"An idol stolen from a Chinese temple and the efforts of a loyal retainer to recover it provide George Kirstein with a novel springboard for the unfolding of this unusual travel film. Subsequent events carry the principals from New York to Chicago, through the Southwest to Los Angeles and Hollywood, up the coast to San Francisco and finally back to New York for restoration of the idol. Far from hindering the sightseeing sequences, Mr. Kirstein's device enhances the presentation of this material. While the camera handling is satisfying throughout, tighter editing would speed up the pace and heighten dramatic interest." Movie Makers, Dec. 1949, 471.
"Al Schmidt's Sail Fishing is a well edited and engagingly pleasant presentation of a theme that might easily get out of hand. Mr. Schmidt has covered all aspects of an exciting sport, including the rarely mentioned sharks. However, the greatest virtue of Sail Fishing is not the film itself but the accompanying narrative, which is delivered calmly and with a good deal of humor. Mr. Schmidt has proved that sharks are exciting in their own right, instead of as a backdrop for a babbling and frenetic narrator." Movie Makers, Dec. 1949, 471.
"A joint project of the members of the Motion Picture Photography Class of the Westchester Workshop, in White Plains, N. Y., Recreation Handmade is notable for its evenness of camera work. It presents in a naturally episodic fashion various handiwork classes available to children and adults of the community. If you like to work with your hands, this film will make you eager to enroll in one of the many activities offered — which, of course, is the purpose of its production. A rather full commentary describes how the courses work. Walter Bergmann, as instructor of the motion picture course, proves with his pupils' film that practical movie making can be taught — and taught well." Movie Makers, Dec. 1949, 470-471.
"The imaginative experiments with animated clay figures begun last year in No Credit have, in this year's Proem, proved out as a suave and wholly integrated art form. The unique and wholly delightful work of Leonard Tregillus and Ralph Luce, jr., has here come handsomely of age — both technically and creatively. Proem, conceived as a preface to the theme of Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, is of far greater filmic stature than its already rented status permits it to be rated." Movie Makers, Dec. 1949, 470.
"J. N. Unwalla has chosen a simple morality tale for the theme of this colorful film from India. A beggar pleads for alms from passersby with poor success. There appears suddenly a figure who promises him wealth if he will eschew avarice and greed. As a shower of golden coins overflows his lap, however, he begs for "one dinar more." The point of the tale is proved when this evidence of his greed causes the wealth and the figure to disappear. Although employing interesting camera viewpoints to give diversity, the single setting in a Bombay courtyard suggests a stage play rather than a motion picture." Movie Makers, Dec. 1949, 470.
"A blonde model and the sights of New York divide the honors in Othon Goetz's Her Heart's Desire, a pleasant story of the girl who came to the Big City to model and got married instead. Good city footage is quite rare; Mr. Goetz has succeeded in achieving some startling shots of New York's splendors as he follows the thin thread of his story. It is difficult to believe that this blonde would not have found a job — but she lends glamour to a film that otherwise might show considerable weakness." Movie Makers, Dec. 1949, 470.
"Out of his personal experience, C. H. Bacon has produced an intimately documented film study of honey bees, both from the viewpoint of the keeper and that of the bees. Included are some extraordinary detail shots of life within the hive — the birth, life and death of a queen bee, construction of a hive, protection against natural enemies and the production of honey. Happy touches of light humor balance the more serious aspects of the subject, while the bear sequence at the end provides an amusing climax. Exceptionally well lighted and capably photographed, the picture provides entertaining and instructive screen fare." Movie Makers, Dec. 1949, 469-470.
"Gannets are treated exhaustively and other aspects of life on Gaspe lightly in W. A. Levett's Gaspesia, a sound and often informative study of this tiny Canadian community. Mr. Levett has his Kodachrome under crisp control, and the strong textures in many of his sequences lend authenticity to a generally able film. The life of the gannets is admirably handled, though the time devoted to them tends to give the film a split personality." Movie Makers, Dec. 1949, 469.
"The trials, tribulations and eventual triumphs of a teen aged young man embarked on his initial evening engagement are engagingly portrayed by John C. Sherard in First Date. Even the traditional nuisance role played by junior members of the girl's family is given a new angle — a trained flea circus on the loose. But this bit of business and others in a basically imaginative comedy are, on occasion, drawn out too much for the best dramatic pace. Outstanding in the film, however, is Mr. Sherard's use of Type A Kodachrome outdoors without the corrective filter to simulate moonlight." Movie Makers, Dec. 1949, 469.
"Esther Cooke showed intelligence and imagination in organizing the material of this travel study of Scotland, so that even the least observant should get from it a truly representative feeling of that doughty land. Well written titles serve as titles should, to infuse in the film pertinent data not shown in the scenes; technically, a less fussy style of title lettering would have been an improvement. Mrs. Cooke's slight camera unsteadiness in scenes of the King and Queen of England at the Scottish festival was understandable, for undoubtedly tripods were barred from that event. There were, however, a few other uneven shots that seemed to us questionable in value. Restrained use of bagpipe recordings highlight a generally effective musical score." Movie Makers, Dec. 1949, 469.
Total Pages: 299
Amateur Cinema