"Choosing one of the most common sites of seasonal move making, Benjamin Crocker has by the sheer virtuosity of his production methods come up with an attractive and entertaining travel short. Here are, to be sure, Marineland, Miami, Silver Springs, Cypress Gardens and all the rest, tied neatly together with an animated map and a lively commentary. But with his clean camera work, fresh viewpoints and incisive editing, Mr. Crocker covers them in a tight ten minutes of unflagging good fun. To these same subject other amateurs have devoted twenty, forty or even-sixty minutes, and, all too often, have encountered the inevitable law of diminishing returns, Florida Vacation Fun dances where others have dawdled" PSA Journal, Jan. 1955, 48.
"Isabelle's next door neighbors - three bachelors - are asked to carry on for her, when she is stricken and hospitalized, in entering her prize orchid in the Garden Show. Their well-meaning but bumbling attempt to help her win the prize results in hilarious antics and a heart-warming conclusion to this delightful comedy" PSA Journal, Oct. 1963, 41.
"Flowering Byways, presented with well chosen musical accompaniment, is a story of the creation and growth of a home garden, cleverly interwoven with the thread of human interest. In it, Ernest Kremer has made a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting record of his father in law's gardening ability. "Pop's garden" has its beginnings in the chilly days of early spring, when the bare ground gives little promise of the profusion of bloom that is to spring up under Pop's skillful hands. We follow with keen interest the growth of the garden through subsequent months. Mr. Kremer's skill in presentation being demonstrated by the constant variety of material and by the interpolation of well chosen touches of human interest. Finally, the apotheosis of Pop's garden creation is realized when he takes first prize at the local garden club show. The flower closeups here are always excellent, but they are not made an end in themselves." Movie Makers, Dec. 1941, 565.
"In Fluffy, the Kitten, a kitten tells her own story about herself — the things that she likes to do, the way she spends her day, the things she eats and the way in which her mistress takes care of her, to make her a happy companion. In designing and filming this continuity, Grayce and Kenneth Space have created the most natural and expressive movie of a pet that we have yet seen. Interpreted with titles, written in the first person, as if the kitten were speaking, this film presents interior lighting and camera work without blemish. The cutting is masterly, and the whole unit is as smooth as Fluffy's silky fur. The intention of the filmer was to create a new, direct and simple type of teaching film that would convey its message efficiently and entertainingly to children. This purpose was completely achieved; you cannot look at Fluffy, the Kitten without learning important things about cats and you cannot look at it without being delighted. Most amazing of all qualities in this film is the uncanny success of the producers in controlling the kitten actor. Fluffy appears to play each scene like a trouper. Unlimited patience and extraordinary skill were involved in making this picture. Movie Makers, Dec. 1940, 577, 599.
"Romantic narrative by Rochester homemaker Marion Gleason that was used by Kodak to introduce home-moviemaking to the public." filmpreservation.org
"Members of the BC Mountaineering Club fly from Jericho Beach, Vancouver, in a Sikorsky S-38 amphibian (Canadian Airways, registration CF-ASO), and land on Garibaldi Lake. Most of the footage depicts the members climbing Mount Garibaldi and resting at the summit. Returning to the lake, they board the amphibian and fly back to Jericho Beach" British Columbia Archives.
"A community service in filming the activities of the George E. Slye School in East Hartford, Conn. We start with the young boys and girls on the playground, their orderly return to the classrooms. Then we visit the first and second grades to observe the teaching and learning methods. There is a lunch room, a dispensary, and an audio hearing test center. All learn to sing, blending their young voices in the classroom. Those who have the interest, are taught to use musical instruments and an appreciation of the drama. Physical education for good health is as important as Parent-Teachers organization meetings Focus on Slye is a truly fine community service" PSA Journal, Oct. 1962, 35.
"Oscar H. Horovitz had, obviously, a certain amount of influence aiding his production of Follow the Girls, a motion picture study of the Gertrude Niesen musical comedy. This fact, however, does not explain the secret of his success. Others before him have had influence behind their filming of such dramatic spectacles as the circus, indoor ice carnivals, pageants and assorted stage shows. The influence did not help; their filming remained but a record, immobile and inanimate between the confines of a proscenium arch. Not so in Follow the Girls! Although executed with brilliant technical ability, the paramount triumph of this picture is its prevailing and sure sense of genuine cinematics. The cameraman seems to have been everywhere — on stage and off. Scenes of an ensemble or of a single singer cut in complete confidence from long shot to medium to closeup, without missing so much as a shoe tap. Follow the Girls, besides being lively and colorful entertainment, should serve as a model for all future personal movies of its kind and as an important record of this era of entertainment." Movie Makers, Dec. 1944, 477, 494.
"Well known for its attainments in the commercial film field, the T. W. Willard Motion Picture Company sets a new high in its publicity productions with Follow the Plow. To technical excellence they have added sound sequencing; into a record of vocational education, they have instilled beauty and human interest. The subject matter concerns the training given to selected city boys in the fundamentals of farming at the Bowdoin Farm, operated by the Children's Aid Society of New York City. Tracing the course of these boys from the sidewalks and streets to the fields, at New Hamburg, N. Y., the location of the farm, the film expands with the glorious color of the autumn country and becomes a living essay of the pleasures of farm life. Constantly changing angles and intelligent titling lend pace to the production. Despite the limited interest in the specific subject of plows and cows, the appeal is made universal through magnificent color scenes and competent treatment." Movie Makers, Dec. 1938, 618.
Total Pages: 203
Amateur Cinema