Film, Motion Picture

Wonder Cruises on Our Inland Seas, Dennis Glen Cooper

Color 16mm film reel containing the Chicago, Duluth, and Georgian Bay Transit Company promotional movie, "Wonder Cruises on Our Inland Seas," which documents a seven day cruise on the SOUTH AMERICAN. The tour, which is filmed and narrated by Dennis Glen Cooper, begins and ends in Detroit, spans the Great Lakes from Duluth to Buffalo, and includes visits to several ports along the way.

The film begins with a map of the Great Lakes, showing its and major harbors, and the routes of the NORTH AMERICAN and SOUTH AMERICAN.

The tour footage begins with the dock in Detroit, where dock workers prepare for the launch, passengers board, and spectators see them off. The camera captures a band playing on the promenade, passing ships including one from Norway, and the first of several sunsets.

After dark the action moves to an event where the ship's activity director Mary Lou McIntyre introduces Captain J. Oscar Spjut and the ship's officers. The film then picks up the next morning where the passengers make their first morning mile-long hike around the ship's promenade. Other deck activities are also depicted including a horse racing board game, and sunbathing.

The ship then docks at Mackinac Island. Cooper explains that he took a horse-drawn carriage around the island, and he shows the sites he visited during the tour--Old Fort Mackinac, the statue of Pere Marquette, a view of the town from the fort, the blockhouse, Arch Rock, Sugar Loaf Rock, Fort Holmes, and the Grand Hotel. The departure from the island is followed by another sunset, then a talent show put on by the members of the crew.

The next portion of the film entails a visit to Houghton, and the souvenir shops that can be found there. This is followed by a visit to Duluth. The film includes shots of the Aerial Lift Bridge, grain elevators, downtown Duluth, the view from Skyline Drive, and an exterior of the Flame restaurant. The film marks the passage of time again with another sunset shot from the ship's deck, and another morning hike around the promenade.

The SOUTH AMERICAN then passes through the Canadian Lock on the Sault Ste. Marie Canal. The camera captures the views from both the bow and stern in the lock. Brief shots follow of the Blue Water Bridge at Port Huron briefly, traffic on the St. Clair River, the Old Club and houses along the shore in the St. Clair Flats area, the Detroit skyline and the Ambassador Bridge, and another sunset, this time on Lake Erie.

The cruise then arrives at Buffalo, New York. Cooper rolls the camera as he visits Niagara Falls and the Whirlpool Rapids, and takes a ride on the MAID OF THE MIST.

The film ends after the SOUTH AMERICAN returns to Detroit, the bellboys line up all of the passengers' luggage, and the ship disembarks on another trip.