"In Reflections, Henry E. Hird has followed the intelligent practice of revising footage shot when film was more plentiful, with the result that he has created a new and interesting synthesis by editing. On a winter evening, a man reflects on the joys and adventures of a past summer. Of an athletic disposition, he has swum, sailed and hunted. Interested in wild life, he has observed and filmed birds. From time to time, he adjusts a radio, to find music that expresses the moods of his reverie. Finally, he turns off the radio, the musical accompaniment ceases and the film ends in silence. With excellent cinematography and with a nice editorial sense, Mr. Hird has gathered interesting events into an entertaining whole." Movie Makers, Dec. 1944, 496.
"Return from Fire, as defined by its producer, Dr. W. Lynwood Heaver, is the "biography of a mental breakdown." In its opening we meet a boy and girl idyllically in love. But the clouds of war fall across their summer sunshine, the young man is called up and, in a short time, is announced as missing in combat. It is then that the fires of apprehension, misery and terror sear into the girl's mind. How modern psychiatry serves, at last, to recall her from this self inflicted limbo is the climactic denouement of Dr. Heaver's drama. The conception of Return from Fire is imaginative and exciting. The acting and its correlative direction are excellent throughout. A provocative musical score contributes markedly to the maintenance of dramatic tension. Dr. Heaver's camera work, rising occasionally to heights of cinematic imagination, is sound, satisfying and suggestive of still greater things to come. Put down his name as one to watch!" Movie Makers, Dec. 1945, 494.
"Donald H. Kelly has cast a comic strip character in Superman Goes West, integrating travel sequences and comedy with great success. While the magnificent cinematographic record of a Western trip is the most engaging factor of the film, the entertainment value of the Superman motif cannot be minimized. The fictional hero is shown to be the consuming interest of a small boy passenger on the trip. The lad proceeds to read Superman comics under varying conditions, despite a changing background of allegedly awe inspiring scenery. One dream sequence with a Superman flavor is a triumph of trick cinematography." Movie Makers, Dec. 1943, 478.
"The production of the Flower City Amateur Movie Club of Rochester, N. Y., Terror, 400 ft., 16mm., was written and directed by Frank J. Buehlman. It was recently screened as a special, added feature on a week's run at the Little Theater in Rochester. Terror is a psychological study of the effect of fear. Its story is based on a practical joke engineered by friends of the victim who, to the end of the film, remain ignorant of the disastrous results. As the story develops, we see the commonplace incidents of every day life through the eyes of the fear obsessed principal character. The handling of the theme required great care but the producers succeeded in making the highly fantastic reactions of the character seem plausible. With its exquisite lighting effects and the dramatic power achieved in the climactic sequences through cinematography, this film is certainly outstanding." Movie Makers, Dec. 1930, 759.
"This film discloses, concisely and with cinematic dexterity, what passes in the mind of a dying soldier in a shell hole in Flanders. The three memories flashing back to the suffering doughboy were well done and the film as a whole disclosed the best sense of cinematics revualed bv anv contender in this division." Photoplay, Nov. 1929, 67.
"In Traum Im Karneval, 1000 ft., 35mm., a distinctly new technique in cine puppet drama has been beautifully and conclusively demonstrated. Working with puppets free of distracting threads and controlled entirely from below the line of camera sight, Dr. Goldschmidt has brought to his film the fluidity and cinematic smoothness essential to a genuine photoplay. Gone are the proscenium arch and the unavoidably static feeling of photographed "theatre." Here the camera has moved freely from near shot to closeup or semicloseup as the action demands. Inserted scenes from real life, used with symbolism significant to the mood of the story, have served only to heighten the cinematic illusion, while the unusually graceful miming of the puppets amazes one with a feeling of uncanny and fantastic life. Traum Im Karneval is delicately conceived, sensitively directed and superbly photographed. Of brilliance equal to Dr. Goldschmidt's technique was the unfailing mastery of his collaborator, Richard Teschner, eminent European puppeteer." Movie Makers, Dec. 1931, 685.
"With Stronger Reason is a photoplay about an artist who is disgusted with his efforts–disgusted, in fact, with life in general–at least what life has been to him. Flashbacks at the beginning work to the film's favor, and excellent black-and-white photography plus some of the best camera work in this contest in recent years are features of this outstanding story film. It also received the MPD Scenario Award and the MPD Sound Award" PSA Journal, Sept. 1964, 50.
"Yea, Verily touches on the experimental and runs the range of film tempo. If you sin you can be forgiven, providing you can find someone who will forgive you. Perhaps forgiveness is subjective after all, for does anyone else really care about your transgressions?" PSA Journal, Aug. 1967, 37.
"This film seems to pick up the same couple from “I’ve Got This Problem” (played by Don Klugman and Judy Harris) a few years later, as they attend a swinging bohemian party where they pilfer personal objects from the unsuspecting guests." Chicago Film Archives.
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Amateur Cinema