"Ballerina is easily the most unusual film to be entered in the Competition in many years. Alise Ziverts the maker, has scratched the images on a piece of opaque 16mm film. Though the technique is not new, her masterful effort of depicting a man and a woman dancer with no more than a sharp needle is little less than amazing. With a screen time of one minute at 16 frames per second, this amounts to approximately 1000 separate drawings Miss Ziverts was required to make on the small frame area" PSA Journal, Sept. 1966, 35.
"Behind the Scenes was filmed by Mildred J. Caldwell while the Long Beach Cinema Club was making Fire From the Skies, a civilian defense movie. This production skillfully presents an entertaining record of the problems and the confusion that beset amateur motion picture activities, and it shows how a successful picture can be produced in spite of them." Movie Makers, Dec. 1943, 477.
"The Birth of St. Mary's, by Robert F. Gowen. is a deeply moving and well nigh incredible accomplishment in amateur film production. Described as a chronicle in retrospect by the church that it pictures, the film moves bravely into the treacherous domain of costume drama and emerges triumphant. To recreate the gracious life of another day, to catch the feeling of its clothes and the flavor of its customs, to stage all of this against settings not only dramatically sound but full of beauty as well — such were but part of the problems of the producer. Perhaps greatest of all was the task of carrying on each step of this work with the willing, but often wilting, help of an entire community, the accomplishment, through infinite patience, of holding this group together for an entire year. Mr. Gowen has done it all superbly well. To this triumph of teamwork he has added sensitive direction, finished acting by his players and genuinely first rank color photography of largely interior setting. A double turntable musical score, carefully selected for historical accuracy, accompanies the production. The Birth of St. Mary's is a loving and lovely testimony, destined to increase steadily in stature as it becomes itself a part of the past." Movie Makers, Dec. 1937, 602-603.
"Black Book and Camera has good old George, you know George, photographing all the pretty lassies at the World's Fair. He then asks for their names and addresses so that he can send them a photo. Wouldn't a black book full of names and addresses be worth a pretty penny? W-e-l-l. . . George gets a lot of pretty pictures, but as for those names and addresses. . ." PSA Journal, Aug. 1967, 37.
"Werner Henze has shown in Bohemian Baloney that artists can make fun of themselves and their profession. An artist and his wife had planned to have a quiet evening at the movies when a telephone call warns of a visit by a wealthy prospective buyer of pictures and her meek husband. How the young couple suddenly transform their own characters and their tasteful and immaculate living room into a scene of "arty" surroundings is gaily depicted with just the right amount of farce. The compositions and lighting are excellent and there are gay, unexpected twists throughout, particularly when a self portrait of the artist comes to life." Movie Makers, Dec. 1944, 495.
"Detailed coverage of the massive structure and complex mechanism of a railway lifting bridge." (EAFA Database)
"It was based on Tennyson's poem and the scenes were made to fit the poem. This was very evident from the smoothness of the continuity. His photography secured a very high marking." American Cinematographer, Dec. 1934, 376.
"Builders of Tomorrow, produced by the Cinema Laboratory of Western Reserve University and filmed by Dr. James E. Bliss, takes one into the Cleveland School of Architecture at Western Reserve and shows the embryonic architects at work. The students are pictured studying the principles of design, drafting and in art classes. Architectural models are expertly filmed and with lighting and treatment that, in several cases, make them indistinguishable from actual structures and streets. The entire picture is interior color and the lighting is ably handled throughout." Movie Makers, Dec. 1938, 621.
"The Annual Fancy Dress Ball at Glasgow School of Art: 'Something New Under the Sun'. Includes two ballets, 'Hungarian' and 'Machine Age' and animated sequences." National Library of Scotland Moving Image Archive.
"doc. didattico"/educational documentary
Total Pages: 13
Amateur Cinema