"Sunstruck, by George Mesaros, is a bright genre study of the American beach scene at its colorful, everyday best. There are the sun bathers and the sand babies, the athletes and the antics, and, above all else, the incomparably lithesome and lovely American girl. Mr. Mesaros has caught them all. in sparkling cinematography and with a pleasing selection of camera viewpoints. He has added to these a brace of brief and farcical skits which are well played and well directed. Sprightly music, shrewdly keyed to the varied sequences, rounds out the film's effect. Sunstruck, as suggested in its own foreword, is "gay, glamorous and often goofy."" Movie Makers, Dec. 1944, 496.
"It is generally accepted by the less moronic elements that Hollywood's version of life in the army not only missed the point but overlooked it completely. Reginald McMahon, a hardy private first class during the war, has compensated greatly for Hollywood's sins in his Sweating It Out, a clever film recording the period between V-J day and his return from overseas. Mr. McMahon was with the 24th Combat Mapping Squadron, stationed at Gushkara, India. He was in a position to show what a hot, boring climate does to military stiffness and the blithe American temperament; and he has done so. Barracks life becomes very real in his hands, with its essential lack of glamour, its endless small detail and its everlasting poker games. The negative aspects of army life at an outpost — K.P. and guard duty — come in for their proper share of bitter comment. Mr. McMahon is to be thanked for recording the trivia that make up army life in a way that makes one almost nostalgic for them." Movie Makers, Dec. 1946, 488-489.
"A beautiful travelogue of Switzerland, showing herding of cattle and the religious festivals. Native Swiss yodeling music is used. Film is well planned and executed, camera work is very fine." PSA Journal, Nov. 1956, 22.
"Symphony Of The Village: Bert Seckendorf and his Cine Special camera have caught the colorful activities of Greenwich Village in one of the best color documentaries on this subject made to date. This famed New York spot, with its renowned artists, artisans and craftsmen, is revealed in all its gay, Bohemian color as the camera chronicles the activities of sidewalk artists, potters, ceramists, wood carvers and makers of novelty jewelry. The excellent titling knits together all the scenes and sequences into another top-notch picture for which this filmer has become famous in amateur circles." American Cinematographer, May. 1951, 190-2.
Fiction film that can be inscribed in the tradition of the “mountain films” that were relatively popular at the time in Europe. It is one of the best filmed fiction films of the amateur movement, with interesting camera movements.
"Telemark, filmed in the Swiss Alps by William G. McKelvy, ACL, is, as its name suggests, a skiing picture. However, it is more than that — it is also a very delightful and neatly plotted comedy that is the more convincing for being uncomplicated with the usual subsidiary plot and counter plot. Four or five youths who are expert skiers, one who is a novice, and a girl are at the beginning of a down mountain ski trail. The girl offers a kiss to the boy who can catch her. She tarts off, the able skiers follow hard on her trail, while the beginner stumbles and lags far behind. But the girl decides to trick her pursuers and hides on the way. The ending is obvious. The picture was exquisitely planned and sequenced for, as the camera follows the skiers down the mountain, there is complete smoothness in the shift of viewpoints. The action is made the occasion of splendid studies, as the boys on the run swerve and turn in stems, Christianias and Telemarks. Mr. McKelvy did not neglect to select charming compositions and to take full advantage of clear air and the contrast between the dark figures and trees and the white snow." Movie Makers, Dec. 1933, 500.
"Effective film transitions spark an interesting story of a trip to Texas. The narration indicates careful preliminary research into the geology, history, economic and social conditions of this state." PSA Journal, Dec. 1955, 37.
"Sweeping in its conception, stirring in its execution, Then Came the King is a vivid and beautiful epic of honest patriotism. In it, Earl L. Clark has examined the Western way of life, and he has found it good. With elaborate but never exhausting detail, the film traces the history of Canada — and more briefly her American neighbor — from 1800 to the present day. Then, in a world challenged by war and a Canada accused of waning fealty to the Empire, Then Came the King pictures with a magnificent climax the deep and unfaltering affection in which a loyal people hold their rulers. People of all classes and occupations are shown saluting Their Majesties. Sensitively planned and superbly titled, the film very definitely has something to say — and says it with distinction. Viewpoint after viewpoint strikes sensuously on the eye as exactly right for the effect desired. Sequence after sequence marches down the screen with the brave and stirring rhythms of epic poetry. On a few occasions, Mr. Clark's striking imagination has outstripped his straining technical skill, but. from his first frame to his last, the work is stamped unerringly with a fresh and genuine creative spirit." Movie Makers, Dec. 1939, 632.
"They Brought India With Them is the story of many of the natives of India who have moved to South Africa to make their home. This film points out that they didn't take to So. African ways as much as they brought their own ways and customs with them" PSA Journal, Aug. 1967, 37.
"In a gondola we move about the canals of Venice to see the sights and wonders of that ancient city, at one time home of the masters of the Mediterranean. There are boats, buildings, people, some in their windows ornamented with flower boxes, children at play in the land of no streets, gardens for the better-to-do citizens, and the famous clock and doves of St. Mark's Square. On the first Sunday of September each year the regatta is shown in all its color and pageantry" PSA Journal, Oct. 1961, 49
Total Pages: 37
Amateur Cinema