English
400 ft
16mm
B&W
Silent
"Electra, 400 ft., 16mm., produced by Clyde Hammond, is a picturization of that Greek drama. Its most novel quality is the evidence of an intelligent search for the best motion picture treatment to present an accurate film version of the story. A series of tableau like sequences were finally used with much better results than if the plot had been adapted and scenarized in the customary manner. Certainly this film version is much truer to the original than would otherwise have been possible. Not being able to erect the complicated sets that would seem necessary, Mr. Hammond used flat gray walls, producing the suggestion of ancient Greek palaces and dwellings with "props," costumes and occasional wall ornamentation. The photographic quality is uniformly good throughout and, one sequence has very good double exposures." Movie Makers, Dec. 1930, 787-788.
Electra is discussed by Arthur L. Gale in "Amateur Clubs," (Movie Makers, Sept. 1930, 549) where its use of close-ups is compared to those seen in Carl Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928). The article also states that Electra was available in the ACL's Club Film Library.
Amateur Cinema