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This film from 1954 was a Johnson Films production directed by Richard Matt, written by Pecci De Nictolis and narrated by Charles Taylor. The film documents a trip to prove the durability of the Johnson Outboard Motor, made by the Johnson Brothers of Terre Haute, Indiana. The model shown is a Johnson Seahorse produced between 1954 and 1964. They are also testing the durability of the Johnson fish lures such as the Silver Minnow, the Sprite, and Jigs invented by Louis Johnson starting in 1920. The film begins showing a Shipibo-Konibo man playing a drum (.). Two men board a Pan American-Grace Airways plane, a joint venture of Pan American World Airways and Grace Shipping Company, which ceased operation in 1967. Several views of scenery with the plane are shown along with views of inside the plane. They are headed to Peru to test their fishing equipment and look for Piranha (.). They land in Lima, Peru, the capital, where they pick up a smaller plane to the jungle. It then shows various views of the Andes as they fly over them (). On the shores of the Ucayali River, various views of a market are shown, where they pick up a guide (). They show the fishing equipment they plan on using to catch the Piranha to the guide () and then they show the Johnson Outboard Motor to be used () and they are on their way. They pass a Quechua village (), then various views of the river are shown (- ). They stop and fish near some cedar logs () and catch a Payara fish (). They go ashore and see monkeys, banana trees, and Shuar head hunters (). Views of the river are seen as they fight flying insects. (). They visit a village of Shipibo-Konibo Indians (), then the Indians show them how to catch the Arapaima (). Views of villages and jungles are shown as they travel. They fish again at the Putumayo River () catching a Corvina (). They head west on a tributary where the river is narrow and treacherous. Python, monkeys, macaw are seen (). They break out into Lake Imiria (). They head down the lake to find the Piranha. They come to a village of Aymara who show them where they can find the fish. Village scenes are shown (). They talk about Piranha and show one (). They go fishing and the fish are fighters. They catch a few when one clamps on to one man’s arm. The fish can even break a stick with their teeth, but the lures and tackle hold up (). Various scenes of the jungle are shown they leave grateful that they have been able to visit Peru (). We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.“ 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
