Guest
Join this channel to get access to perks: Want to learn more about Periscope Film and get access to exclusive swag? Join us on Patreon. Visit Visit our website This undated black-and-white film, “Thirty-Six Feet to Tahiti,” is part of Jack Douglas’s (born Jonathan Aivaz) Bold Journey TV series, which ran from 1956-1959. Douglas invited adventurers onto the program to narrate their home movie footage of expeditions. This film documents ichthyologists Jack and Helen Randall’s 1955 voyage from Honolulu, Hawaii to Papeete, Tahiti aboard the Nani, a 36-foot ketch. Also onboard were their toddler daughter Lori Randall and engineer Norman Baker. Helen narrates from the Malibu, California beach house of friends. Jack Randall shot most of the footage, and is consequently absent from most frames. The film is undated but appears to have first aired in December of 1957. Credits: Jack Douglas, creator; Julian Lesser, producer; Bill O’Hara, editor. After title, film opens on Douglas, standing in a suit on a basic set, ropes tied to a pin rail behind him, one hand on a globe turned to the Americas (00:14). The Nani sailing through the open ocean, an island visible behind its light-colored sails (00:50). A chaise lounge on a Malibu beach house balcony, sandy beach and crashing waves visible just past the balcony railing (01:08). Camera pans to interior, Douglas stands before closed cabinetry stacked with books, thin microphone in his hands (01:18). Helen enters wearing a dress with a long sash at the waist and a brooch around her neck to be interviewed by Douglas (01:29). Title card presented as book pages, illustration of the Nani (03:25). Nani in drydock, Helen painting its hull (03:30). Jack Randall loading food boxes onboard (03:38). Lori sitting on deck smiling, pigtailed; Lori playing with rigging turnbuckle (03:48). Men and women bestowing leis and kisses on the Randalls, “Hawaiian goodbyes” (04:02). Nani motoring through Ala Wai harbor in Honolulu, sails down (04:28). Nani in full sail, Diamond Head in background (04:57). Aerial shot of the ketch in open ocean (04:58). Norman in rain slicker holding the boat’s wheel (5:03). Montage of choppy seas from boat (05:11). Kealakekua Bay and Captain James Cook monument (05:23). Rainbow Falls (05:47). Puna District lava flow from the 1955 Kilauea East Rift Zone Eruption (06:03). Shot of choppy ocean, life preserver foregrounded (06:36). Norman measuring nautical miles traveled using rope and a mechanical rotor log (06:48). Helen setting up a night light (07:01). Helen preparing a meal in ship’s galley (07:17). Jack cleaning dishes with pot scratcher, rinsing with sea water awash on deck (07:36). Lori climbs out of hold onto deck wearing life preserver; playing with puzzles (07:51). Jack collecting plankton: making “plankton tows,” nets with collection bottles, and dragging them behind boat; hauling in nets; examining plankton collected in bottles (08:16). Helen holds up flying fish (09:01). Norman navigating from rigging with sextant (09:05). Helen washing her hair in squall rainwater (09:34). Jack at boat’s wheel, steering through squall (10:05). Helen strengthening sail seam with sailmaking palm (sail palm) and sail needle (10:26). Full sails billowing in wind (10:57). Jack wearing bowler and mop as beard, carrying a trident and masquerading as “King Neptune.” (11:05). Helen cutting Norman’s hair on deck (11:20). Jack climbing rigging and straddling mainmast yard (11:50). Caroline Island (Caroline Atoll; Millennium Island) (12:23). Norman stands by beached dinghy in jungled cove, countless birds (probably terns) milling about in the sky around him (12:41). Tern guarding its egg (12:52). Coconut crab scuttles (13:03). Man walks in front of beachfront coconut thatched hut, forest of palms sways in wind behind him (13:34). Shallow coral reef at high tide (13:59). Helen rowing a rowboat to the Nani (14:18). Underwater fish montage: caranx, tangs (convict fish), parrotfish, butterfly fish, grouper, coral, Norman spearfishing (15:15). Porpoises swimming alongside boat and jumping (17:09). Tahiti coastline (17:56). Papeete Harbor dock and cityscape, many bicyclists (18:33). Point Venus Lighthouse (19:25). Jack rinsing himself at base of waterfall (21:21). Woman dances hula while a man plays ukulele (21:33). Film closes with Matavai Bay and Moorea Island at sunset (22:09). This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit
