"Ralph W. Luce has made a record film of a day's outing by a group of cameramen, in which he proves that imaginative planning and concise cutting can make an interesting movie of what might otherwise be dull material. The continuity scheme used in Field Trip shows a waterfront scene being shot, its process through the darkroom and its final exhibition to win top prize among the group's endeavors. Flanking this theme are creative compositions that various cameramen might have recorded, as well as inserts of the workers choosing their viewpoints and setting their lenses. The lead and end titles are particularly stimulating. Mr. Luce has achieved pace in a film that might have been plodding. The result is marred only by the graininess of its monochrome emulsion." Movie Makers, Dec. 1950, 467.
"In I Walked a Crooked Trail, O. L. Tapp has lured a good deal of motion and humor out of what must be one of the world's most static subjects — the Arches National Monument. Remembering that story interest is an important part of cinematics, Mr. Tapp has kept his very competent camera trained on continuous human action, letting his travelog unwind itself, very subtly, as a background. The film is limited by the essential triviality of its theme — the unfolding of a practical joke. But within its limits it does very well indeed." Movie Makers, Dec. 1950, 467-468.
"David W. Kean has made a simple expository film of a two-man gold mining outfit. But in it he has kept the human touch. A well written narrative supplements the pictured material in explaining the various operations that ultimately produce man's most valued metal. Interior and underground scenes are competently handled and surmount what must have been difficult lighting problems. The production of King of Metals is aptly in scale with the extent of its subject matter." Movie Makers, Dec. 1950, 468.
"Startling photography in 8mm. Kodachrome gives Harry W. Atwood's Outpost a dramatic appeal beyond the merits of its rather confused and melodramatic story. Story aside (it's a tale of murder, in which some very critical action is not adequately pointed up), Outpost deals magnificently with some of the most interesting and barren country you are likely to find this side of your nightmares. If his plot developments can become more convincing, Mr. Atwood has an excellent filming future." Movie Makers, Dec. 1950, 468.
"To realize that paddling bow position in a canoe can be the sole subject of an entire film should surprise any reasonable movie maker. But when you consider that Paddle Up Front! is a physical-education teaching film, it is not so surprising. Naturally, the continuity treatment is repetitious, as all teaching-film plans are likely to be. But C. Roy Terry, jr., production director, ably demonstrates that the person who occupies the forward position in a canoe has an important job when it is done properly. The photography by Ellis A. Ring is workmanlike, particularly in cross lighted scenes which point up the muscle movements in various strokes by the paddler. The didactic narrative seems unnecessarily obvious in places, but it probably is justified when one considers the specific purpose of the film." Movie Makers, Dec. 1950, 468.
"Citheronia Regalis, the Royal Walnut Moth, or Hickory Horned Devil are some of the ringing appellations admiring entomologists have given the colorful caterpillar on which Jay T. Fox has chosen to turn his microcinematographic attention. The result, The Birth of a Caterpillar, is an excellent example of scientific filming. In it, Mr. Fox records the egg, embryonic and finally emerging stages of his subject with sound scientific knowledge, exceptional technical ability and obvious patience." Movie Makers, Dec. 1950, 468.
"Cal Duncan, the exuberant extrovert of Lee's Summit, Mo., has, in The Director, turned his high talents for low comedy on our own hobby of amateur movies. Both the hobby and the hobbyist's long suffering friends take quite a beating. In the person of Felix Fogbound, a perennial bird-brain in the producer's cinematic studio, Mr. Duncan combines all of the classic amateur idiocies with a flavoring of Hollywood hokum. His lampooning of personal movies is robust, rowdy and for keeps. When Fogbound swoops his camera in a dizzy pan shot, you have really had it. When he attacks editing with a pot of glue and his thumb-and-forefinger splicing technique, every movie maker will wince with horror. The director is a derisive and delightful burlesque, executed with an almost artless technical competence." Movie Makers, Dec. 1950, 468.
"There have been in the past, and will be in the future, a number of fine amateur films portraying the great moment of marriage, the ecstatic happiness of the honeymoon. But these films have featured, by and large, the young in age those blythe favorites of the Gods of Love with whom no fervor can seem foolish, no endearment an awkward jest. Not so in From This Day Forward. The protagonists here are people of adult experience and mature mind. But though no longer young in years, they are superbly and inseparably young in spirit. This quality, as well as good taste and graciousness — which are overtones more often missing with the young — illumines each charming foot of From This Day Forward. Othon Goetz enhances this spirituality in every phase of his production. His impeccable camera work seems to glow — where another's would merely sparkle. His compositions are so inevitable as to seem effortless, while his editing adds pace to an already attractive picture." Movie Makers, Dec. 1951, 410.
"Color, light and movement are skillfully and pleasurably combined in Jose M. Pavon's Form in Motion, an experimental film that "experiments" in the best sense of that word. Employing such simple properties as shower curtains, knives and forks and Mexican glassware, Mr. Pavon has used both his camera and his imagination to great effect. Unfortunately, the film from time to time moves beyond the subject matter limits set up by its title, an inconsistency which mars slightly the overall impact." Movie Makers, Dec. 1950, 467.
"Stanley Woolf's film tour of this fascinating island presents an entertaining record, in a pleasantly casual manner, of an American visitor's impressions of the Black Republic. The street scenes and detailed studies of its artisans at work provide engrossing fare, while the voodoo dances at the climax make an exciting film experience. Technically, Haiti — The Black Republic is a wise and workmanlike production. From the short period and superficial observations of a tourist's visit, one cannot, regrettably, ask for a great deal more. The haunting subject matter, however, prompts a fuller answer to such a demand — someday." Movie Makers, Dec. 1950, 467.
Total Pages: 299
Amateur Cinema