Believe It or Not #1: A Curious Peek into North Africa's Wonders

So, 'Believe It or Not (Second Series) #1' pops up, and honestly, if you're not into old-timey documentary shorts, you can probably skip it. It's a real *time capsule*, though. Folks who dig historical footage or just love seeing how the world was presented nearly a century ago? They’ll find some neat stuff here. But if you need fast action or modern editing, this one's probably gonna feel like watching paint dry. 😴 It's slow, but in a charming, old-fashioned way, you know?

The whole thing is just a collection of little oddities, almost like Ripley himself is narrating in your head. It kicks off in the Sahara, showing us the Tuareg, those 'veiled men' of the desert. The camera kinda just *watches* them, their camels, their unique clothes, all very stark against the sand.

You can almost feel the desert heat from the black-and-white footage. It makes you think about how little most people knew about these places back then, how mysterious it all must’ve seemed. They just live out there, doing their thing. Pretty wild.

Then there's this waterfall, I think it’s called the 'Lime Falls' or something close. 🌍 It’s in Algeria, apparently. The water, because of all the lime in it, actually makes the ground *higher* underneath it. That's a strange thing, right? A waterfall that builds land instead of eroding it. It’s like, backwards somehow.

You can almost feel the film trying to convince you this natural process matters. It’s a bit of a head-scratcher, honestly. That’s a geology lesson, for sure.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Believe It or Not (Second Series) #1 (1931) through its definitive frames.

Oh, and a clock! Not just any clock, but one that strikes *thirteen*. 🕰️ It just shows it, chiming away. The movie doesn't dwell on it too much, just kinda presents the fact. Makes you wonder about the mechanism, or if someone just tinkered with it for fun to get that extra strike. What a curious little detail to include.

Then, boom, we're at the Tree of Abraham. Supposedly, like, **3500 years old**. Just a massive, ancient tree sitting there. It’s a good reminder of how long some things last, even as we zip through history. Its just a big ol' tree, but the age of it? That's the real kicker.

Watching these old shorts, its almost like a different language sometimes. The pacing is so different. No quick cuts, just letting the image sit there for a bit. Its a nice change of pace from everything today, if you got the patience for it.

It’s an okay little film, if you’re into this kind of thing. Just okay, but sometimes, okay is exactly what you need. 👍

Didja notice?

• The film quality gets *really* grainy in some of the desert shots.
• The narrator has this very serious, almost formal, voice.
• No music! Just the sound of the film projector, practically.
• The way they show the 'thirteen' strike is kinda quick, blink and you miss it.
• That tree looked really big, just **so** big.