"Mr. Motorboat's Last Stand, written and produced by John A. Flory, who was assisted in photography by Theodore Huff, ACL, carries the subtitle, A Comedy of the Depression. It has, however, nothing in common with the typical motion picture comedy but is, instead, one of the very few films made each year that represent an intelligent attempt at experimentation with the motion picture medium. It is a story of Mr. Motorboat, an unemployed negro, who lives as elegantly as circumstances will permit in an automobile dump and who sells carefully washed and polished apples on a street corner. The picture turns into fantasy as Mr. Motorboat appears to ride to work in the morning in one of the cars of the dump that stands motionless without its wheels. Then the fantasy becomes more complete when he makes a bit of money and uses it as bait with which to fish in Wall Street. This he does literally and actually and with marvelous results until the crash of 1929. Simultaneously with the explosion of the prosperity bubble, Mr. Motorboat's competitor smashes his apple stand and the picture ends in a magnificent chase sequence, Mr. Motorboat after the competitor. This picture is photographed superbly well, and the editing is as smooth as that of the professional studio product. It is filled with remarkable directorial touches and cinematic symbolism and, although it suffers to some extent from the haphazard admixture of fantasy and realism, it is decidedly the best experimental film of the year." Movie Makers, Dec. 1933, 522.
"a sogg. lungh. norm." Feature fiction film
"La Nave, realizzato da Giovanni Paolucci, collaboratore tecnico Pietro Portalupi. Il difetto di questo film consiste nello scenario, nel non aver cioè gli autori trattato il tema in forma meno dispersiva, il protagonista, uomo disorientato ed inutile, senza uno scopo nella vita trova, col lavoro in una nave che alla fine viene varata e nell'atmosfera del fascismo, la sua strada. Un tema simile poteva essere trattato retoricamente o in modo più semplice e persuasivo; gli autori si sono attenuti alla via di mezzo, riuscendo talora in buone sequenze, talora in sequenze dall'azione dispersiva. Migliore è la prima parte, quando Paolucci descrive il rapporto dell'uomo col mare, e prima, la sua solitudine; la fotografia è in queste scene piuttosto notevole."
"The Ship (La Nave), directed by Giovanni Paolucci, technical collaborator Pietro Portalupi. The defect of this film is in the scenario and in its authors not treating the subject in a less unorganized way. The protagonist, a disoriented and useless man, without a purpose in life, finds his way by working on a ship that is eventually launched and in the atmosphere of fascism. Such a theme could have been treated rhetorically or in a simpler and more persuasive way; the authors stuck to the middle ground, succeeding sometimes in good sequences, sometimes in sequences with dispersive action. The first is the best part, when Paolucci describes the man's relationship with the sea, and before that, his loneliness; the photography is quite remarkable in these scenes."
—Il ventuno 28 (Review of the G.U.F. of Venice), May 1935, p. 17-18
“Sinematek.TV film arkeolojisine devam ediyor! 1979 yılında Stockholm’da düzenlenen Nazım Hikmet’i Anma Gecesi’ndeki Ruhi Su, Zülfü Livaneli, Tuncel Kurtiz’in performansları Muammer Özer tarafından kaydedilmiş ve İlk defa Sinematek.tv tarafından yayınlanıyor.” Sinematek.tv: http://sinematek.tv/nazim-hikmet-anmasi-stockholm-1979/ (15 November 2019).
“Sinematek TV continues its film archeology! Muammer Özer’s film of a commemoration night for Nazım Hikmet displays Ruhi Su, Zülfü Livnaeli, and Tuncel Kurtiz and Sinematek.tv screens it for the first time.” Sinematek.tv: http://sinematek.tv/nazim-hikmet-anmasi-stockholm-1979/ (15 November 2019).
