“Shots from a Strength through Joy trip on the St.Louis, leaving Hamburg, going past Blankenese, activities on board the ship, arriving at Lisabon (sic), shots of the Fort and town, a Suabian folk-dance on board, shots of Madeira and its capital Funchal, a visit on shore, then statistics as publicity for Strength through Joy trips. Poor production and photography.” – John F. Kelson. From the long list of films whose screening was prohibited by the Allied armies in post-war Germany, this was the only one belittled by John F. Kelson, author of the Catalogue of Forbidden German Feature and Short Film Productions (1951). The same quote leads us to believe that the Cinemateca Portuguesa’s print might be incomplete, missing the final statistics Kelson refers to. However, the photography and skilful editing not only of the beginning and end sequences (work on a German factory) but also of many other scenes portraying daily entertainments onboard the ship, seem to contradict Kelson’s opinion about the film.

Joana Pimentel / Tiago Baptista – Cinemateca Portuguesa-Museu do Cinema