"In July 1956, the five-member Barstow family of Wethersfield, Connecticut, won a free trip to newly-opened Disneyland in Anaheim, California, in a nationwide contest. This 30-minute amateur documentary film tells the fabulous story of their fun-filled, dream-come-true, family travel adventure, filmed on the scene at Walt Disney's 'Magic Kingdom' by Robbins Barstow." Archive.org
"a soggetto"/fiction
"Staria Zimmerman, that charming Milwaukee minx who made her big time bow in The Boss Comes to Dinner, a 1944 Ten Best winner, has done it again in The Dizzy Top. As the impish daughter of a winsome but widowed mother, she pulls the strings in this "merryonette" show which maneuver her pretty parent into the arms of a new and handsome husband. The quite willing victim of these arch designs is, in the film, the proprietor of a swank hat shop, and it is in this bright locale that the majority of the action takes place. Patricia and Ryne Zimmerman — the producers and supporting players — have a sharp and genuine sense of farce comedy. Their lighthearted plot dances forward as gaily as the suave settings they have contrived for it. Their incidents are antic in their absurdity, their timing crisp and delicately controlled. These qualities are, to be sure, aided immeasurably by Mistress Staria, who carries off each new comic conceit with impudent but charming assurance. Mr. Zimmerman's technical execution in their latest film leaves little to be desired in competence and imagination. There is, to a heightened degree, the same warmth and brilliance in his lighting which marked The Boss. His camera viewpoints are effective and varied, cutting one into the next with precision and pace. Show pieces of cinematic imagination enrich the production, like sugar plums in a Christmas pudding. The Dizzy Top, the Zimmerman's first 16mm. effort, is a handsome step forward along their chosen course of lighthearted comedy." Movie Makers, Dec. 1946, 486.
"An amateur documentary film about the arrival of a Chinese-Vietnamese family to Deerfield by way of a refuge camp in Hong Kong. The Zion Lutheran Church of Deerfield sponsored the family’s arrival." Chicago Film Archives
"documentario – che vuole essere l'espressione immediata ed esatta della tensione spirituale vissuta dall'Italia fascista, e in particolare da Napoli, durante la "settimana del mare" dell'anno XVII, il ritorno di legionari dopo la conquista dell'Impero. —I Littoriali del cinema: Un’altra interessante serie di documentari,” La Stampa, September 3, 1939"
"documentary – which is intended to be the immediate and exact expression of the spiritual tension experienced by Fascist Italy, and in particular by Naples, during the "sea week" of the year XVII, the return of legionaries after the conquest of the Empire."
"Dog shows are no laughing matter, from the serious faces of the young people in this delightful film, though the dogs themselves are far more enthusiastic about the whole affair. The junior dog owners are clearly not quite in full control of their pets, and the watching crowd in this Cheshire field seems as interested in the camera as in the canine competition." (BFI Player)
A husband and wife hold different opinions about who is to become Sheriff. The wife roots for the Democratic candidate "Preacher" Slaughter, while the husband wants to re-elect Republican candidate Sheriff Carver. Both parties bribe the husband and wife for their absentee ballot. notes from CFA
"In spite of the almost insurmountable difficulties in using feet to portray much of the action and most of the emotion in a movie, E. H. Sparks has managed to make Doghouse Blues completely comprehensible. A delightful farce of a bibulous fisherman, the story makes judicious use of the angler's big toe to denote thirst, hunger and any other emotion which might master a man on a solo weekend. Colorful scenes of inlets and bays, as well as attractive sequences of fishing craft, imbue the film with a flavor of authenticity. In satiric repetition, his indignant wife trails the tippling angler to the secluded spot where his boat rides at anchor, there to find him "taking the long count." A rude awakening for the errant husband and an eminently suitable final scene close the picture." Movie Makers, Dec. 1946, 471.
Total Pages: 299
Amateur Cinema