"The Will and the Way is a simple story of '"little people" — but it looms large in its appeal to the human heart. There are, in its tender adventures, the laughter of sympathy and the tears of pathos. From these, as from any great expression of beauty, there comes the genuine and ennobling uplift of the spirit which is so rare in a workaday world. Chester Glassley has been equal to his task. His photography, both indoors and out, is as nearly flawless as skill and patience will permit. His camera treatment is marked by a wise concentration on close views, a dramatic selection of angles and a fine sense of matching and contrasting color values. Good cutting, paired with a brilliantly executed montage sequence, rounds out the technical achievements. But his greatest production triumph lies in the casting and direction of the two lead players, who bring to the amateur screen its most genuine and sensitive acting to date. A young wife is to have a baby. Because of a harsh experience with a rum sodden doctor, she turns blindly toward the thought of going only to a specialist, a great obstetrician, famed both for his fine care and his $1000 fees. Her young husband's reaction as he learns of this feeling is the simple theme of the entire story: "I don't know where we'll get the money, but if that's the doctor you want, then that's the doctor you're going to get!" From then on. life for the young couple is a race against time, punctuated for the husband by a frantic search for cash, which leads him through the indignities of a pie eating contest, the insults of '"amateur night" and the bruises and battering of a vastly unequal prize fight. But the baby wins in the end. The harried father collects only three hundred dollars of the specialist's fee, a sum he begs the great doctor to accept as a down payment. This the physician does, only to return the entire amount later — with a receipted bill — as his tribute to the boy's courage. The Will and the Way is a short, unassuming film, made technically with the simplest tools provided by the craft. But, in its unfailing imagination, its moving tenderness and. above all. in its deep understanding of the human heart, this film is a proud peer among its colleagues of the Hiram Percy Maxim Award." Movie Makers, Dec. 1940, 576-577.
"Out of his own experience and happy recollections, Sidney Moritz presents in telling terms a warm and affectionate recounting of the marriage and honeymoon. A bright sun filtering through the stained glass of the church lights the solemn exchange of vows amidst swelling organ tones. The scene dissolves to preparations for the honeymoon, the contentment of a pastoral setting, the first months of life together, the small details that contribute to gracious living, and finally a fond recalling of the beginnings — the stained glass and sunlight, two people in love, the music and the prayer. A sympathetic scoring complements this sincere and moving record film." Movie Makers, Dec. 1948, 496.
"Any husband who has ever cast a wandering eye in the direction of a neighboring redhead should appreciate the husband and wife shenanigans related in The Wolf's Tale, by George A. Valentine. In addition to its redhead, and further complications, Mr. Valentine's film has the great merit of brevity, though it includes several travel shots and a little family background as well as its smoothly told story. Basically, however, the moral of The Wolf's Tale is: Leave redheads alone." Movie Makers, Dec. 1948, 495.
"The World's People, production of Edmund Zacher, II, ACL, and Herbert Johnson, ACL, with musical accompaniment and incidental sound effects by the record and double turntable method and with a narrative presented by Mr. Johnson through the sound system, offers a combination of visual and aural entertainment that is marked by a finish and perfection in cinematography and an interest and liveliness in accompaniment. The film describes a visit to the Century of Progress exposition in Chicago, featuring as its theme the many races and nations of the world represented there. The cinematography of Messrs. Zacher and Johnson is effortless and of uniformly high standard, is playing with intelligent restraint the effects used by professional cameramen. The combination of long shots, medium views and closeups leaves no beholder unsatisfied in any scene presented. There is a decidedly human character in the whole footage and the people are never overshadowed by architecture or machinery. In one place, two somewhat indignant ladies are seen in vigorous and disapproving conversation, for example, yet they are entirely unconscious actors. In continuity planning and execution, in cinematographic perfection and in a satisfying and informing use of excellent narrative, music and sound effects, The World's People sets a high standard in starting out to do a thing and doing it with sureness and real success." Movie Makers, Dec. 1934, 546.
"Most Christmas films seem to be concerned with only one aspect of this December holiday — the gaiety of family life around the tree, opening presents and a festive dinner. Grace Lindner has recorded the material side of the season in the early footage of her film, Xmas Time, as she shows gleaming shop windows, hurrying shoppers, decorated doorways and members of her family around the hearthside. But in a smooth transition from a creche under the tree to the children saying their prayers, she ends her film with a series of architectural studies of the spires and bell towers of churches, filmed through bleak branches against a winter sky. This moving climax, accompanied by a choir recording of The Lord's Prayer, admirably fulfills her aim to portray the triumph of the spirit of Christmas over the baser observances." Movie Makers, Dec. 1951, 412.
"Beneath ominous storm clouds, the recently engaged Ann Lister (Winifred Poyser) and Bob Randle (Harry Ellis) argue about their ideas of marital bliss - she wants a house in town, he prefers a country cottage. As the argument reaches its peak, Ann removes her engagement ring, and hands it back to Bob, who walks away, crestfallen. Visiting Amelia - "a very modern girl with very modern ideas about love" - Ann admits that she broke off the engagement in an attempt to find out if Bob really loves her. Following a series of encounters in the street, Ann hatches a plan to become the leading lady opposite Bob in a new theatrical production. But will their love survive the ultimate test?" (EAFA Database)
Total Pages: 39
Amateur Cinema