Film Record: His Off Day

Still from His Off Day in Movie Makers, Dec. 1940, 577.

Date produced: 1940

Filmmaker(s):

J. Owen Campbell

Languages:

English

Length:

150 ft

Format:

8mm

Colour:

Kodachrome

Sound Notes:

Silent

Awards/Recognition:

ACL Ten Best 1940 - Honorable Mention General Class

Description:

"A clever little domestic story, unpretentious but told in a good cinematic style, comes from the camera of J. Owen Campbell, in His Off Day. Here are recounted the difficulties experienced by the father of a family in his endeavor to relax on his day off. Constantly frustrated in his attempts, he finally seeks refuge in the family car, with results which provide an amusing surprise ending, notably clever in treatment. Technically, the outstanding feature of this film is the handling and lighting of the interior shots, which are uniformly good, with the exception of one or two of them. Mr. Campbell has demonstrated in this film that a simple story, enacted in familiar settings by members of one's own family, offers the most usable material for the average movie maker's indoor efforts. It is for such an outstanding embodiment of this principle that the producer of His Off Day is especially to be commended." Movie Makers, Dec. 1940,602-603.

Resources:

Campbell provides the complete script for his film, with shot descriptions, in "His Off Day" (Movie Makers, March 1941, 116-117, 133).

The film was available in the ACL's Club Film Library.

Subjects:

• Ethnology
•      Manners and Customs
•           Family life

Genre:

• Family

Form:

• Short

Screenings:

• Screened by the Movie Makers Club of Oklahoma City in 1942: Oklahoma City, OK
• Screened by the Worcester Cinema Club in 1942: Worcester, MA
• Screened by the Washington 8mm. Movie Club in 1942: Washington, D.C.
• Screened by the Metropolitan Motion Picture Club in 1947: New York City, N.Y.
• Screened by the 16 & 8 Movie Club of Braintree in 1953: Braintree, MA

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