"Under the Maple Leaf, by Hamilton H. Jones, ACL, is a partially refilmed and entirely reedited version of last year's award winner, Canadian Capers. A splendid picture a year ago, its new and additional sequences now bring to the film a photographic beauty plainly of the very first rank. A sequence of the morning mist rising from a lake deserves particular mention. Mr. Jones's considerable skill with his camera has increased in stature and may not yet have reached its full flowering. For this accomplishment his work has been given a place of honor in these selections. In the reluctant estimation of the judges, however, the editing and cutting of Under the Maple Leaf so far lagged behind its generally matchless beauty as to rob the film of its fullest emotional power. This factor only prevented Mr. Jones from repeating this year his full triumph of a year ago." Movie Makers, Dec. 1933, 523-524.
"Under the Maple Leaf, a new version of the perennial Canadian travel study by Hamilton H. Jones, ACL, is more beautiful and even more satisfying than its forerunners. Ineligible for current Ten Best, because of the fact that a small part of the present material has been viewed and listed in previous selections, the new release is included in the Honorable Mention category as a tribute to the dexterity with which the material, old and new, has been combined and the high quality of the added color sequences. The same flawless photography and clever sequencing which marked previous versions are again present. The disc sound accompaniment (in revised form) is deftly handled, making a thrilling addition to the film. Color is interspersed successfully with black and white sequences in a way that seems to obviate criticism of the mixture." Movie Makers, Dec. 1935, 553.
"How shall we film the almost unfilmable — when the world's greatest city goes mad with victory? How, even more, can we film it, when we lack the trucks and vantage points of the newsreel men? F. Clark Tufaro, in Victory Celebration, gives an outstanding and successful answer with his record of New York City's community frenzy, when Japan gave up. He goes from the heart of Times Square to Little Italy, Chinatown and other quarters, everywhere finding something interesting and something that he could actually film, in spite of pushing crowds. He adds fine footage of the welcome to General "Ike" and to General Wainwright and something of the celebration when Germany capitulated. With surprisingly good cinematography, in view of the difficulties. Mr. Tufaro's film is a miracle of persistence, patience and intelligence — and a thoroughly interesting movie." Movie Makers, Dec. 1945, 497.
"Vida Pacoima, a two reel study of Mexican life in the southern California village of Pacoima, by Randolph B. Clardy, represents a near miracle in portraying a mood in motion pictures. Whether one likes (i.e., is entertained by) the film or not, there is no gainsaying the amazing emotional effect of its intelligent and beautiful cinematography. Here, in easy going and seemingly unstudied sequence, is the utter aimlessness of the slatternly village and its defeated people. Chickens and children, billy goats and black gowned old women, these are the life of Pacoima. Mr. Clardy has caught them all—either dreaming or drowsy in the sunshine—and presents them with a telling reiteration against the background of their broken homes and through the slats of their sagging fences. A sensuous delight, the photography is as nearly perfect as circumstances would permit, outstripped only by an unerring and often ineffable sense of motion picture continuity. In Vida Pacoima, Mr. Clardy is an artist to his finger tips and a movie maker down to the ground." Movie Makers, Dec. 1938, 617.
Travelogue exploring the history, sights, and people of the Virgin Islands.
"Last, but by no means least on the list of honorable mentions, is Duncan MacD. Little's 'Voyageur's Trail,' a news film of a four-day canoe race in Canada. This film, photographed perforce under whatever conditions happened to obtain at the moment the action occurred, represents a remarkable achievement in amateur news filming, for which Little is to be commended in the highest terms." American Cinematographer, Feb. 1938, 78.
"The praises of California's beautiful scenery, so often sung, rarely have been intoned as convincingly as in West Coast, by W. W. Champion. The high standard in the selection of scenes, to be noted first in the choice of shots around lovely Monterey Bay, in itself would make this picture exceptional. Added to that quality are artistic compositions and sequencing remarkable for its unstilted continuity. As the picture's subject shifts from the harbor to the town of Monterey and then down the coast to Carmel, the historical features of this section of California are brought out clearly, while the pleasures of country club and bathing beach add human interest. Smoothly and swiftly, by means of expertly executed transitional devices and fades, the story of life unfolds against a background that is colorful and charming." Movie Makers, Dec. 1938, 617.
"Western Holiday offered one of those thrills in the sequence of sunrise on Mount Robson. Here Kodachrome caught, with what seemed magic, the first rosy glow on the cold, blue snow, which the continuity of photographic motion permitted to increase, to blossom and, finally, to blaze into a chromatic crown of jewels. To see this on the screen is to enjoy a rare experience. Hamilton H. Jones, in the highly intelligent cutting of his train sequences, gave the student of continuity another of these thrills. Those who are charmed by double turntable accompaniment will recognize the perfection with which an almost impossibly difficult feat of lip synchronization with record scoring has been handled. These are some of the higher spots in a film of unusually high general average. Mr. Jones is a Kodachrome movie maker of proved ability, who has made editing a special art. The film chosen for the first Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Award will be used by Mr. Jones in his work as a lecturer on the vacation advantages of the Dominion of Canada, although it was made as his own enterprise, entirely at his own expense and not for compensation from a client. It is a part of his professional equipment. Briefly reviewed, Western Holiday carries the audience, via Canadian National Railways, from Victoria, Canada's most westerly metropolis, across the Rocky Mountains back to the Eastern Seaboard. Beginning with city views in Victoria and Vancouver, with strikingly colorful parades of the famous Canadian Mounted Police, we visit tourist centers and make trail trips from them. The camera goes into the interior of a glacier, it finds mountain goats and sheep, it clambers over the Continental Divide on horseback. All through the trip, it studies the progress of trains, weaving in and out of tunnels and over bridges. In his personal presentations of this film, Mr. Jones manipulates effects, such as whistles, bells, train noises and other oddments, with something approaching wizardry. In the face of competition of the highest order, Western Holiday is its own justification of preferment." Movie Makers, Dec. 1937, 602.
"First Film and When the Cat's Away, a double header entry, which takes honors jointly because of the strong relationship between the two, is the production of the Cinema Club of Lowell Junior High School, at Long Beach. Calif., and of the club's faculty adviser, Helen Rees Clifford. First Film, largely the work of Miss Clifford, summarizes the Junior High School group's experiences in producing When the Cat's Away, which is entirely the achievement of the youngsters. Together, the two films present a clear and concise picture of the initial production of a film by a junior high school movie club, from scenario writing and movie planning to the completed opus, ready for its premiere. So, in these two reels, one sees how the job of teaching movie making technique to youngsters, of ages from eleven to fourteen, can be handled efficiently and happily, and one learns how clear and coherent a little picture can be produced as a starter. Few high school photoplay clubs have begun so well and with so little lost motion. Very few high school first films are as clear and competent as When the Cat's Away." Movie Makers, Dec. 1938, 618.
"There are clearly in Where the Americas Meet, by Esther and Morton H. Read, the same qualities which marked Holiday in Dixie, the award winning production made by Mr. Read last year. Here again is that intangible ability to evoke the feeling of past events, simply from pictures of their present landmarks. One can almost catch the glint of Spanish armor on ancient battlements, as Mr. Read's splendid cinematography and suave narrative study the fortresses of San Juan. Here again is that definite sense of research into the subject matter, before ever a foot of film has been exposed. Mr. Read piles detail upon detail with almost hypnotic elaboration, much in the manner of today's novelists in recreating the life of the Old South. If anything, the present film — like its predecessor — tells a tale too long, although speaking always with impeccable imagery and a wise use of words and music." Movie Makers, Dec. 1941, 567-568
Total Pages: 16
Amateur Cinema