"Shrines of India is by the master film maker, Oscar Horovitz, FPSA, FACL, who has proven year after year that travel films can win awards in competition. This 14-minute trip to India is enlightening as well as entertaining. It's a trip worth taking through the viewfinder of Oscar's camera" PSA Journal, Nov. 1969, 56.
"Siam is a better than average travelog about this oriental country. The narrator is careful to point out the odd and the unusual, while the camera depicts every day events in a subjective manner as well as catching some unusual scenes usually missed by the casual tourist" PSA Journal, Sept. 1964, 51.
"Bringing the flavor of Europe and its people that we all like to remember, Skibet, Danish for ship, tells the story of the building of the G. C. Amdrup, a modern motor vessel with a wooden hull. The saga is carried from cutting the massive tree which becomes the keel of the ship to the final addition of paint and superstructure. Mown in from Denmark to the Danish Consulate in New York City, and from there transported to Movie Makers office, Otto Wilhjelm's film portrays the incredible amount of hand labor used in constructing a ship without the help of modern power equipment, considered a necessity in the United States. It provides the nostalgia of a great individual craftsmanship. As to the G. C. Amdrup herself, it seems safe to say — after watching the solid chunks of wood being sawed, planed and bolted snugly to the crossbeams — that she will be sailing her northern run long after our Victory ships have rusted away." Movie Makers, Dec. 1947, 534.
"Robert P. Kehoe accepted a strong challenge and secured a fine result in filming Snow on the Mountains. Filming so static a subject as snow forms, iced trees and wind storms on a mountain presents a real task of vitalizing the material. Mr. Kehoe has brought weird and beautiful life to the screen. This film, excellently scored to present the musical message suggested by the snow scenes, builds from the pleasantness of subdued ice and snow forms, through the almost animate figures created by winter on trees and bushes, to a breath taking climax of a snow storm on the mountain. Culminating the beautifully edited and intelligently filmed footage is an inspiring sequence of flaming powdered snow, reflecting the full crimson of the sunset. So remarkable is this action that the impression imparted is almost one of a cascade of liquid fire flowing across the screen. In order to secure many of the scenes, Mr. Kehoe stood so long in the snow that it was necessary actually to lift him into a motor car and to remove the cine equipment from his chilled hands at the end of his task." Movie Makers, Dec. 1944, 494.
"The Blue refers to a glacier of majestic proportions high in the Olympic Mountains of northern Washington. Solduc, a small station in the Hoh Valley, is the point from which Theodore H. Sarchin and his two companions set out with high hopes to conquer the formidable ascent to the famous ice fields. Although they reach the Blue, the sun has been there first, softening the ice, and they must turn back without having attained the summit. Inherent in the film is a deep reverence for the wild, inspiring beauty of the scene, which clearly communicates itself to the audience — no small achievement in an amateur travel study. This reverence never becomes mawkish, the pedestrian titles and homely incidents en route nicely counterbalancing it. Superior camera work makes the most of the setting, while skillful editing combined the best elements of story and scene to make a dramatic presentation. An expertly scored musical accompaniment adds impressively to enjoyment of Solduc To The Blue." Movie Makers, Dec. 1948, 492.
"Soli Deo Gloria illustrates the matter-of-fact life led by the inhabitants of a small farming village in Lower Saxony (West Germany) and centers, as their lives do, on the village church that dates back to the 14th Century. Inside are sculptured works of art, and it is these treasures that the film seeks to bring to the attention of the outside world, as well as the importance the church plays in the life of the local peasants" PSA Journal, Sept. 1966, 34.
"Dan Billman, jr., has told you in the September number of this magazine how he came to make South of Honolulu. What he could not possibly put into words is the outright and amazing entertainment value of this elaborate record. Hawaii, for the Billmans, meant far more than the Aloha Tower, Diamond Head and the Kodachrome set piece of weekly hula dancing. In their place this adventurous couple found — some 200 miles south of Honolulu — the calm beauty of native life, the exciting patterns of native fishing and feasting and the exotic loveliness of tropical blooms against their true backgrounds. For them, no filming task seemed impossible. Their achievements range from an amusing sequence of the "'sea going" cowboys of the Hawaiian coast, to a striking and incredible study of religious ceremonies within a Buddhist temple. Mr. Billman's beautifully filmed production, accompanied throughout with sound and music personally recorded in the Islands, has the full bodied stature of mature screen entertainment." Movie Makers, Dec. 1941, 564.
"Amateur travelogue of an extensive trip to Australia photographed and produced by "The Traveling Sebrings," Lewis B. Sebring, Jr. and Alice P. Sebring. Lewis B. Sebring, Jr. was a journalist and war correspondent for the New York Herald-Tribune, who reported on combat in the Southwest Pacific Area theater during World War II. The trip documented in this film, which they referred to also as "An Odyssey to Australia" covers the entire continent of Australia, from Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Port Augusta and Kalgoorlie, Perth, and Brisbane, and everything in between, usually documented via passenger train. In each city, the film expertly documents landscape, architecture, and people, as well as rural areas and animals." Wisconsin Historical Society.
"In a film of a familiar subject — a vacation trip to Florida — Ernest Kremer has done an excellent task of compiling a movie of varied sequences into a unified whole. His camera handling is competent, there are interesting viewpoints and he uses nice transitions to a new sequence, to avoid leaving preceding views too long on the screen. The continuous narrative that is presented with Southern Exposures sometimes draws attention from the pictured scenes, but the commentary in jingle style that accompanies the underwater scenes of fish adds a delightful touch. Mr. Kremer is to be commended especially for the compact and smooth editing of his film." Movie Makers, Dec. 1945, 496.
"Nineteen thirties holiday film of the Harrison family at a number of Suffolk coastal holiday hotspots; including Southwold, Lowestoft, the Broads (Beccles), and Thorpeness. This reel, with scenes in both Dufaycolor and black and white, shows the family having a jolly old time bathing, picnicking at their beach hut, horse riding, and sailing. Intertitles include “Susan on the li-lo” and “tea with the mater” (BFI.org.uk)
Total Pages: 37
Amateur Cinema