Singapore to HK: van Heutsz 1935

This 1935 silent travelogue, Singapore to Hong Kong, shot in black-and-white 16mm, follows the M/V van Heutsz from Singapore to Hong Kong under sunny skies. Carrying 2500 “deck coolies” home from South Sea plantations, it features Kate Tode and crew, plus a monkey, cat, and dog—Tom, Dick, and Harry—frolicking on deck. Intertitles narrate crowded steerage quarters, gun-cleaning workers, and Hong Kong’s harbor with junks and houseboats. Captain J. Groothoff guides this pre-war glimpse of maritime life, blending whimsy with colonial undertones.