Moroccan Snake Charmer (1960)

M/Ss and C/Us of various colourful and exotic flowers and trees at the Sultan's Palace of Tangier in Morocco. M/S of the snake charmer and his musician (both in traditional costume) squatting down on a path lined with vegetation; the musician is playing a drum held up against his face while the snake charmer is pulling snakes out of a basket. C/U as he holds two of them up near his face and bobs his head around.
C/Us of the drummer; the snake charmer putting his tongue out towards the snakes; the commentator tells us he has lived in the Palace gardens for as long as anyone can remember, and learnt his craft the hard way, gradually building up a resistance to their poison (I'm not looking forward to watching the next bit...). M/S as two other men enter and squat down with the musician to watch the charmer. C/U of the charmer who allows one of the snakes to bite his hand - yeuch! It seems to really lock onto his hand. He then puts them back in their basket - good!
He then spreads some straw-like grass on the ground, gathers it into a ball and starts to blow on it to try and set it on fire. Commentator says "The secret is not (as you might think) to eat some pickled onions first". Amazingly enough, the straw starts to catch light! M/S of the snake charmer squatting down and holding the burning straw.
The snakes are quite small and spindly, but can still manage a mean bite.
Note: there is no print for this issue.
FILM ID:99.35
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