"When Lewis B. Sebring. jr., went from the United States early in 1942. as a war correspondent accredited to General Douglas MacArthur's headquarters, he wisely left his camera at home. There was no telling what dangers and difficulties lay ahead. Months later, after the Japanese had been driven back across the Owen Stanley Mountains, after the battles of Buna, Salamaua and others, there seemed to be more time and opportunity for personal movie making. Happily, Mr. Sebring managed to borrow a good 16mm. camera, and New Guinea Newsreel is one of the exciting results. Keyed by the expert titles of a news writer, it presents a series of well rounded sequences on such colorful subjects as a visit by General MacArthur; a cine interview with Major Richard I. Bong, top American air ace of the war to date; an informal exhibition of Japanese souvenirs, and a moving Easter service, somber against the gray dawn of a New Guinea foreshore." Movie Makers, Dec. 1944, 496.
"a war film… deals principally with submarines… an almost full-sized submarine was built out of sheet-iron and wood; the very convincing interior of the aforesaid submarine was built in a garage; and merchant ships (models) were ruthlessly blown up by a torpedo (ditto, bought at Woolworths), which zipped through the water (by a string wound on a Kodak rewind) and left a wicked-looking wash (milk)" (R.S. 1932: 9).
"El guión tenía una fuerte influencia de La hora de los hornos, y tendía a la explicación pedagógica de las condiciones de opresión, mostrando la diferencia entre la forma de vida de ricos y pobres y con una explicación sencilla de cómo el capitalismo sienta las bases de una explotación que finalmente es la base de las razones de la huelga [El filme muestra la huelga de Rivetex en Cuernavaca] . El título de la película (Nosotros sí existimos) jugaba con el término legal que había declarado la huelga inexistente" (Vázquez Mantecón, 2012). "The script had a strong influence of The hour of the furnaces , and it tended to a pedagogical explanation of the conditions of oppression, showing the difference between the way of life of the rich and the poor, along with a simple explanation of how capitalism sets the basis for exploitation, which is the origin of the strike [The film portrays the Rivetex strike in Cuernavaca]. The title of the film [We do exist] played with the legal term that had declared the strike non-existent" (Vázquez Mantecón, 2012).
documentary chronicle about the Gruppi Universitari Fascisti (GUF) female championship in Rome, September 1937
"Ossining in Wartime is a sincere cinematic record of civilian war activities which every community in the land would be pleased and proud to have. It was not an easy production to complete. Conceived only in the later years of our war effort, the majority of the picture's sequences had to be especially recreated for the ubiquitous camera of its producer, Robert F. Gowen. Newspaper headlines, posters, placards and an occasional subtitle maintain the film's episodic continuity from the earliest efforts of airplane spotters and air wardens to the final joyous ceremonies marking victory over Germany and Japan." Movie Makers, Dec. 1945, 496.
"En este cortometraje se narra la resistencia al régimen en la ciudad de Monterrey, en el estado de Nuevo León, a través de varios frentes: la irrupción de un grupo de sindicalistas independientes en el desfile oficial del 20 de noviembre, con la presencia del gobernador Luis M. Farías; la invasión de tierras y la presencia de organizaciones vecinales en Topo Chico; los muertos por un accidente laboral en la Fundidora Monterrey; las huelgas de obreros de la CTM y de panaderos de la CROC (dos poderosos sindicatos oficiales), o la actividad vecinal del Grupo 2 de Octubre en la colonia Días Ordaz" (Vázquez Mantecón, 2012).
"This short film tells the story of the resistance against the regime in Monterrey city, in the state of Nuevo León, through several perspectives: the irruption of a group of independent union laborers in the official November 20th parade, with the presence of governor Luis M. Farías; the invasion of land and the presence of neighborhood organizations in Topo Chico; the dead by a working accident in Fundidora Monterrey [Monterrey Foundry]; the strikes of CTM workers and CROC bakers (two powerful official labor unions), or the activities of neighbors of the October 2 Group in Diaz Ordaz vicinity" (Vázquez Mantecón, 2012).
Total Pages: 8
Amateur Cinema