"Family scenes in the garden at Greenbank, Keswick - the children dance, do somersaults, skip and perform for parents and grandparents." (NWFA Online Database)
"A delightful film of the home is A Greene Christmas, produced by Mildred Greene. Here is a record of a domestic Christmas that may well serve as an exemplar to other movie makers who are tempted to wander far afield. No startling new stunts in technique or effects of continuity are displayed, yet the film is so homelike, pleasant and sincere that it commands recognition as an achievement. Naturally, however, all departments which contribute to the completion of the film are more than adequately handled. The interior lighting, which resulted in perfectly exposed color shots in the familiar home settings, is noteworthy. Special recognition should be accorded the successful, well exposed shots of the subjects out of doors at night in one sequence. All the actors, members of her immediate family and friends, including the producer, were naturally and pleasantly shown, but the palm for outstanding characterization must go to Miss Greene's mother, who played the part of herself in a most delightful and unaffected way. The preparation of the color titles for this film deserves special mention because of their perfect exposure, fine backgrounds and outstanding arrangement of metal script letters. (Miss Greene tells about making A Greene Christmas in Stretching Christmas, in this number of Movie Makers.)" Movie Makers, Dec. 1939, 609.
"Girls playing in the garden and posing for the camera. One young girl plays with a toy steam train as a dog wanders about." (NWFA Online Database)
"In the Home Movie field, Lawrenson submitted a fine document of a day with his little 2-year-old daughter. The main portion is given over to a day at the seashore. But he gives reasons for everything he does even to going home. He shows a storm coming up and after the family has arrived safely at home, the little looks out of the window while the raindrops patter on the windowpane." American Cinematographer, Jan. 1936, 24.
"It has a story with titles in verse telling how the farm woman compared herself with the Duchess of Windsor and decides she prefers Pa to the Duke and her own simple tasks to the life of a Duchess." American Cinematographer, Feb. 1940, 87.
"Celestinos filmó la cinta en una vieja casa de Chimalistac, al sur de la Ciudad de México. Según la historia en ella habitan dos hermanas que viven un encierro real y metafórico a causa de su sexualidad reprimida. Las primeras imágenes de la película muestran a una de ellas vestida de novia, mientras que otra lleva la cola del vestido. La escena da pie a un erotismo doloroso: una de ellas se acaricia para que la cámara muestre en close up sus lágrimas. Un flash back nos muestra la causa: el momento de su infancia en que una monja de visita en la casa le dio manotazos por haberle mostrado una imagen de una mujer desnuda que encontró por casualidad. El personaje busca liberación. (...) La otra hermana también busca salir de la casa (emblema del ámbito doméstico familiar), y encontrar su libertad sexual" (Vázquez Mantecón, 2012)
"Celestinos filmed the tape in an old house in Chimalistac, south of Mexico City. According to the story, the house is inhabited by two sisters that live in a real and metaphorical confinement because of their repressed sexuality. The first images of the film show one of them dressed as a bride, while the other carries the tail of the dress. The scene is followed by a painful erotism: one of the caresses herself to make the camera show her tears in close up. A flash back shows the cause: the moment of her childhood when a nun hits her hands because she showed her a picture of a naked woman that she found by chance. The character seeks liberation. (...) The other sister is also looking forward to leave the house (emblem of the familial domestic scope), and to find her sexual freedom" (Vázquez Mantecón, 2012)
"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.
"A clever little domestic story, unpretentious but told in a good cinematic style, comes from the camera of J. Owen Campbell, in His Off Day. Here are recounted the difficulties experienced by the father of a family in his endeavor to relax on his day off. Constantly frustrated in his attempts, he finally seeks refuge in the family car, with results which provide an amusing surprise ending, notably clever in treatment. Technically, the outstanding feature of this film is the handling and lighting of the interior shots, which are uniformly good, with the exception of one or two of them. Mr. Campbell has demonstrated in this film that a simple story, enacted in familiar settings by members of one's own family, offers the most usable material for the average movie maker's indoor efforts. It is for such an outstanding embodiment of this principle that the producer of His Off Day is especially to be commended." Movie Makers, Dec. 1940,602-603.
"Holiday with the Heavers is one of those rare films that display sincere artistic sensitivity that is manifestly not the product of technical skill nor the "slick" application of the rules of composition and film planning. It is a picture that promises that its maker — Dr. W. Lynwood Heaver — with more cinematic experience, might produce the finest type of amateur motion picture. Holiday with the Heavers is not a record of a family jaunt, as its title would imply. Rather, it is a scenic study of fall, enlivened by the presence of a three year old who investigates a park and explores the autumn leaves. Included in the film are beautiful and eerie shots of the late fall, effective silhouettes and charming closeups of the small actor." Movie Makers, Dec. 1943, 478.
"The grace and beauty attained with advancing years is captured in this charming story, told with gentle wit and warm affection. Through the years, father has learned the wisdom of a slight deception to forestall a possible storm when he fails to follow orders, so is, instead, rewarded by his grateful wife. A memory-evoking addition to the family album of motion pictures" PSA Journal, Oct. 1963, 40.
Total Pages: 19
Amateur Cinema