"Journey Through a Day is a beautiful and restful film of a day in a young boy's rural life. The colorful photography by Dale Johnson of Dallas is excellent. He packs a solid day of carefree existence into 17 minutes of entertainment and wishing it were your day" PSA Journal, Nov. 1969, 56.
"Lend Me Your Ear is an almost perfect synthesis of shrewd planning, impeccable camera work, smoothly integrated music and general, overall charm. It is gay, glamorous and in good taste. In it, Erma Niedermeyer has caught the lighthearted spirit of 'teen aged American youth. That she was amply aided by her own attractive son was her further good fortune. As the film opens, the Boy is discovered musing over that classic advertisement which guarantees to teach you piano in ten easy lessons. "You too can be the life of the party!" it clarions. The Boy answers the call, the lessons start arriving and the fun begins. There is the light "running gag" of the harried postman, continually overwhelmed by the Boy's enthusiasm as he delivers each new installment; there is the time the piano refuses to play, clogged up as it is by a basketball in its "innards"; there is the tousle headed imitation of Franz Liszt at the age of fourteen — and more. There is, in climax, the Boy's devastating triumph amid a bevy of admiring beauties, as he becomes in truth "the life of the party." Geared to these sequences — which are presented in swift pace and with unerring command of the camera — is a musical accompaniment as suave as the film itself. A single commercial recording provides a slight and recurring background theme. All the remaining score — from the first hesitant scales to the final rocking rendition of a jazz hit — is in the Boy's own playing, especially recorded by Mrs. Niedermeyer to fit her own picture. It is an ineffable and irresistible combination, this Lend Me Your Ear, warmly deserving of the high honor it has won." Movie Makers, Dec. 1943, 457.
"Luz externa fue una de las producciones más ambiciosas del súper 8 mexicano. El guión se basaba en el monólogo de Ernesto, un machín jipiteca, que relata a un amigo las peripecias con su novia Raquel. Posteriormente el guión sirvió como la base del cuento con el mismo título que apareció como parte del libro El rey se acerca a su templo. Tanto la película como el cuento se abocaban a describir el abanico amplio de la juventud clasemediera urbana contracultural que había aparecido a fines de los años sesenta y principios de los setenta: los macizos que acceden al consumo de drogas, las muchachas de buena familia que se acercan a ese mundo, los nuevos conversos a la revolución social o los intelectuales que participan del ambiente con simpatía" (Vázquez Mantecón, 2012).
"Luz externa [External light] was one of the most ambitious productions of the Mexican super 8. The script was based in the monologue of Ernesto, a 'machin' hippie, that tells a friend about his adventures with his girlfriend Raquel. The script served later as the base for a short story with the same title that appeared as part of the book El rey se acerca a su templo [The king approaches his temple]. Both the movie and the short story described the wide range of the middle class urban countercultural youth that emerged at the end of the sixties and the beginning of the seventies: the strong men that had access to drugs, the girls from good families that entered that world, the new converts to social revolution or the intellectuals that sympathize with that ambiance" (Vázquez Mantecón, 2012).
"In Maxine's Big Moment, William Messner proves that he knows the language of the motion picture, for he tells his tale in true visual terms. No subtitles are used, nor are they needed. This is a small film but a suave one, scarcely more than a vignette, as it recounts the excitement of a teen age girl's first formal dance. In it, the producer has used high key lighting that is eminently suitable in portraying a lovely young girl anticipating and preparing for a party. The choice of softcolor backgrounds adds immensely to the mood of the film, and the imaginative mirror shots in which the young lady pins a corsage to her gown are noteworthy. Fine editing and smooth transitions, in addition to good acting, combine to make a delightful and entertaining home movie." Movie Makers, Dec. 1948, 476.
"Muntre Streker, which (we are informed) means "Funny Lines" in a literal translation from the Norwegian, is a wholly delightful tid-bit of animated cartooning. In it, fat colored crayons — one dressed as a boy, the other as a girl — act out a simple story which is as gay in its good humor as the animation is flawless in its technique. Scarcely 100 feet in length, Muntre Streker is a bright and sparkling gem of film fantasy." Movie Makers, Dec. 1952, 339.
"'Overdose,' filmed by Francis J. Barrett, of Seattle, Washington, is an expertly photographed dramatic photoplaylet, done in 8mm. black and white. The story concerns two young men sharing a room together. One, a writer is upset by annoying tactics of other who, sensing this, plans to put his friend out of his misery. He brings him a cup of coffee to which he has added sleeping tablets. A fight ensues and the other strikes his benefactor down with an ashtray. It is then he discovers the sleeping pills are not fatal. The plot is simple, but the acting is expert, and complemented by the dramatic low-key lighting and highly effective camera handling, presents a very professional bit of cinematic artistry. Barrett used a Bell & Howell 8mm. 'Sportster' camera and Ansco Hypan film." American Cinematographer, Apr. 1950, 134.
"Plato in Amerika deals with the new life a young fellow from the Old Country finds in America. From working as a waiter in a restaurant to shooting dice with his friends, we see him dancing, brawling, wenching, and embarrassing his parents. When at last he is forced to marry one of his girl friends and later is seen romping with his children, he smiles at the camera and decides "this is life" PSA Journal, Sept. 1965, 51.
"The Red Ring, from Japan, tells the story of a young girl who buys a red ring and buries it on the hillside. Years later, as a young woman, she retells the story through flashbacks. Finally she goes to dig up the ring to tie in with the glimpses of herself as a young girl" PSA Journal, Aug. 1967, 37.
"Sea Theme: M. R. Weinstein, J. C. Couffer and Conrad Hall have collaborated in the production of a thematic and quite pictorial account of a young couple with a sailboat at sea. The variety of moods are enhanced by the carefully chosen musical score, which has been combined with the film. The picture begins by showing the youth and girl loafing in the sun on the ship's deck. A breeze springs up and they go into action setting sails and the wheel for a cruise in the bay. The camera follows the craft, both in long shot and intimate medium on-deck shots as it churns through the water, runs into a calm, then again bends to the breeze and returns to port at dusk. Consistency of photographic quality is a highlight and the sound recording is quite professional. The picture was filmed with a Bolex H-16 camera and a variety of four lenses." American Cinematographer, May 1951, 190.
"Take a dozen or more normally exuberant youngsters in the second grade of school, mix them amid a day-long session of changing classes, and flavor with the excitement of making a movie — this was the recipe which Herbert F. Sturdy set himself to follow in cooking up Sweeter by the Dozen. He has been remarkably and quite charmingly successful. That the school was West Lake, in the svelte suburbs of Hollywood, and that the pupils were the progeny of "name" figures in the film colony, may have had, perhaps, something to do with it. But kids will be kids — whether in Glendale or Grand Rapids. By some alchemy of the camera, Mr. Sturdy has indeed made them sweeter by the dozen." Movie Makers, Dec. 1951, 412.
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Amateur Cinema