"Although Mexico has become a recurring theme among American movie makers, its varicolored panoramas seem fresh and vital when viewed through the discerning eyes of so capable a film reporter as Esther S. Cooke. She has a fine talent for blending human interest with purely scenic passages, so that Nextdoor Neighbor presents an informative and entertaining pageant of the sights and scenes below the border. Not the least of this producer's potentials are her diligent research, able organization and skillful editing. The more familiar scenes of Mexican life are supplemented here by an admirably detailed coverage of the national sport, bullfighting. Looking at this spectacle as if through Latin eyes, Mrs. Cooke has been able to transmute onto film its stirring pageantry and ritualized passion. A happy choice of Mexican recordings provide a beautifully blended musical score, which reaches its apex in the, bullfight sequence with the haunting and classic La Virgen de la Macarena." Movie Makers, Dec. 1950, 465.
The film chronicles the struggles of young medical interns who had to perform compulsory rural service as part of their medical training.
"En este cortometraje se narra la resistencia al régimen en la ciudad de Monterrey, en el estado de Nuevo León, a través de varios frentes: la irrupción de un grupo de sindicalistas independientes en el desfile oficial del 20 de noviembre, con la presencia del gobernador Luis M. Farías; la invasión de tierras y la presencia de organizaciones vecinales en Topo Chico; los muertos por un accidente laboral en la Fundidora Monterrey; las huelgas de obreros de la CTM y de panaderos de la CROC (dos poderosos sindicatos oficiales), o la actividad vecinal del Grupo 2 de Octubre en la colonia Días Ordaz" (Vázquez Mantecón, 2012).
"This short film tells the story of the resistance against the regime in Monterrey city, in the state of Nuevo León, through several perspectives: the irruption of a group of independent union laborers in the official November 20th parade, with the presence of governor Luis M. Farías; the invasion of land and the presence of neighborhood organizations in Topo Chico; the dead by a working accident in Fundidora Monterrey [Monterrey Foundry]; the strikes of CTM workers and CROC bakers (two powerful official labor unions), or the activities of neighbors of the October 2 Group in Diaz Ordaz vicinity" (Vázquez Mantecón, 2012).
"Hacía un alegato sobre lo que sucede al otro lado de la tranquilidad de la vida burguesa. Se alternaban imágenes de placidez doméstica de la clase media con escenas de la guerra de Vietnam y las rebeliones estudiantiles de la época. Al final de la cinta, sobre la fotografía de un mitin en Tlatelolco, una pregunta: "saber, darse cuenta, ¿cuándo?" "(Vázquez Mantecón, 2012).
"It was an allegation about what happens at the other side of the bourgeois life tranquility. Images of middle class house placidity were alternated with scenes from the Vietnam war and the students' rebellions of the time. At the end of the film, over the photography of a political rally in Tlatelolco, a question: "to know, to notice, when?" " (Vázquez Mantecón, 2012).
"El paletero cuenta la historia de un vendedor de helados y paletas (Héctor Suárez) que recorre las calles de la ciudad. Es simpático: juega volados con los niños, conversa amistosamente con una criada que ha salido a la calle para hacer el mandado (July Furlong). De pronto un grupo de policías judiciales, vestidos de civil, deciden acosarlo. Se acercan intimidantes a la pareja. Rompen los conos de galletas para helado. El paletero siente pánico y huye por las calles de la ciudad. Es perseguido por los judiciales. Intenta esconderse en las ruinas de una casa abandonada, donde es seguido por uno de los policías. Luchan y el paletero consigue quitarle la pistola. Amenaza al policía y reemprende la huída. Al final encuentra un nuevo escondite en una vecindad. Presa del pánico, el paletero dispara sobre sus perseguidores, hiriendo a dos. Los policías lo ejecutan, y de paso matan a un niño que jugaba en el patio de la vecindad y que había quedado situado en medio del tiroteo" (Vázquez Mantecón, 2012).
