NavList:

I just caught the second half of an old docu-drama short film on TCM, Turner Classic Movies, on the life of Matthew Fontaine Maury: "Prophet Without Honor". An 11-minute short, it was nominated for an Academy Award back in 1940. The film is rather heavy on the story of his connections with the Confederacy and his "banishment" following the war. Considering this was the same year that "Gone With the Wind" won Best Picture, I suspect that that "huge" film may have set the tone for this little one. But it's a fascinating bit of maritime history both for its subject and for the scenes of contemporary maritime life c.1939 still influenced by Maury's charts and weather theories. There's some brief footage of an aircraft carrier transiting the Panama Canal. I wasn't watching closely but I believe it was the USS Lexington, one of the very first US aircraft carriers.

 

Unfortunately, TCM doesn't list a schedule for these little short subjects, so I don't kow when it would be on again. This time around it was filling space just after the end of "South Pacific".