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Sol Lesser — RKO Radio
THOR HEYERDAHL, center, with four of his five companions in adventure, examines a model of the Kon-Tiki. The flags (left) signal first sight of land.
SIX MEN ON A RAFT-ON 16
How "Kon-Tiki," one of the great adventure films of our era, was produced by amateurs
GENERALLY regarded as one of the great adventure movies of the decade, Kon-Tiki was blown up from 16mm. films made by an amateur photographer, Thor Heyerdahl, and his five companions during their memorable voyage by raft from Peru to Polynesia. Kon-Tiki is the name of a balsa raft equipped with a single sail that miraculously carried the adventurers across 4300 nautical miles on a 101 day voyage that tested the courage, skill and stamina of the six Scandinavians who manned this unique vessel.
A number of years ago, Thor Heyerdahl, a young Norwegian student of anthropology, was visiting in the Polynesian Islands. Here he noticed that many of the native statues and other artifacts bore a close resemblance to those on the west coast of South America. This led to the theory that the Polynesian Islands had been peopled by
BOOKS AND MUSIC helped pass the time for non-filming members of the crew on their epic 101 day voyage from Peru to Polynesia.
A. M. LAWRENCE
early inhabitants from Peru. Heyerdahl's explanation was that they had used sail-equipped balsa rafts to drift westward with the prevailing currents which carried them to the islands of the South Pacific. After serving in World War II, the young scientist wrote a treatise expounding his theory; but the experts refused to read it, claiming that drifting across the Pacific on a balsa raft would be a sheer impossibility. This was a challenge to Heyerdahl, and he determined to prove his theory by building and sailing a balsa raft across the Pacific from Peru.
The first step was to procure a crew. He found four young Norwegians and one Swede who were willing and anxious to make the trip. Financial aid came from a wealthy and public-spirited New Yorker. The United States Department of Defense furnished equipment and rations in exchange for data concerning their use under emergency conditions.
Photographically, Heyerdahl figured that if the expedition were successful there would be need for both still and motion pictures for lectures afterward. Thus, he planned to take along, in addition to still cameras, two 16mm. motion picture cameras. He had made movies earlier in the South Seas under extreme conditions of light and humidity, so that he provided chemically-treated waterproof bags to protect his cameras and film.
Arriving in Peru, the members of the expedition had a difficult time obtaining the nine large balsa logs needed for the journey. The wood was so green and heavy that experts predicted that, if the frail craft was not swamped immediately by heavy seas, it would sink in a few days from waterlogging. But it was in vain that Peruvian government authorities begged the adventurers to give up the journey. Failing this, the officials disclaimed all responsibility for what they called a mad adventure. Heyerdahl was told with great sin | Continued on page 121]