1 ¶ The way of the world is west. ¶ Long the sages have told us how our forefathers, the Aryans of old, rose remote in Asia and began conquest of earth, moving ever in the path of the sun. 2 ¶ We are part of that great migration. ¶ We are the travelers who still face to the westward. 3 ¶ Back in the East behind us are the secrets of our own past, and a tradition of our brothers still living in the cradle of the race - - a long since Forgotten People. 4 Two men and a woman sought and found the Forgotten People - - (You will only see the men on the screen now, for during the migration they were behind the camera.) 5 MERIAN C. COOPER the explorer who conceived the idea of recording this migration. 6 ERNEST SCHOEDSACK whose camera recorded this epic experience. 7 MARGUERITE HARRISON author and traveler whose part in the search appears here. 8 Eastward through the hills of Asia Minor our journey begins.... 9 The caravan route out of Angora, worn by the passing feet of centuries, leads us on to mystery. 10 Thirty days on end - - over bleak plains, from village to village. 11 "Hey, kids! Lookee!" 12 Another month passes out on the Salt Desert of Anatolia. 13 And often we would run into - - 14 - - blinding desert sand- storms. 15 On one such night, as the storm increased -- out of the darkness loomed a welcome Caravanserai, the desert traveller's refuge. 16 Safe within the walls of an old courtyard. 17 At ease by their fire, the camel drivers tell tales of the desert - - and stories of the Forgotten People, whom none has seen. 18 As the embers die. 19 Dawn reveals our refuge -- 20 "Gosh - - it's another day!" 21 "Morning, pup." 22 Breakfast offers ekmek, unleavened bread that was old when Scripture was writ. 23 "A little feller has to look out for himself - -" 24 "Thanks!" 25 SUNUP. 26 "It's tough for a feller to be a magician's pup!" 27 "But a feller can show up a trick, anyway." 28 Weeks later - - leaving wagons and roads behind us, we head off into the Taurus Mountains. 29 A sentinel fortress, grim ruin of a thousand years, now the abode of wild hunters. 30 Where men rely upon their hunting skill for food! 31 Tracks! 32 Camouflage! 33 He does not hunt for sport - - he kills for food. 34 Just a speck against the sky on the brow of the cliff - - 35 A hundred and fifty pounds of wild goat. 36 Flint and steel - - where matches are an undreamed luxury. 37 Goat's meat! 38 As the morrow breaks over the mountains. 39 But we must push on to an unknown land where lives a Forgotten People. 40 And here our trail joins the great caravan route. East - East - always East. 41 Camels in the snow! 42 And out of the Mountains. 43 Out across the barren infinity of Arabia. 44 The one sign of man's law from Bagdad to Nedjd. 45 Desert Policemen! 46 The desert patrol protects peaceful tribesmen from the marauding Bedouins. 47 Here a hundred men patrol a territory larger than Arizona. 48 Off duty - - just like every police station in the world. 49 Mohammed, in command -- 50 - - shows us how they spend a slow day - - 51 - - by turning out the guard. 52 And that evening, the policemen's ball. 53 So for months we traveled -- met with many strange peoples - - endured many hardships - 54 But going ahead, we were turning the pages backwards -- on and on further back into the centuries - - 55 Till we reached the first Chapter, arrived at the very beginning - - 56 [text fades in over map] The FORGOTTEN PEOPLE 57 We know them by the ancient life of tent and tribe and herd, the life of three thousand years ago. 58 Some of their children are white and fair before they are tanned by the sun of Arabistan. 59 Dinner time! 60 Dinner time for everybody! 61 HAIDAR KHAN chief of the tribes and master among men. 62 LUFTA son and heir of the chief, proud in his ninth year. 63 Affairs of large moment are on the mind of Haidar. 64 "The grass withers. The blight of sun and drought is upon us and our herds hunger...." 65 "There is no green thing and the flocks will die, and after them the women, the children and the men." 66 As the day wanes, Haidar calls his headmen together. 67 "Gather the flocks and herds - - the grass is almost gone." 68 "Our way is to the East -- to the far valley of Iran, where the meadows are rich with plenty." 69 "Dance now, for tomorrow we go." 70 Haidar can out-do them all - - be it shooting, fighting, swimming or - - 71 When we went to sleep we were surrounded by tents, but when we awoke - - 72 Everyone working - - even Haidar, the Chief. 73 Lufta is proud to be trusted with the Kalyan, his father's council pipe. 74 Haidar with Lufta - - off to command the Quest for Grass! 75 A thousand camps are gathering....gathering.... gathering. 76 All the fifty thousand of the Bakhtyari must go the way of Haidar - - all on the way to grass. 77 These are not packs on the women's backs -- but heavy, covered, wooden cradles -- with a baby in every cradle! 78 If you're one of the really smart set.... 79 ....you carry your baby on an Arab horse.... 80 All the world's afoot -- On the move to Grass! 81 The tramp of fifty thousand feet! 82 The thunder of half a million hoofs! 