"There is an easy, effortless quality about Backyard Horizons, by Roy C. Wilcox, which tends to belie the fine competence of its work with telephoto lenses and extension tubes. The birds, bugs, bees and rabbits which parade across the horizon of the Wilcox pastures seem to be friends of the family — and they are treated as such in the unpretentious narrative which accompanies them. The sound on film track, combining simple musical selections and a restrained volume of comment, was itself produced by Mr. Wilcox, and it records his own voice, pleasingly." Movie Makers, Dec. 1946, 486, 488.
"To film an insect well, when it is crawling, creeping or flying, is a real feat. Francis M. Spoonogle does this with great success. In his film, Backyard Zoo, he has taken completely undirectable creatures and has managed to capture them on film with such intimacy as to give one the feeling that he might be living for a while in the insect world. Unsuspected beauty is revealed in the coloring of caterpillars with normally unseen fur collars. So sharply has he focused on insect life in this beautiful 8mm. film that the "feathers," making up the coating of a butterfly's wings, are almost discernible." Movie Makers, Dec. 1945, 495-496.
"The Beasts Shall Inherit the Earth for the excellently made props in the form of creatures that appear in the film from time to time to drive out the populace and take over for themselves. Many times these props look genuinely alive" PSA Journal, Sept. 1966, 36.
"A most pleasant day with a little girl, her four kittens, and collie dog. The kittens do so many things that set them apart from other animals. They seem to enjoy their various playful activies before the flood lights and camera. While all this is going on, the collie feels just a little bit left out of things. Finally, all return to the barn for some fresh milk and a good night" PSA Journal, Nov. 1960, 39.
"A 1926 hunting trip in the East Kootenay region. The hunting party comprises Allan H. De Wolf, Claire and Elmore Staples, Bob Grimes, and Barney and Ralph Clifford, with Mr. and Mrs. Paul Stevens as guide and cook respectively, and 'Cheerful Joe' as Wrangler. The film shows the party on the trail with pack horses, in camp, and hunting bear, deer, elk and mountain goat. Specific locations include Elk Creek, Premier Lake, White River and Whiteswan Lake. There are good sequences on the packing of a pack horse and the skinning of big game. De Wolf's companions on this trip were his partners in the Western Explorations mine at Silverton" British Columbia Archives.
"Documentary on the nesting and feeding habits of birds found in Norfolk and Lincolnshire and filmed from a hide over a two-month period. Birds seen are: common plover, redshank, whooper swan, mute swan, bittern, ringed plover, oyster catcher, black-head gull, bearded tit, sedge warbler, reed bunting, red hawk, snipe and Montagu's harrier." (EAFA Database)
"In Birds of a Feather, Edmund Zacher, II, ACL, exhibits the patience and skill necessary to compile a complete story entirely with telephoto lenses. All the particular points which must needs be observed to make successful telephoto pictures — careful centering, sharp focusing and rigid camera support — are exhibited in this film, which is interesting withal, as it tells the story of a thrush family from the time the youngsters are hatched until the last laggard leaves the nest. Some scenes, which show the parent bird in closeup by means of telephoto magnification and in which the bird fills the entire frame, are truly remarkable. Good fortune gave Mr. Zacher the beautiful background of a flowering tree for this springtime idyll. A suitable musical background — compiled from discs — accompanies the film. Mr. Zacher made this picture entirely from a window in his home, and his patience and skill in capturing every needed shot are remarkable." Movie Makers, Dec. 1934, 534.
"The film concentrates on the birds, particularly the common tern, the little tern and the oyster catcher" (EAFA Database).
"Handsome and hard hitting, Bold Badmen is a Western filmed as Westerns should be filmed — without romance, without singing, but with plenty of shooting, plenty of horsemanship and plenty of very tough looking and acting characters. Casimer V. Zaleski knows that movement makes a movie. Bold Badmen is crammed with both kinds — physical and cinematic. Unfortunately, the physical condition of the film (which was inexcusably scratched and dirty) did much to restrain the enthusiasm of the judges for a melodrama of real power." Movie Makers, Dec. 1949, 468-469.
"'This is a simple story concerning the affairs of a cat and a dog. Are they natural enemies, or can they become playmates?' (Amicus description, via Library & Archives Canada web site.) This film received a Certificate of Merit in the Amateur Category at the 14th Canadian Film Awards, 1962. English and French-language versions were apparently distributed by Thomas Howe Associates Ltd. in 1980" British Columbia Archives.
Total Pages: 19
Amateur Cinema