Film Record: Voorlezer’s House, The

Still from The Verleezer's House in Movie Makers, Dec. 1942, 486.

Date produced: 1942

Filmmaker(s):

Frank E. Gunnell

Country of Production:

United States

Languages:

Length:

400 ft

Format:

16mm

Colour:

Kodachrome

Sound Notes:

Silent

Awards/Recognition:

ACL Ten Best 1942 - General Class

Description:

"The 246 year old Voorlezer House, believed to be the oldest elementary school building still standing in the United States, is located on Staten Island, N. Y. It has long been an interesting landmark, but it is now preserved for posterity in Kodachrome by the master hand of Frank E. Gunnell. On the occasion of the one hundredth anniversary of New York City's present school system, this site was selected for one part of the ceremonies, and eighteen girls and boys, in costumes designed from illustrations in Godey's Lady's Book, went through a typical day, recreated to appear as it might have been in 1842. Mr. Gunnell's technically superb nature films are well known, but in The Voorlezer's House there is much more than immaculate cinematography. There is lighting that fits the mood of days gone by, and there is a sensitive faculty in the direction of a group of children that is appealing. The film is simple in that the continuity is chronological, but the charm of the Gunnell touch was never more telling than in this picture. If ever a potentially dull film subject was made to glow and come alive, this is the time." Movie Makers, Dec. 1942, 506.

Resources:

Discussed by Gunnell in "Filming School History" (Movie Makers, April 1943, 132-133). The article gives historical facts about the eponymous school and describes the film's production.

The film was the third place winner in a Metropolitan Motion Picture Club members' film contest in 1942 (Movie Makers, Jan. 1943, 14).

Locations:

• Staten Island, New York (Filming)

Subjects:

• Education
• Persons
•      Children
• North America
•      United States
•           New York (State)

Genre:

• Documentary

Form:

• Short

Tags:

Screenings:

• Screened by the Amateur Motion Picture Society of Albany in 1943: Albany, N.Y.
• Screened by the Brooklyn Amateur Cine Club in 1943: Brooklyn, N.Y.
• Screened by the Indianapolis Amateur Movie Club in 1943: Indianapolis, IN
• Screened by the Ra-Cine Club in 1944: Racine, WI
• Screened by the Metropolitan Motion Picture Club in 1946: New York City, N.Y.
• Screened by the Australian Amateur Cine Society in 1949: Sydney, NSW
• Screened at a Brazilian International Amateur Movie Contest in 1950: Sao Paulo, Brazil
• Screened by the Cine Club I.C.A.L. Milano in 1951: Milano, Italy
• Screened by Haagse Amateur Filmclub and Haagse Smalfilm Liga in 1951: The Hague, Netherlands
• Screened by the Winnipeg Cine Club in 1952: Winnipeg, MB

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