Film Record: Waters of Lodore

Identifier:

• A0320 (Source: Alton Morton independent film collection, 1947-1968)

Date produced: 1951

Filmmaker(s):

Alton Morton

Languages:

English

Duration:

00:37:00

Length:

1200 ft

Format:

16mm

Colour:

Kodachrome

Sound Notes:

Magnetic

Awards/Recognition:

American Cinematographer Amateur Movie Makers Contest, 1952 - Top Ten Award Winner

Description:

"Waters Of Lodore - Unlike most letter carriers who go for a hike on their vaction, letter-carrier Morton and a party of friends set out on a boating adventure down the Colorado river during his 1950 summer vacation. Morton recorded the adventure from start to finish, and edited the footage into an absorbing documentary having many thrilling moments. Although the picture is a little slow getting started -the preparation and get-away sequences being somewhat overly- lenghty -the picture, once the boats get underway, is packed with interest and not a few thrills. It must have been a monumental job making movies on such an arduous journey, for it was often a tough enough job just to keep the boats afloat. Staging the boat action in the rougher waters required infinite patience and camera skill, but Morton has been rewarded with some excellent shots of his fellow-boatmen navigating the dangerous rapids. Morton shot the picture on 16mm Kodachrome at 24 f.p.s., hoping later to combine the narration on a sound print. At present, the narration is recorded on wire and synchronized with the picture." American Cinematographer, May 1952, 224.

Resources:

This film is a part of the Alton Morton independent film collection, 1947-1968, held by the J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah (via Archives West).

Record of the film at the BFI.

Locations:

• Colorado River (Filming)
• Green River, Wyoming (Filming)
• Canyon of Lodore, Colorado (Filming)

Subjects:

•      Geography
•           Rivers
•      Boats and Boating
•      United States
•           Colorado
•               Colorado River

Genre:

• Documentary

Form:

• Short

Repository:

Alton Morton independent film collection, 1947-1968, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah

Viewing Notes:

"Edited river trip beginning in Green River, Wyoming: Green River, Expedition Island, launching boats, loading gear, Firehole Basin, Linwood, Minnie Crouse Rasmussen, petroglyphs, Flaming Gorge, Horseshoe Canyon, running rapids, view from rim, running Ashley Falls, campfire cooking, Browns Park, Shallow Canyon, Gates of Lodore, Winnie's Rapid, Illinois Girl boat, Disaster Falls, Harp Falls, Triplet Rapid, lining Hell's Half Mile on the right (Al Morton's boat only - it is labelled "FACL" (Fellow of the Amateur Cinema League). The two other boats ran the rapid), Gunnison Butte. Morton's editing breaks with reality here: Gunnison Butte is at the end of Gray Canyon, some 200 miles down river. The scene suddenly jumps from the end of Hell's Half Mile in Lodore Canyon to Gunnison Butte, and unexplainable anomaly." Via Archives West.

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