New London merits only a single sentence in this 1940 travelogue, but the filmmakers certainly found a lot of ways to feature our city in the B-roll.
The eight-and-a-half minute video covers a number of Connecticut locations, including Hartford, New Haven, Yale University, and the state's industrial and agricultural sites. It captures scenes of New London in the three year window between the Hurricane of 1938 and the outbreak of World War II.
The narrator gives New London a passing mention partway through the film, with a pan of the skyline accompanying the factoid that the city has one of the deepest harbors on the East Coast. But the movie seems eager to get across the river to the Navy base and submarine manufacturing in Groton.
However, New London makes an appearance before this mention when the Nathan Hale statue at Williams Park serves as the visual image for a mention of the Revolutionary War patriot's Connecticut connection. The Old Town Mill makes a cameo during the segment on farming, and Ocean Beach Park and sailing on Long Island Sound are featured later on. The city also sees the film to its conclusion, as the New London Harbor Light is the final shot.
The filmmakers evidently did not think the Coast Guard Academy was worth a mention, but no need to worry. The campus appears in its own 1938 newsreel, featured in this column.
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