"Louis Dishotsky and Arthur Rosenthal have put together in High Card Goes an entertaining variation on the travel record film. A definite story line replaces the usual slight continuity device. A pair of tickets for a Florida trip are won on a radio quiz show, but since both parents and two children cannot go, the mother and the father draw cards, high card winning. Wifey tops her mate's king with an ace and takes off for Florida, with the older child. The luckless husband is left to tend the baby and the house. While the acting is fine and the production is technically competent, the pictorial-dramatic pace is rather slow. Tighter editing is indicated." Movie Makers, Dec. 1951, 411-412.
"Although Hobby Show consists of little more than a walk through an exhibition hall, where the talented hobbyists of Long Beach, Calif., have exhibited their crafts and collections, Leonard E. Graham and his wife, Velma, have succeeded in making the experience a constantly interesting one. Each of the exhibits is fascinating in itself, and the Grahams have done an admirable job of overcoming the obstacles of lighting, shooting through glass (which they had to do for some detailed studies of miniatures) and filming under generally difficult conditions. Technically, the film is top drawer. The musical score for the picture of old player-piano music was an inspiration and a delight." Movie Makers, Dec. 1951, 412.
"A record of a summer trip with humorous twists." American Cinematographer, Feb. 1936, 73.
"The Horn, which hepeats should not confuse with Dorothy Baker's epic Young Man With a Horn, is nevertheless a yarn about a jazz trumpeter—and, like Miss Baker's Rick Martin, one whose life ends in death after he loses his stuff. It is a swift, savage, tender and tragic tale which Dominic Mumolo (himself a professional musician) tells here. And to its telling he has brought with amazing proficiency every resource—imagery, acting, music, speech and pace—of high motion picture drama. Herb Willis plays the part of the manic and despairing trumpeter as if to the manner born. His miming makes this difficult and decisive role wholly believable, while his voice (used not as narration, but in a musing, stream-of-consciousness flashback) is by turns tender, pathetic, searing and passionate. Musical phrases, prepared especially for the picture by Frank Worth, add immeasurably to the film's power. The Horn is a stirring and trenchant study in human emotions. If you dislike having your heartbeat aroused, you'd better avoid it. But if not...then The Horn is a movie made for you" PSA Journal, Jan. 1955, 49.
"Filming indoor spectacles is difficult, but it is made doubly so when the staging, actors and lighting facilities are in a constant state of flux. Yet Oscar H. Horovitz, in his Ice Follies 1947, has solved these problems with technical perfection. Points of filming vantage are carefully chosen, from which sequences of the major acts and personalities are imaginatively recorded. An intelligent use of varying focal length lenses contributes the near shots and closeups so necessary to a well rounded study of this kind. Mr. Horovitz more than maintains his position as one of the master craftsmen in his chosen field." Movie Makers, Dec. 1947, 538.
"An Interlude in Happy Isles, made by Dr. Delmer J. Frazier, is one of those comparatively rare vacation pictures that tell their story in detail, but only in that detail which will mean something to an audience that did not have the good fortune to take the same trip. We have no road signs nor guide maps (except for cinematic effect), we don't even know where "Happy Isles" may be. All we know is that the Frazier family has a delightful time there; that they plan their trips with care; that they love the woods and the wild life; and, finally, that their appreciation of it all thoroughly entitles them to an interlude of pleasure. This film is an excellent technical job — the interiors at the beginning of the picture are beautifully lighted, and follow shots of the squirrels in the woods are quite amazing. However, it is the continuity of this picture, with its well planned incidents, that gives it Honorable Mention." Movie Makers, Dec. 1936, 549.
"The film opens in Florence, Italy, with the statue of David by Michelangelo, in marble. Then we quickly move to the quarry to observe the processes of opening a crack, part of the process of shearing off a piece from the huge mountain of marble. Later we see the cutting and slicing into useful slabs and polishing. Also, we visit a studio where, among other works, a large block of marble is being carved into a statue of Abraham Lincoln for the city of Boston. The commentary on tape is well done. This will be included in the Package" PSA Journal, Oct. 1962, 33.
"Leo Caloia unlimbered his new Auricon sound camera to produce much of this picture and all of its sound track, but tighter editing as well as better direction would have greatly inproved the result. The continuity has to do with a couple, seen washing the supper dishes, discussing a proposed vacation, for which they have been putting money in a joint bank account. As they discuss the various places they would like to visit, there follow a number of scenes of each, then the camera cuts back to the discussion. The wife is summoned to the door by the mailman, receives a bill from a sporting goods store. She questions her husband about it and he confesses to having spent the proceeds of their bank account for a new set of golf clubs." American Cinematographer, May. 1951, 192.
"[...] Interesting 16 millimeter study of fishing, ranging from deep sea thrills off the Florida coast to an expedition into the Canadian wilds." Photoplay, Nov. 1929, 67.
"Nancy tells and shows in a series of five flashbacks what impressed 12 year old Nancy most during her summer vacation. Many a family vacation film ends with the unpacking of the car and bringing in the suitcases. That is where this little vacation film begins. As Nancy unpacks her bag she looks at the things she has brought home and they remind her of her summer's events–boating, woodgathering and the removal of a splinter from grandfather's hand, the milkweed plants and the monarch caterpillar, swimming, a picnic, feeding the birds, and playing with other girls her own age. This is decidedly different from the ordinary travel film, and much of its charm comes from the voice of a young Nancy as she narrates the film. It won the MPD Travel Film Award" PSA Journal, Sept. 1965, 50-51.
Total Pages: 14
Amateur Cinema