"A colonial scene in the U.S. An old lady sits astride a bell while a man in blackface, wig, and livery pulls the bell rope. From an upper door emerges an old man, dressed as a dandy, who tips his hat to the woman as he walks down stairs grinning. Others leave the same door and walk down the same stairs: a shabby man, a cop, and, several times, the same dandy. The man in blackface hangs himself; the dandy continues to smile. A bell tolls, a grave beckons. In the dark, the dandy plays the piano. Is he Death?" IMDb.
Orson Welles' filmmaking debut, which was co-directed by William Vance. An amateur production, Welles later described the film as a parody of surrealist cinema and the films of Jean Cocteau and Luis Buñuel.
"Norman McLaren and Helen Biggar’s urgent work of animated agit-prop utilises a mixture of film forms (from found footage to title cards and staged action) stitched together with rapid editing to create an incisive and disorienting polemic against government armament spending. Made in 1936 as fascism was on the rise throughout Europe, the film was the result of collaboration between animator McLaren and sculptor Biggar, made during their tenure at the Glasgow School of Art. The idea was to use a rapid succession of violent images to jolt the viewer into demonstrative action against a new war, decades before such Brechtian techniques were employed by artists like Jean-Luc Godard. The result is one of the most striking and memorable of all animated political films" British Film Institute.
"Herbie is an abstract pattern mostly of automobile headlights enough out of focus to cause the viewer to wonder what they are. The judges felt the maker of this film should be commended for synchronizing his sound track to the abstract movements, of the patterns made by the lights" PSA Journal, Aug. 1967, 37.
"Amateur production. A man, Dent Harrison, falls asleep and dreams that the R-100 sails for North America from its base in England. Various long shots of the airship under way. After the mooring procedure is completed, S/L R.S. Booth, S/L E.L. Johnson, Capt. G.F. Meager and other members of the crew meet with the welcoming party led by Minister of National Defence, J.L. Ralston. G/C Stedman, G.J. Desbarats, Maj. Gen. McNaughton and officers of the U.S. Navy are also in attendance. Several civilians are also in the party. Harrison's "clone" visits with his "brother". Cut back to the airship and shots of repairs to damage sustained in a thunder storm over Trois-Rivières. Visitors climb into the airship in a high wind. The R-100 is shown leaving on its Canadian flight. View of the shadow of the ship on the ground and several shots from various distances, notably from Windrift, the summer home of the Harrisons at Lakeside, Québec. Aerials of Niagara Falls, Welland Canal, Toronto, a lake steamer, Kingston, Queen's University, Kingston Penitentiary, the Thousand Islands, with cuts inside the airship's gondola, with crew men silhouetted against bright windows. More aerial shots of Cornwall, the shadow of the R-100 on Montreal, Côte-St-Luc and Verdun. Various ground to air long shots and closer views of the R-100 in flight, of the airship moored to its mast at St-Hubert air base. Sequences on Dent Harrison talking to his "clone" as he edits his footage, projects it into the lens of the camera. The two have lunch and the clone departs. Shots of the R-100 leaving as seen fromn directly underneath. Cut back to Harrison waking up from his dream." (LAC description)
"A half-horse, half-man pursues a young woman who turns herself into the same figure. Using a spare animation style, Straiton deals with a mythological subject that reveals his personal sense of humour. A beautiful film, set to original music, that is stunning in its simplicity." Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre.
"Hosanna is a semi-abstract film tied to a religious theme. Color, lighting, and unusual angles are responsible for its success" PSA Journal, Aug. 1967, 37.
"I'd Be Delighted To!, directed and photographed by S. Winston Childs, jr., ACL, is that kind of production often planned but seldom made — a film story told entirely in closeups. Presenting the simple incident of a dinner a deux in a gentleman's apartment, the picture runs through 400 feet of brilliantly chosen, strikingly filmed, significant closeups. It is adroit, amusing and sophisticated, and a splendid example of what, with skill and care, can be done in this distinctly advanced amateur filming method." Movie Makers, Dec. 1932, 562.
"A lyric video to the song "I'll Take Tallulah" from "Ships Ahoy" - the 1942 musical-comedy film produced by MGM, starring Eleanor Powell and Red Skelton. The song is performed by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra, while the film was made by amateur filmmaker Robert Davis." Chicago Film Archives.
"Traces the romantic relationship between a young man and woman (played by Klugman and Judy Harris) who meet in a downtown coffee shop; their nonstop dialogue fluctuates between playful psycho-babble and sincere attempts to relay their innermost feelings." Chicago Film Archives.
"In this connection, one of the honorable mention films, William Murphy's 'If Rugs Could Talk,' deserves special mention. Consisting of close-ups of hands and feet in a manner perhaps too reminiscent of the still remembered 1932 prize film, 'I'd Be Delighted [To],' 'If Rugs Could Talk' was a technical achievement of the first order, for it consisted entirely of interior scenes, made by artificial light, and photographed entirely on positive film, reversal-processed at home." American Cinematographer, Feb. 1938, 75.
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Amateur Cinema