Film Record: Last Review, The

Date produced: 1934

Filmmaker(s):

George A. Ward

Languages:

English

Length:

700 ft

Format:

16mm

Colour:

B&W

Sound Notes:

Silent

Sound:

Accompanied by double turntable sound.

Awards/Recognition:

ACL Ten Best 1934
First Annual American Humane Association Amateur Motion Picture Contest - 1945

Description:

"The Last Review, by George A. Ward, ACL, is an almost faultless example of a military motion picture, into which is woven a story that has the rare quality of evoking deep emotion from the audience. Actually, the film is a record of the camp life of the 105th Field Artillery of the New York National Guard, in its summer instruction quarters at Pine Camp, N. Y. Dramatically, it is the story of a Field Artillery private soldier and his friend, the oldest horse in the regiment. Condemned to be shot because of age and the approaching motorization of the command, the horse is reprieved and is given a review by the entire regiment in honor of "the artilleryman's best friend." The tale was not fictional, but actual. The hero was a member of the regiment, he loved the veteran horse and the review was actually held, not for purposes of filming but as a tribute. The film ends with the review, while actually the reprieve was only temporary and the equine actor has since been destroyed because of age. In this film, Mr. Ward exhibited cinematography of high quality and much incidental beauty. He contrived, as well, to give a military record that errs in no detail and that has no false note. To crown it all, he filmed a scenario, in itself moving and acted with complete sincerity." Movie Makers, Dec. 1934, 534.

Resources:

Filmed within the two week period of a National Guard summer camp (Movie Makers, Dec. 1934, 502).

The film won first place in the travel and scenic division of an Eastern seaboard interclub movie contest in 1935 (Movie Makers, March 1935, 116).

Locations:

• Jefferson County, New York (Filming)

Subjects:

• Animals
• Politics
•      War
•           Military

Genre:

• Documentary

Form:

• Short

Tags:

Screenings:

• Screened by the Cinema Club of the Oranges in 1935: Montclair, N.J.
• Screened by the Hartford Cinema Club in 1935: Hartford, CT
• Screened at La Salle Military Academy in 1937: Oakdale, N.Y.
• Screened for the United States War Department ca. 1934-1940: Washington, D.C.
• Screened for the New York National Guard units in New York City and Brooklyn, ca. 1934-1940: New York City, N.Y.
• Screened by the Metropolitan Motion Picture Club, ca. 1934-1940: New York City, N.Y.
• Screened at the Master Institute Theatre in 1941: New York City, N.Y.
• Screened by the Queens Cine Club in 1941: Jamaica, N.Y.
• Screened by the Passaic Cinema Club in 1944: Passaic, N.J.

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