled to increase production. [Music] On our way north again from the oil fields, John and I drove through Alawali. This town is the brain center for over 5,000 of my countrymen who live and work with British and American engineers to produce this new wealth which has meant so much to Bahrain. [Music] The refinery, which is one of the largest in the Middle East, handles over 186,000 barrels of oil each day. Its output includes the full range of refined petroleum products from asphelt to high octane aviation fuel and these are piped to the waiting ships at Citra Warf or to the drum plant nearby. [Music] [Music] [Music] It was John's last day on the island and the opening day of our annual fair and agricultural show. His highness, our ruler, Shik sir Salman bin Muhammad Al Khalifa was leaving his palace when we got there to motor the 10 miles to Manama where the festivities were to take place. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] I was proud and happy that John's last impression of Bahrain should Be so colorful and so instructive. [Music] It was sad to say goodbye to so good a friend. One day I shall visit Europe again and perhaps one day John will come back here. In his short stay, he has seen something of my country and its people, something of our industry and the development of our resources, something of our traditions and our cultural heritage. He has looked back at our past and we have shown him that we are looking forward to our future. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music]

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