"doc. turistico"/tourism documentary
"Opened in November 1903, the Colne and Trawden Light Railway ran along the Burnley and Keighley roads though the town. The line closed for good on 6th January 1934, shortly after these scenes were shot, so the film marks the end of an era for this Lancashire town." (BFI Player)
"Carl Weagant's sea epic, The Cruise Of The Carlsark, 3000 ft., 16mm., is a complete film record of the voyage of the ketch, Carlsark, across the Atlantic. Three Cornell men began the adventurous trip at Ithaca, N. Y., sailing through the Erie Canal system into the St. Lawrence and thence out into the Atlantic. Crossing the ocean in the little yawl, they cruised through the Mediterranean and returned home, stopping at the Canaries. The film record of the trip, made by Mr. Weagant, who was skipper as well as cameraman, is almost as important an advent in the annals of amateur movie making as the trip itself is in yachting circles. Excellent in exposure throughout, the picture contains few of the errors that would have been excusable. The continuity follows the chart of the voyage but the reels of sea scenes in the midst of the film can be considered as a separate subject. These scenes, telling the every day life aboard the ketch and the exciting incidents on the trip, are as interesting and as well photographed as any amateur made sea pictures that have come to the attention of League headquarters." Movie Makers, Dec. 1930, 759.
"A short travelogue film on the Republic of Cyprus. A narrator warmly introduces viewers to the charms, history and people of Cyprus." Chicago Film Archives.
A short travelogue that chronicles a round trip from New York City to France and back. Includes footage of the ship’s departure from NYC, a view of the statue of liberty, the deck of the SS France ocean liner, as well as brief shots of St. Lazare station in Paris.
"The immaculate camera work, incisive editing and attractive titling of Frank E. Gunnell have flowered into a new and superior beauty in Down Mexico Way. Here, in two full reels which seem like less, are all the standard Mexican Meccas — the capital city, the pyramids of Teotihuacan, Cuernavaca and the rest — each suavely sequenced and beautifully filmed. Added to these is a wealth of human interest, in smoothly planned records of such odd Mexican folklore as the self threaded needle cut from a maguey cactus, or the red dye concealed in the silvery cochineal wood louse. Mr. Gunnell's most superb triumphs, however, are in his moody and magnificent studies of Xochimilco and Taxco, Mexican communities which have beckoned to countless movie makers, but which only a few have answered with genuine eloquence and distinction." Movie Makers, Dec. 1941, 563-564.
"Film record of a journey to Egypt and a four day holiday in Cairo. The film begins at Croydon Airport, recording the activities of the ground crew and the arrival and departure of two Imperial Airways planes, the Heracles and the Hengist. The film records a stopover in Crete on the journey to Cairo where the plane is moored close to a yacht. The final section of the film records street scenes in Cairo and an excursion to the Great Pyramid and Sphinx, returning to the city by Marg and Old Heliopolis." East Anglian Film Archive.
"Ruth Stuart's Travel picture 'Egypt and Back With Imperial Airways,' was not only a fine example of consistent photography, but also showed a keen knowledge of editing and cutting that let the pictue breeze along in an entertaining fashion." American Cinematographer, Dec. 1933, 321.
"W. R. C. Corson, close friend of the late Hiram Percy Maxim, FACL, Founder of the Amateur Cinema League, and for several years an invalid, demonstrates his loyalty to the cause of personal filming and his determination to achieve in that field by a revision of travel footage made in a more active period. As its name might indicate. Elysium is a remembrance of happier days, containing sequences chosen for their beauty or evocation of delightful times, and haphazardly geographical. Scenes filmed from the air are interspersed with records of faraway places as Mr. and Mrs. Corson are seen wandering here and there. Here is the gallant and intrepid accomplishment of a pioneer movie maker who is still "in the game."" Movie Makers, Dec. 1944. 496.
"a soggetto breve"/ short fiction
"EVA E LA MACCHINA
Eva e la Macchina soggetto e regla di Leone Viola, fotografia e montaggio di Fernando De Marzi, interpreti Parisina Poggi, Carlomaria Dermal, Guido Cerato, svolge come tema il contrasto e nello stesso tempo il rapporto tra il maschio in possesso della femmina e il motociclista nel possesso della sua macchina. L'ambiente e per una parte primitivo e naturale, per l'altra invece si svolge presso un ponte di ferro e un passaggio a livello. I due motivi corrono parallelamente sino alla fine, allorché il Viola persegue il motivo della macchina sola, sino al finale gocciolare dell'olio, il cui parallelo rimane soltanto presunto. Eva e la Macchina si avvale di un ottimo ritmo di montaggio, dove al crescendo assai bene ottenuto della parte centrale succede il finale altrettanto realizzato nella sua calma compostezza."
"EVA AND THE CAR
Eva e la macchina (Eva and the Machine), screenplay and direction by Leone Viola, photography and editing by Fernando De Marzi, starring Parisina Poggi, Carlomaria Dermal, Guido Cerato, develops as its theme the contrast and simultaneous relationship between the male in possession of the female and the motorcyclist in possession of his machine. The environment is on the one hand primitive and natural, and on the other, the film takes place near an iron bridge and a level crossing. The two motifs run parallel until the end, when Viola pursues the motif of the machine alone, until the final drip of oil, whose parallel remains only presumed. Eva and the Machine avails itself of an excellent rhythm of montage, where the very successful crescendo of the central part is followed by the finale equally successful in its calm composure."
— Il ventuno 24 (Review of the G.U.F. of Venice) January 1935, p. 15
Total Pages: 12
Amateur Cinema