"Film of a girl making items disappear and reappear for her sister." Church History Library.
"Two children and a simple plot are ideal ingredients for a family film story. In Magic Stairway, Margaret and Harlan M. Webber have used this combination to develop a lively and natural movie of their son Roy and their daughter Janet. Roy longs for a punching bag for Christmas, but he feels that it is a too expensive gift to expect from his parents. He decides to earn the money for it with the help of his young sister. In beautifully filmed sequences, the children are shown melting castoff candles and remolding them into delicate shapes, to be sold to the neighbors. The profits mount slowly until the desired goal is reached. Then tragedy strikes when Janet accidentally breaks one of Mother's treasured teacups. The direction and cutting in this sequence are particularly skillful, as each person's reaction to the broken cup is registered. All is harmony on Christmas morning when Mother's gift from the children (bought with the punching bag money) is revealed as a replacement of the broken treasure. Needless to say, the children fare handsomely, with the punching bag starring as the climactic present. Faultless camera work and intelligent direction of the children contribute to make this film far above the average." Movie Makers, Dec. 1947, 514.
"A short but poignant film of a crippled girl with a toy carousel which becomes very real to her. She dreams of visiting an amusement park." PSA Journal, Nov. 1956, 45.
"In a relatively short period of filming, Raymond J. Berger has mastered a type of photoplay which a great many persons have expressed a desire to make, the story film featuring a child and a pet. His script, a simple and unpretentious recounting of how an invalid child wills herself to walk again, to go to the aid of her injured dog, proves an ideal vehicle for Mr. Berger's young daughter and her handsome collie, Lassie. This 8mm. Kodachrome picture, scored with re-recorded music, is noteworthy for its excellent framing and splendid closeups. Particularly engaging is the sequence, after the accident, showing the mutual recovery of the two stars. Young Miss Berger, considering the limited histrionic ability of a natural child, plays her role with grace and assurance; her crying scenes and the ingenuous frolics with Lassie are unusually credible and well performed. Mr. Berger deserves credit for his planning and fulfillment of a screen play that revolves around two such charming personalities." Movie Makers, Dec. 1946, 486.
(Catalan): Viatge per Hongria, escultures, imatges del riu Danubi, el transport dels troncs d'arbre. Imatges de la vida quotidiana i el seu paisatge: cavalls, el transport en carro de la Fusta, canalla, porcs, l'extracció d'aigua d'un pou, edificis i monuments típics de Magyar i Budapest (Plaça de la Llibertat). Documental de caire pedagògic on se'ns mostra el desmembrament d'Hongria a través d'un mapa.
Pedagogical documentary of a trip through Hungary. Images of everyday life and its landscape: horses, wooden cart transport, children, pigs, the extraction of water from a well, buildings and monuments typical of Magyar and Budapest, and the Danube River. [Description from Filmoteca de Catalunya catalog].
"Documentary about the process of digging for worms during low tide, washing and packaging them in rockweed, and shipping them by rail and truck. The film uses intertitles and shows the tools used for worming as well as snow scenes of the Maine Bait Company among other businesses." oldfilm.org
"Amateur filmmaker, cinema historian and railway engineer H.A.V. Bulleid presents this comedy of two bumbling sleuths bickering their way through an investigation. When the venerable, one-armed Dr Claudius Bombarnoc drops an important document, it is seized upon by the villainous Michel Despard. Giving chase, the doctor literally trips over the hapless duo from the Messrs Make and Break Detective Agency. Employed by the doctor, they trace the villain to the local hospital where they finally have him cornered. But can they work together long enough to capture him, or will their constant bickering hinder the investigation?" (EAFA Database).
"George A. Valentine long has been one of the nation's leading 8mm movie makers, because of his knack for consistently turning out capsule movies with a punch, which have won numerous awards. In 'Make Mine Magic' Valentine has scored again with an appealing story of a lad who comes into possession of a magic wand, and thereafter brings to reality numerous wishes of his and those of his brother and sister. Valentine has a slick way of injecting humor and also a surprise last-minute gag into his movies. His 8mm color photography is consistently good and his editing and titling, as always, is skillfully done." American Cinematographer, May 1952, 222
Total Pages: 295
Amateur Cinema