"Five years before the action of The Old House opens, a young man and his bride of but a year had been involved in a train wreck. The bride, Claire, was killed: but the man — scarred in mind, bruised in body and (he thought) dependent on a walking stick — lived on. He comes now, as the film begins, for one last look at the Old House, "the Old House where I was born and grew up, where Claire and I had been so happy for one short year, with hopes and plans for a future that never came." But, instead of viewing (with self-inflicted sadness) his old homestead, he meets accidentally with a brightfaced boy of five, son of his widowed tenant. How this youngster, this "artless wisdom dressed in blue jeans," frees the man from his stick (a mere surface symbol of his bondage) and from his obsession with the past is the theme of The Old House. But it is fruitless always to attempt a factual outline of any visual study in human relations. And, heartwarmingly, believably and triumphantly, The Old House is simply and exactly that. The producer, Keith Hall, has plotted the course of his tenuous drama with a sure touch and unfailing taste. His scenic progressions are so artful as to seem artless, while his camera work and narrative exposition never fail him in the delicate unfolding of his denouement. Yet it is to the three players of this picture — and to their narrator — that the ultimate tributes must be paid. Young Ross Hall as the Boy, Noela Hall as his widowed Mother, and Mr. Hall himself as the Man are exactly and exquisitely right in their restrained underplaying of three diflicult roles. Reg Cameron, the narrator, speaks lines which are always literate, and often lyric, with warmth and understanding. From its simple opening to its quietly soaring climax, The Old House is a tender and moving triumph." Movie Makers, Dec. 1953, 318-319.
"Silent amateur film shot by John V. Hansen, engineer and member of the Amateur Cinema League, of a performance of Tyrone Guthrie’s Hamlet at Kronberg Castle, Elsinore, Denmark with Laurence Olivier as Hamlet. The first title card states that ‘the oldest metropolitan daily Berlingske Tidende of Copenhagen presents the Old Vic at Kronberg’. The second title states ‘snappy colour-shots from different angles of Scenes from Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’'. Film shows audience, cast getting ready and shots taken throughout the play" The Human Studies Film Archive via the British Universities and Film Council.
"George Merz's cine visit to Europe has captured the old world charm from Holland to Monaco via Belgium, Germany, Bavaria, Austria, Switzerland, an Italy. There is countryside, cities, waterways, architecture, arts, crafts, ruins, and parades reminiscent of the traditions of centuries. A good coverage of so large an area in thirty minutes" PSA Journal, Nov. 1958, 47.
Después de una noche de tragos en un bar, Olga sale con un extraño y lo lleva a su hogar. Mientras tienen relaciones sexuales, ella ve la foto de un niño pequeño en la pared, y recuerda tocar el piano y divertirse con el. Después el filme muestra a Olga en el baño inyectándose drogas para después vagar por las calles bajo la influencia de narcóticos y alimentar a un perro con pan mientras continúa recordando estar con el pequeño niño. Olga regresa al mismo bar acompañada de una mujer y se emborracha; después de salir juntas hacia el hogar de Olga, empiezan a desvestirse y besarse. Olga ve la foto otra vez y empieza a llorar, esta escena es seguida por imágenes de ella recibiendo oxígeno en una ambulancia y después llorando a lado de la otra mujer, mirando la fotografía.
After a night of drinks in a bar, Olga leaves with a stranger and takes him home. While having sex with him, she sees the picture of a little boy on the wall, and remembers playing piano and having fun with him. Afterwards the film shows Olga in the bathroom injecting herself with drugs, wandering the streets while in the influence of the drugs and feeding a dog with bread while she keeps on remembering being with the kid. Olga then goes to the same bar with a woman and gets drunk, they leave together to Olga’s home and while they begin to undress and kiss, she sees the picture again and starts crying, this scene is followed by images of her receiving oxygen in an ambulance, and then crying again next to the other woman, looking at the picture.
"documentario"/documentary
David Bradley's amateur feature film adaptation of Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist.
"Featuring a philandering wife, an illicit lover and a trusting husband, Olvido (Oblivion) proves once again, in the course of its sharply paced sequences, that the wages of sin is death. In it, the taut situations (which will lead at the last to murder and suicide) are so expertly directed and suavely acted that they develop always within the bounds of credibility. This achievement is especially noteworthy in an amateur photoplay of this melodramatic type. For others, attempting work in the same medium, have lapsed all too often into either the ridiculous or the farcical. Producers Oscar J. Bonello and Roberto Robertie, both officers of the Cine Club Argentino, in Buenos Aires, have used black and white film wisely, since its stark contrasts under low-key lighting are more effective than would be those of color. The Spanish sound track, employed sparingly and with dramatic force, is in keeping with the high standards of the rest of the picture." Movie Makers, Dec. 1952, 339.
Olympionic is another successful film by Rose and Stuart Dabbs of the Bronx. Naturally it's in color, and it is only 4 minutes long. The film is an excellent example of creativity, experimentation and what have you. It's all put together neatly. Here's your chance to see a film twice, three times and even as many as twenty times all in one screening. The gracefulness of the film is really a work of art. Oh yes, it's about Olympic diving" PSA Journal, Nov. 1969, 57.
"doc. a fantasia"/avant-garde documentary
Total Pages: 294