"Warren Doremus might have made in his Escape just one more film about Niagara Falls. But he did not. Instead, with unerring instinct, he has blended music (Wagner's Liebestod) with emotional imagery to produce a very nearly perfect small work of art. His secret seems to be great brevity and even greater selectivity. In a film as short as this, flaws show up more strongly than in longer works. Escape has its flaws, particularly in a series of opening scenes presumably supposed to set the mood before the film proper begins. To these reviewers these shots do not seem quite suited to the main theme, and lack of musical accompaniment makes them a bit pointless. But Escape survives as a fresh and moving treatment of a very old subject." Movie Makers, Dec. 1949, 453-454.
"H. Lee Hansen visits Holland, England (London), France (Paris), and Switzerland (Zurich) and captures scenes of daily life in post-war Europe." UC San Diego Library.
"Anyone who sees Fabulous Florida will appreciate that Haven Trecker not only has covered that state thoroughly in his travels, but that he has worked hard to record its tourist and industrial highlights in a long series of effective sequences. Beautifully photographed, well edited and with a pleasantly informative narrative, Fabulous Florida is distinguished by the excellence of many of its sequences. We remember with particular pleasure the section devoted to Marineland and its sea life, and the colorful sequence on the manufacture of fishing lures." Movie Makers, Dec. 1953, 334.
"The Faktargubbers Story of Aland gives us many glimpses of the Aland Islands in the Baltic Sea. Though legally under Finnish domination, the people enjoy a high degree of self rule and are pro Swedish. The many activities of the people are shown, and the narrator, being a native himself, introduces you to "his people" and gives you numerous views of a normal day's events and the happy life his people enjoy" PSA Journal, Aug. 1967, 37.
"We visit Niagara Falls, Niagara River, cable car across the whirlpool rapids, Maid of the Mist, and beneath the falls. The panorama changes as the sun moves west, climaxing an orange to pink flow upon the falls. As the sun fades, color lights play upon this water spectacle. As the seasons advance, the changing foliage forecasts the approaching winter when most of the water becomes white ice and frozen spray. Soon, the onset of spring covers the landscape with many blooms and the falls are again full, to beckon visitors with fascination" PSA Journal, Oct. 1962, 35.
"In Festival Michigan, Cornelius Vanden Broek undertook to record all of the fairs and community festivals that occur in the State of Michigan throughout the year. He was prompted to make this record for the benefit of many friends who were not able to attend them and thus to provide them with a vicarious participation. The usual parades, crowning a queen of this or that, live stock, home preserves, midway attractions and various contests for young folks are all here, done with pleasantly brief sequencing. A lively commentary accompanies the film. On the whole, this rather formidable undertaking results in a pleasant and completely honest endeavor. Mr. Vanden Broek achieved his goal with fine spirit." Movie Makers, Dec. 1953, 334.
"Oscar H. Horovitz, in Firenze, Queen of the Arts, has once again produced an excellent record of a city, turning this time to Firenze (Florence), the Tuscan capital of the Italian Renaissance. Firenze is a monochromatic city of varying tones of brown, but a most attractive one as Mr. Horovitz has shown, existing today just as it did during the 16th Century. Belying the film's title, however, the many art treasures for which this city is justly famed are ignored, the filmer desiring apparently to show Firenze through an architectural eye. The film is, nevertheless, interesting, with lively pace and plenty of human interest. Here is a rewarding excursion to one of the fabulous cities of our time." Movie Makers, Dec. 1953, 334.
"In Fishers of Grande Anse, Leslie P. Thatcher, ACL, has compiled a vivid and crystal clear cinematic document of cod fishing in a little village in northern New Brunswick. This picture is a restrained work of art that depicts the austere beauty of toil. Repairing boats and nets, catching and cleaning the cod, salting and storing the fish for market and the fishermen leaving for home are the raw material from which this black and white production draws its rugged and satisfying beauty. Close shots and closeups (never affected or forced) comprise the simple devices whereby the irrelevant and possibly distracting material is excluded and whereby the magnificent compositions are achieved. The technical quality of the picture is superb, but probably Mr. Thatcher's greatest accomplishment is in his choice of camera viewpoint." Movie Makers, Dec. 1935, 550.
"A schoolboy in need of material for a geography theme launches Five Days From Home, as Dad gets out the movie projector and shows Son the cine harvest of his summer holiday. Among the points covered in a whirlwind auto trip from New York to Canada are Quebec City, Montmorency Falls, a Canadian pulpwood mill and Ausable Chasm, in New York State. Mannie Lovitch's handling of these subjects is always competent, occasionally excellent. His inquiring camera found many scenes of quaint charm in the old St. Lawrence city, and his full scale visual treatment of the pulp mill is sustained in interest by a superb bit of scoring with modern music by Virgil Thompson. Of especial note is Mr. Lovitch's mobile cross-cutting of the three to four themes which make up his coverage of the usually difficult Ausable Chasm." Movie Makers, Dec. 1948, 493.
"Florida, a documentary film of that state, made in Kodacolor by H. W. Voss, ACL, has been given Honorable Mention because of the freshness and charm of its component subject matter. Replete with human interest material, such as sequences of wild turkeys, new born calves and clumsy, appealing puppies, the picture is a bright and amazing mine of simple entertainment. Though Mr. Voss slips occasionally from a uniformly high technical standard of color work, he need bow to no one in the warmth and charm which he finds and records everywhere in the life about him." Movie Maker, Dec. 1934, 546.
Total Pages: 37
Amateur Cinema