"A record of the second birthday of June Thubron. The spontaneous actions of a little girl on finding her birthday presents. A record of her actions without any adult direction. The little girl plays with her birthday presents on the lawn and also waters flowers in the garden before falling asleep. In a stop-frame animated sequence subtitled 'Dreamland' towards the end of the film, her new toys come alive." East Anglian Film Archive.
"Indecisive tells the story of a girl who is rather mixed up and can't decide if it is worth while to go on living. The treatment is unlike most amateur efforts and because of its novel approach the film maintains interest to the end" PSA Journal, Sept. 1965, 50.
"Bill Messner has turned to religion and nature for his soul-searching film. His leading man, Sam, has a fine home, family and job and is too busy for extra activities such as church assignments. His personal relations suffer from his self imposed confinement. Something persuades Sam to make a retreat to a religious camp. There are the usual at camp activities, plus the opportunity for devotion and contemplation; the relation of ones soul; the atmosphere to reflect purpose and accomplishment. Introspection is the keystone of the picture and well done it is" PSA Journal, Nov. 1958, 48.
"Within the brief confines of Lady on June Street, Leo Caloia presents a satisfying example of the personality film worked out in story form. Faced with the common problem of family filming, he has resolved the riddle with imagination, humor and marked cinematic ability. The "lady" in question is pictured as a lazy, luxury loving wife, spiritually eager to be the best of helpmates, but physically enslaved to satins and sweetmeats. Dozing, as she regards with languorous ambition an advertisement for homemade shortcake, she dreams vividly of a sweet but unaccustomed success with pot and pan. Crash! In her dream, the lady slips, and her magnificent shortcake slithers across the kitchen linoleum. Bump! In reality, she has rolled sleepily from her couch, to awake with a thud on the living room floor. The film fades swiftly as she hurries the tops off canned beans and sauerkraut." Movie Makers, Dec. 1939, 632.
"The Least of These handles a difficult subject in a way which promotes the cinematic medium to a high position as a sympathetic interpreter of the afflicted. Ripley W. Bugbee has presented a fine understanding of the problem of those whose minds are crippled and has given a clear cinematic exposition of the humane methods used in one institution to bring to these persons, young and old, a productive happiness. The film opens with a historical presentation of the problem of feeblemindedness, in a sequence which is smooth and effectively handled in costuming and direction as well as in photographic technique. Passing on to modern times, the work of a present day institution is shown in all its aspects. The handling of the color medium is exceedingly well done, particularly in those ordinarily difficult shots of interior activities. The closeup work, showing details of the manual operations involved in craftsmanship, is unusual in quality. Well chosen angle shots add variety to the film, which is expertly titled in the Kodachrome medium." Movie Makers, Dec. 1937, 603.
"The Line combines serious commentary with humorous visuals to tell us that in man's lifetime his joys (above the line) just about equal his sorrows (below the line.)" PSA Journal, Sept. 1966, 35.
"Love is found between a man and his mate, between adults and their children, for brothers and sisters, and in countless other familiar ways. But in this film we are introduced to yet another" PSA Journal, Aug. 1967, 37.
"Possibly the most outstanding features of Okamoto's work were his photography and composition. Many regarded his photography as the finest that had ever been put on motion picture film." American Cinematographer, Dec. 1932, 7.
"Second prize was awarded to Tatsuichi Okamoto of Matsuyama, Japan. Title of his single reeler is 'Lullaby,' which depicts the emotions of a mother singing to her child." Variety, Dec. 13, 1932, 2.
"In The Magic City, Virginia Rodarmor shows a warm and winning appreciation of a child's love for fairy tales. After a delightful opening scene in which Mother pantomimes the end of a bedtime story to her three young ones, we see them being tucked away for the night. The film then pictures the children enacting, in a dream, the tale their mother has just related. A regrettable lack of steady camera support is offset by the sensitive unfolding of the story, keeping it unerringly on a level of pure fantasy. A delightful and characteristic conceit is the sequence in which the witch is transformed into a pure white cat — complete with miniature black mask and peaked hat. The role is played by the family pet with superb and feline aplomb. The Magic City is a rewarding adventure into the difficult realm of motion picture fantasy." Movie Makers, Dec. 1948, 495.
"Meshes of the Afternoon is experimental in nature and exciting in its cinematic development. In it, the producers — Maya Deren and her husband. Alexander Hamid — have been concerned with the inner experiences of an individual. Although one sees on the screen the familiar backgrounds and impedimenta of physical existence, the events which transpire among them, through a summer's afternoon, portray subjective feeling rather than objective incident. Miss Deren's creative use of her camera to suggest these emotions blazes new and stimulating trails in pure cinematography." Movie Makers, Dec. 1945, 497.
Total Pages: 5
Amateur Cinema