'In Fancy Free' is a fantasy, imaginatively planned, photographed, and edited, which pictures the day-dreams of a young woman as she sits by the window looking out on her garden. Nearby objects, such as a Buddah, a porcelain figure of a dancer, a flower, and the passing of friends by her house set her to reflecting on her greatest wish -to be a dancer. She becomes absorbed in these dreams as a participant and the dances she imagines are laid against colorful and symbolic backgrounds. As the picture unfolds, narration by a young woman with a remarkable appealing voice tells the story of the young girl's desires, and then in the closing sequence, we learn in a brief heart-tugging climax that the girl, a cripple, can never take part in the activities of her dreams. The production is replete with effect lighting and special photographic effects -a forte which Turner ably established in his earlier productions. The dance numbers demanded skill, both in direction and execution; and the musical score, especially prepared by members of the student orchestra of the college where Turner is an instructor, is a vital and moving contribution to the picture." American Cinematographer, May 1952, 222.
"Save for a few opening and closing scenes, In Fancy Free is creative film fantasy of the highest order. For in it Glen H. Turner, beginning only with an idea, has evoked from his own mind and heart and spirit a superb and moving visual drama. As with all truly great art, the theme of In Fancy Free is essentially simple. At the film's opening a grave and tranquil girl is seen seated by a sunny window overlooking a rose garden. Laying aside her book amid these halcyon surroundings, she daydreams to herself of that which in all her life means most — the joys of dancing. There follow then four sequences of modern ballet, their themes suggested by objects or activities around her — an Oriental figurine, a string of paper dolls, a tennis game and the sunny, nodding roses. As these ballets end, we learn — in a brief, throat-tightening climax — that never, in her lifetime, can the girl take part in them. Although thematically quite different, In Fancy Free is a direct descendant of One Summer Day, with which (on 8mm. film) Mr. Turner won the Maxim Memorial Award in 1949. For in both fantasies the producer has, with sound dramatic instinct, related his world of pulsing wonder directly with the world of poignant reality. Thus it is that Mr. Turner's brilliant creative imageries take on a meaning above and beyond their mere technical virtuosity. The story development, dance themes, abstract settings and, needless to say, the camera work of In Fancy Free are all original creations by the producer. Mr. Turner enjoyed, however, a wealth of heart-warming collaboration in bringing this picture to its full flowering. An assistant professor of art at Brigham Young University, he was able to enlist the enthusiasm of countless other creative spirits. Thus it was that an original and brilliant musical score was written directly into this film dream. Thus, too, that this music was performed for recording by the university orchestra and that the dance themes were developed, almost step by step with the picture's progress, by the college ballet group. There will be those among the carping who are sure to complain that with this cooperation and those resources any amateur could produce a winner. To these few our unequivocal answer is "Non-sense!" Great art is created by the mind and heart of the artist — not by the hands of those who help him. That Mr. Turner could integrate these efforts into his own filmic concept is only another measure of this man as a truly creative cine artist." Movie Makers, Dec. 1951, 392-393, 410.
"documentario"/documentary
"In From the Sea, produced by Fenno Jacobs for Todd Shipyards Corporation, establishes a precedent this year, for it is the first 16mm sound film, directly recorded in this medium, to be offered for Ten Best consideration in the Special Class. But the fact that this film carries its own directly recorded sound is only one of its many unusual qualities. It tells an interesting and dramatic story of the manifold activities that make up a working day in a great shipyard, where the monster ships are hauled from their native element without ceremony and attacked by a swarm of workers who specialize in every known form of ship repair. By handling this material with great technical facility and by fine editing tempo, excellent choice of camera viewpoint and a flair for cinematic effectiveness, Mr. Jacobs has succeeded in creating an industrial picture which has a high general interest. Among the many noteworthy sections of this film is the sequence which shows the workers' lunch hour. It is outstanding for its fine cutting and for the dramatic pause which creates a respite from the Titanic activities of the working hours. Interesting also is the sound accompaniment which is an integral part of the film and which, in addition to a spoken commentary and spot recording of shipyard sounds, includes well chosen excerpts from Stravinsky's suite, The Fire-Bird, to establish a modern mood." Movie Makers, Dec. 1937, 627.