El paletero [The popsicle man] tells the story of an ice cream and popsicles seller that goes around the city streets. He is nice: he plays coin toss with children, talks kindly with a maid that has left the house to run some errands. Suddenly a group of policemen, dressed as civilians, decide to harass him. They approach the couple in an intimidating manner. They break the ice cream cones. The popsicle man feels panic and runs away through the city streets. He is chased by policemen. He tries to hide in the ruins of an abandoned house, where he is followed by one of the policemen. They fight and the popsicle man takes his gun. He threatens the policeman and starts running away again. At the end he finds a new hiding spot in a vicinity. Overcome by panic, the popsicle man shoots wounding his persecutors. The policemen execute him, and they also kill a child of the neighborhood that was caught up between the shooting" (Vázquez Mantecón, 2012).
"Paracutin, by Ralph E. Gray, is probably the most complete and accurate record of Mexico's new world wonder yet to be produced on 16mm. film, even possibly in the 35mm. medium. Mr. Gray, long one of Mexico's most devoted American friends, was on the scene soon after the eruption broke out in a peasant's cornfield, and he has made four further trips to record changes and progress in the volcano's life. His superbly filmed footage presents the dramatic subject from every available viewpoint — even to seemingly dangerous closeups of the fiery rim — but it has been edited and is presented in strictly accurate chronological order. Human interest scenes of the effect of the giant cauldron on native life are plentiful and appealing, even to a striking sequence of the heavy dust deposits along the streets of Uruapan, more than thirty miles from the eruption. Paracutin is today a dramatic study of beauty and power; it should prove in the future to be a unique and valuable scientific record." Movie Makers, Dec. 1943, 474.
"Siete cortometrajes de Maris Bustamante y Rubén Valencia, integrantes del No Grupo, que indican el acercamiento de artistas plásticos al formato súper 8. Los trabajos del No-Grupo tendieron a hacer una reflexión a la vez lúdica y crítica sobre la naturaleza del arte" Superocheros.
"Seven short films made by Maris Bustamante and Rubén Valencia, members of the No Group, that indicate the interest of artists in the plastic arts to use the super 8 format. The works of the No Group were usually a playful and critical reflexion on the nature of art" Superocheros.
"One comes from a screening of Primitive Patzcuaro, by Ralph E. Gray, with an overwhelming impression of pure beauty. Here, in compositions which often echo the Old Masters in their warmth of color and satisfying balance, an amateur movie maker has turned his camera on the simple life about him and found it pleasing. One after another, the magnificent scenes and sequences bring from the spectator that involuntary expression of deep pleasure which is ambrosia even to the great of amateur movies. In Primitive Patzcuaro, Mr. Gray has portrayed, with leisure, the life of the Tarascan Indians, remote from civilization in a rarely visited section of Mexico. Although magnificent in its color studies, the film is abundant in human interest as well; in portions devoted to the bright native dances and religious ceremonies, it presents a series of tableaux that are breath taking in their effectiveness." Movie Makers, Dec. 1937, 626-627.
"It is a platitude that there is more in Mexico than meets the eye. In Quaint Old Mexico, however, Guy Nelli proves that there is far more in Mexico than usually meets the camera. Mr. Nelli presents the gradual awakening of Mexico, as the farmers drive their produce to market, with a startling sense of early morning atmosphere; market scenes are developed lucidly and effectively. The high peak of the film is reached with a most remarkable sequence of religious festival shots, as virtually an entire village re-enacts the Stations of the Cross. The intense religious emotion evident in these scenes has rarely been caught for the screen. Mr. Nelli's film is outstanding for its fresh approach and, above all, for the natural and casual quality of its shots." Movie Makers, Dec. 1946, 488.
"Alan Probert has confined his study of Mexico to the primitive Otomi Indians. With startling clarity and a fine cinematic eye for detail, he presents the tribal group in a series of sketches that reveal the age old customs of their forefathers still in daily use — sowing and reaping, spinning and weaving, trading and worshipping. Remnants Of The Past is an expertly filmed factual account of the subject, which would have gained considerably from greater unity and a stronger ending." Movie Makers, Dec. 1948, 494.
Total Pages: 5
Amateur Cinema