"Opening with a superb trick title in Kodachrome, Guatemalan Rainbow, by the late Ripley W. Bugbee and Robert W. Crowther, carries the audience on an ocean voyage from New York City to the mountain villages of Guatemala, where Mayan mysteries are still celebrated and where the world is a riot of indescribable color. No sequences of the leisure and pleasure of shipboard life have excelled those in this picture. Dexterously, the ritual of afternoon tea was captured with the same finish as if the scenes had been directed in a studio. Active sports and lazy afternoons are recalled in the picture with idyllic beauty. After several minutes of rather less interesting and distinguished footage, the production reaches another high in the presentation of the descendants of the Mayans, whose markets, customs and religious observances are dramatically and expertly chronicled. The whole is accompanied by a satisfactory musical setting." Movie Makers, Dec. 1938, 619.
"First version of Conneely’s amateur film “The 45,” a mischievous and entertaining film about a woman willing to employ any means to send away the man who comes looking for her husband with a gun"
"Girls playing in the garden and posing for the camera. One young girl plays with a toy steam train as a dog wanders about." (NWFA Online Database)
"In the Home Movie field, Lawrenson submitted a fine document of a day with his little 2-year-old daughter. The main portion is given over to a day at the seashore. But he gives reasons for everything he does even to going home. He shows a storm coming up and after the family has arrived safely at home, the little looks out of the window while the raindrops patter on the windowpane." American Cinematographer, Jan. 1936, 24.
"Havana, 400 ft., 16 mm., made by Herman Danz, is outstanding among the recent travel and vacation films rather more for its photographic quality than for its continuity. The film presents Havana, its harbor, street scenes and architecture. Mr. Danz has avoided almost all of the amateur's pitfalls, for the film contains no instances of wobbly "pamming," [sic] jerky shots or unfortunate camera angles, encountered so often in films of foreign cities. Even more important, the treatment is impersonal throughout and purely intimate shots were either not taken or were edited out to be included in a family reel. Thus the film is the type that strangers and friends can enjoy as much as a professional treatment of the same subject. Filters used with panchromatic film brought out cloud formations hanging over the picturesque harbor and emphasized the colorful architectural detail of the buildings." Movie Makers, Dec. 1930, 758-759.
"A clever little domestic story, unpretentious but told in a good cinematic style, comes from the camera of J. Owen Campbell, in His Off Day. Here are recounted the difficulties experienced by the father of a family in his endeavor to relax on his day off. Constantly frustrated in his attempts, he finally seeks refuge in the family car, with results which provide an amusing surprise ending, notably clever in treatment. Technically, the outstanding feature of this film is the handling and lighting of the interior shots, which are uniformly good, with the exception of one or two of them. Mr. Campbell has demonstrated in this film that a simple story, enacted in familiar settings by members of one's own family, offers the most usable material for the average movie maker's indoor efforts. It is for such an outstanding embodiment of this principle that the producer of His Off Day is especially to be commended." Movie Makers, Dec. 1940,602-603.
"Holiday with the Heavers is one of those rare films that display sincere artistic sensitivity that is manifestly not the product of technical skill nor the "slick" application of the rules of composition and film planning. It is a picture that promises that its maker — Dr. W. Lynwood Heaver — with more cinematic experience, might produce the finest type of amateur motion picture. Holiday with the Heavers is not a record of a family jaunt, as its title would imply. Rather, it is a scenic study of fall, enlivened by the presence of a three year old who investigates a park and explores the autumn leaves. Included in the film are beautiful and eerie shots of the late fall, effective silhouettes and charming closeups of the small actor." Movie Makers, Dec. 1943, 478.
"Contrasts life in Belgian Congo under Belgian colonial government to that of tribal rule." National Archives.
"I'd Be Delighted To!, directed and photographed by S. Winston Childs, jr., ACL, is that kind of production often planned but seldom made — a film story told entirely in closeups. Presenting the simple incident of a dinner a deux in a gentleman's apartment, the picture runs through 400 feet of brilliantly chosen, strikingly filmed, significant closeups. It is adroit, amusing and sophisticated, and a splendid example of what, with skill and care, can be done in this distinctly advanced amateur filming method." Movie Makers, Dec. 1932, 562.
"In this connection, one of the honorable mention films, William Murphy's 'If Rugs Could Talk,' deserves special mention. Consisting of close-ups of hands and feet in a manner perhaps too reminiscent of the still remembered 1932 prize film, 'I'd Be Delighted [To],' 'If Rugs Could Talk' was a technical achievement of the first order, for it consisted entirely of interior scenes, made by artificial light, and photographed entirely on positive film, reversal-processed at home." American Cinematographer, Feb. 1938, 75.
Total Pages: 28
Amateur Cinema