"The 1944 Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Award film, In His Own Judgement, is the distinguished expression of the mature thought of a generous, broad and rich mind. With all the individualism of Henry Thoreau, whose philosophy the picture exemplifies, Joseph J. Harley has lifted up his eyes unto the hills and to the lonely places of nature and has brought from them a finely sincere, dramatic story that declares his own credo of man's healing.The tale is simple. A jurist, on the verge of a nervous collapse, disappears and finds refuge from terror and confusion in a lonely wooded retreat. Almost identified, after some years, by two young girls who meet him by chance, he tells them the tale of "a missing judge" in retrospective sequences. Although nearly convinced that he is the long sought man, they decline to earn the reward offered for news of him and leave him in peace. In cinematography, direction, action, dramatic construction and realization of beauty, Mr. Harley's film is of high quality. The tense horror of the overworked jurist in the crowded city is followed by the rest which he finds in solitude. The words of the Psalms comfort him and bring him "peace at the last." They are exquisitely read in a special recording. Mr. Harley was greatly aided in his two long years of labor on the picture by the fine and sincere work of his brother in law, Charles Hooker, who assumed the role of the judge with authority and restraint. The whole film is beautifully integrated by phonograph with the music of Dvorak's violoncello concerto in B minor, Liszt's Les Preludes, Goldmark's Rustic Wedding Symphony, Brahms's Tragic Symphony, Sibelius's Karelia Suite and one of the Slavonic dances of Dvorak. These provide the sole musical contribution. Mr. Harley, an engineering executive for a large corporation, has put into this remarkable film a breadth of culture acquired in two continents, the authority of a man who has looked at life and has come to conclusions about it and the creative fire and disciplined achievement of a real artist." Movie Makers, Dec. 1944, 476-477.
"In Linden Lea is A. Scott Moorhouse's tribute to a mother land, a tribute paid with distinction and an admirable warmth of feeling. We go to the English countryside, where Mr. Moorhouse sings, in film, the ancient refrain that Chaucer, Shakespeare, Gray, Wordsworth, Jefferies, Kipling and Brooke lifted in the English tongue. It is Mr. Moorhouse's good fortune and his sound cinematic ability that have permitted him to bring what he feels so strongly in a very direct fashion to his audience. His is the last sight of a peaceful England, recorded with vibrant emotion. "Rainbows; and the blue bitter smoke of wood; "And radiant raindrops couching in cool flowers; "And flowers themselves, that sway through sunny hours, "Dreaming of moths that drink them under the moon; " These, Mr. Moorhouse has greatly loved, as did Brooke, and in English woods, he would hope we shall "see no enemy, but winter and rough weather." In this beautiful Kodachrome footage are preserved the byways, the little ways, the errant and individual ways through which wander the casual cows, the meandering motors, the clopping carts and the quiet English, themselves, while to right of them and left of them are "English unofficial roses." And there is "honey still for tea" in this English land, and people to enjoy it, unhurried and unflurried. Mr. Moorhouse has pictured a way of life by suggestion, because his scenes are almost all with few human beings, but he has pictured it sharply and triumphantly, even if tenderly. In this brief essay in film is the essence of "This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle, "This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, "This other Eden, demi-paradise; "This fortress built by Nature for herself "Against infection and the hand of war; '"This happy breed of men, this little world; "This precious stone set in the silver sea . . . "This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England." Movie Makers, Dec. 1939, 609, 631-632.
"Scenes of the preparations in Parliament Street and Whitehall an hour before the funeral procession and the procession itself filmed from an upper storey window in Parliament Street" (EAFA Database).
"Humorous scene is at a sophisticated party where a man is trying to impress a woman with his knowledge of world affairs-contradicting himself in the process. She is not impressed but he doesn't realize it."-W.W. via the Film-Makers' Co-operative.
"Another documentary - travelogue in Esther Cooke's usual style of presenting in an easy way a phase of an old European town. This time old Rothenburg, with its ancient buildings and customs, and pageants re-enacting the past. In the village square there are interesting colorful patterns danced by the young folks. The narrations fills in interesting historical sketches contributing a great deal to the picture. This might be a citadel taken from the pages of a story book" PSA Journal, Nov. 1959, 47.
"Holiday footage taken by Laurie and Stuart Day during a fortnight’s break in the Swiss Alps prefaced by, and concluding with, scenes involving Laurie and Stuart Day at home in Stoke on Trent" (EAFA Database).
"In the Beginning, although far from being a perfect picture, is nevertheless one of the few truly great films thus far to come from a motion picture camera — either theatrical or amateur. Here, the magnificent beauty and awesome strangeness of the natural world have been seen in their fundamental and ultimate meanings. As an interpretation of the epic story of creation, In the Beginning follows directly in the noble tradition of Homer, Dante and Milton. One is left stilled and humble before the simple purity of imagination which conceived it. To this superb document of nature, F. C. Ells, ACL, the producer, has brought a technical skill and sensitive craftsmanship more than equal to the demands of his subject. Using as his titles direct quotations from the first chapter of Genesis, Mr. Ells has added a subtle undertone to the beautiful King James English by the use of primitive, geometrical symbols (indicative of fire, rain, infinity, etc.) for his title backgrounds. Somber and stunning scenes of the heaving waters, the new born earth and bursting streams in the first reel are followed, in the second, by flawlessly executed telephoto and macroscopic studies of the earth's myriad creatures. Integrating the entire production is a musical accompaniment of stately church music, recorded on disc by the Sistine Choir. Mr. Ells, who has looked upon the earth and found it good, has produced a sincere and beautiful film, great even as it falls short of perfection." Movie Makers, Dec. 1935, 550.
Total Pages: 299
Amateur Cinema