83 For days they journey over rugged hills, camping in the valleys - until one morning before them roars a deep and treacherous torrent .... 84 The mighty river Karun! 85 Not a bridge, not a boat - - and the fifty thousand are coming! 86 How would you cross this river - - taking your home and family with you? 87 Even the pioneers of the Covered Wagon days never thought of this - - 88 With goat skin floats - - 89 After punctures are plugged - - 90 Animals, cradles, everything - - all must cross the river. 91 Horses, cows, sheep, donkeys and men swim - - but if a goat can, he won't. 92 [animated title; text appears at various angles] B-A-A-A! B-A-A-A! B-A-A-A-A-A! B-A-A-A-A-A! B-A-A-A! B-A-A-A-A! B-A-A-A! B-A-A-A! B-A-A-A-A-A! B-A-A-A! 93 All aboard! 94 The first Leviathan sails. 95 Always room for one more - - if it's a goat. 96 "YO ALI!" - - their ancient battle cry. 97 Glacial water, white with rock dust, cold with the chill of mountain ice. 98 Watch that middle donkey! 99 They tie the calf to the raft, hoping the cow will follow. 100 Mama, anxious but cautious, lingers. (She didn't raise her boy to be a sailor.) 101 A hard man, this Chief Haidar - - and like father, like son. 102 From half a dozen points - - Haidar and his men ... 103 "YO ALI!" 104 Talk about Rapids! 105 "YO ALI!" 106 Roaring waters! Screaming tribesmen! Bellowing herds! Cries of the drowning! 107 Swirling down to death. 108 Just in time. 109 While the river takes its toll of life, the first swimmers land. 110 For six days and nights more, an endless, desperate, battling mob were crossing the River Karun -- they were crossing at every point -- crossing at every moment -- day and night -- crossing -- 111 A week later, as night approaches, Haidar and Lufta - - 112 -- see before them a hundred and fifty miles of rugged, unmapped mountains. 113 On the way where there is no way. 114 "The riding kid" is with us. 115 Week after week filled with toil and danger - - yet the tribes struggle on. 116 At length they make the night's camp at the foot of a precipice - - 117 - - and morning finds them stopped by two thousand feet of sheer rock wall. 118 Impossible to climb! 119 Impossible? 120 No! Starvation lies behind and ahead lie Grass and Life. We must go on! 121 High on the cliff - - where even a goat can barely find foothold. 122 A girl with a live calf on her back! -- She struggles on hour after hour - - you can see her in the center of the picture. 123 Beyond the cliff and the next night's camp, Haidar and Lufta lead on into the snow mountain country. 124 The snow mountains' first line of defense .... 125 They pour a swirling torrent down their snow-clad slopes across the path of the oncoming tribes. 126 [animated text: 1st line shivers; 2nd line fades in after a moment] B-R-R-R! This water's COLD! 127 Any way to get there, even a cow will do. 128 Baby's first bath. 129 With skirts in the freezing water, the women struggle gamely on. 130 "YO ALI!" 131 "Ride 'em, kid!" 132 "Everywhere that Mary went - -" 133 On and on come the fifty thousand. 134 And now, at last, the tribes come face to face with the most dreaded enemy of all - - 135 - - fierce old Zardeh Kuh, twelve thousand feet of defiance in rock and snow and ice. 136 Haidar and his volunteers cast aside their shoes of flimsy cotton - - useless as bedroom slippers in a blizzard. 137 They must go barefoot into the snow to break trail. 138 On come the tribes! 139 The fight begins in earnest! 140 There's courage in the pipes. 141 A mule knows where to be sick. 142 Barefoot! Barefoot through the snow! 143 "Wallah Billah! Get on, Oh, Mother of Satan!" 144 "YO ALI!" 145 Haidar leads bravely on. 146 Five hours on -- struggling up and up, always up. 147 The "riding kid" is still with us. 148 No quarter to women and children! 149 They must go on or die! 150 Ten thousand feet -- where the wind is keen as steel. 151 Like flies against the vertical mountain-side clings the desperate horde. 152 Zardeh Kuh's last rampart, two thousand feet of ice and stone, straight up. 153 Night and day they come, fighting up and up endlessly. 154 But slowly the top of Zardeh Kuh grows nearer .... 155 [animated title, text grows bigger] NEARER. 156 At last the great moment -- the battle with fate is won - - 157 ZARDEH KUH IS CONQUERED! 158 "YO ALI!" 159 Lufta - - in the vanguard - - surveys a world of victory. 160 With frozen, bleeding feet and pain-wracked bodies .... stumbling down .... down .... the other side. 161 Cradle laden mothers of men .... staggering and falling .... 162 Hope quickens the step. 163 Hurry, hurry on - - the valley of promise beckons. 164 "YO ALI!" The snow is left behind. 165 The conquered foe. 166 They have fought and attained their goal -- they have fought a valiant fight. 167 They have reached the Promised Land - - the Land of "Milk and Honey" - - the Land of GRASS. 168 The Tents of Haidar are up again! 169 ¶ Now all that is left of this epic struggle are memories - - and the last document witnessed by Major Robert Imbrie, the American Consul, who shortly after met his death in the streets of Teheran. THE ENDHome