"In New Horizon, Cinematographer Clardy presented the life of a farm girl at a moment of crisis. One reel, almost without titles, tells the story of her efforts to marry the man she loves in spite of her father's opposition which keeps her chained to the farm." American Cinematographer, Feb. 1935, 78.
"Clardy was the winner last year of the gold medal for scenario and photography. Last year Clardy's picture was based on a western theme, while this year his scenario, although set in its greater part in the outdoors had several indoor shots. However, most to be admired was the way in which he handled his production both from composition and directorial standpoint. There were only three people in his cast with the girl assuming the major role. His sense of dramatic values, and especially his fine feeling for the proper tempo brought forth unstinted praise from the judges." American Cinematographer, Dec. 1934, 365
"Tullio Pellegrini has filmed a delightful little story in which boy meets girl and together they watch the nesting, hatching and feeding of the baby nightingales. There are the tender moments of meeting and getting acquainted; the disappointment when one cannot keep the appointed date; and the return of two hearts to their earlier meeting place to the welcome and song of the newly grown nightingales" PSA Journal, Nov. 1958, 46.
"Nightsong is a dramatic story of a colored night club singer, Willie Wright, trying to make the big time and, most of all "to get people to like me." One evening while singing, his eyes rest on the face of a beautiful young white girl and his infatuation with her becomes unmistakable as the story unfolds. The film is 99% visual with a sound track that places great emphasis on the various moods of the young singer" PSA Journal, Sept. 1965, 50.
"Once Upon a Rose is romantic fantasy of a high and handsome order. In it a young gallant on a walking tour comes upon a lovely pleasance leading, at its far end, to a columned Grecian portico and the statue of a goddess. Starting to dance upon the wide stone steps, he soon hears footballs echoing behind him. The goddess has come to life and, in a series of gay modern dances, she and the boy make tender and romantic love. Then, like the princess in the fairy tale, she is again transfigured into stone—and the young man is left with only a rose to mark her memory. Now...except for brief opening and closing sequences, all of this action takes place in the single setting of the Grecian porch. To be sure, the choreography by Jimmy Inman (who also plays the young gallant) is lively and kinetic. And Mary Jo Bishop is graceful as the girl. But the film's real rhythmic flow is due in its major part to the imagination and skill of the producer, William H. Eddy. It is from his fluid camera that there blossoms this rose-scented romance which never was" PSA Journal, Jan. 1955, 49.
"Neither the lead title nor the unpretentious opening scenes — as a small boy is seen building a crude toy boat — prepares the spectator for the pure enchantment of One Summer Day. For, almost unrealized even as it happens, the film melts with incredible smoothness from live action into animation and make-believe. The toy boat becomes a pirate galleon of old, a flower a maiden in distress and a twig her gallant suitor, as there unfolds a tale of romantic derring-do. Under cover of darkness, the pirates plot to kidnap the lady, whose protector, a humble fisherman, is away at his nets. He returns, only to be bested in the ensuing sword play, yet, undaunted, he still gives chase. With the help of a friendly whale, he overtakes the pirates, frees his lady and, as the galleon goes down in flames, the lovers return to shore, to live happily ever after. Then, as quietly as it all began, we are back at the edge of the sunlit pond. The boy lifts his boat from the water and turns homeward. And yet, through the true magic of the movies, we have entered for a brief moment childhood's enchanted world. Highly imaginative camera handling, technical skill and a keen sense of cinematic values make this an outstanding example of personal filming. The musical accompaniment and sound effects (including the cling-clang-cling of clashing swords) complement the picture perfectly. Glen Turner has added a new dimension to amateur filming with this simple story so superbly told in its brief 350 feet of 8mm. film." Movie Makers, Dec. 1949, 452-453.
"We open with a little boy standing on a box in a telephone booth; his little friend is too busy or not of a receptive mood for the boy friend. Hurt as he is, he goes into the park and laments his failure to lure the young lady. He is about to resolve a life without women when a young (very young) girl comes into his perspective. His agile mind responds and he sets about to make an impression using many approaches of demure and sophisticated charm. His success was not exactly complete. Finally she visits the "girls" room. Her long delay is too much for the young man, so he makes another telephone call and hurriedly leaves the scene. The commentary is enhanced by the sophisticated French voice. This will be included in the Package" PSA Journal, Oct. 1962, 34.
"Amateur filmmaker, cinema historian and railway engineer H.A.V. Bulleid employs his flair for amateur production to spice up his home movies of a romantic trip to France. Acting in a moment of impulse, a man proposes to take his female friend to Paris. Leaving behind Dover's white cliffs, they arrive in Calais 'in less time than it takes to read the Bible'. Once their car - named 'Tilly' - has been unloaded, they set out to Paris via Le Tréport, Belleville, Rouen and Louviers. Arriving in the French capital they head straight to 'the film director's joy', the Avenue des Champs-Élysées and L'Arc de Triomphe, visit the Paris Bourse and tour the city's streets and boulevards. Pausing for a drink, they continue on to Place Saint-Augustin and Montmartre, dining at Moulin de la Galette - 'a tourist's paradise...pay double and eat half' - before catching a film at Studio 28. Tearing themselves away from the city of light with one last drink at Cafe George V, they drive through a gathering storm to Étaples and on to Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, 'haunt of motion picture stars', before a flurry of editing retraces their trip, marked out on a map" (EAFA Database).
"Return from Fire, as defined by its producer, Dr. W. Lynwood Heaver, is the "biography of a mental breakdown." In its opening we meet a boy and girl idyllically in love. But the clouds of war fall across their summer sunshine, the young man is called up and, in a short time, is announced as missing in combat. It is then that the fires of apprehension, misery and terror sear into the girl's mind. How modern psychiatry serves, at last, to recall her from this self inflicted limbo is the climactic denouement of Dr. Heaver's drama. The conception of Return from Fire is imaginative and exciting. The acting and its correlative direction are excellent throughout. A provocative musical score contributes markedly to the maintenance of dramatic tension. Dr. Heaver's camera work, rising occasionally to heights of cinematic imagination, is sound, satisfying and suggestive of still greater things to come. Put down his name as one to watch!" Movie Makers, Dec. 1945, 494.
"After alighting at Langport East railway station and following a long walk, a young man and his fiance check into the Anchor Inn at Little Langport, noted for its fishing. The man's fixation with angling, his fiance's slow mastery of the technique and the romantic threat of an attractive, ace woman angler are the obstacles in their relationship. Humorous intertitles typify the era's social manners" (EAFA Database).
A woman is tempted with thoughts of another man after her husband disappoints her on their anniversary. Will she follow through with the act, or will she remain faithful to her husband?
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Amateur Cinema