"In Ultima Thule and Peggy's Cove, produced by Edward A. Bollinger, ACL, and Mrs. Bollinger, one finds what must be the ultimate in beautiful scenic photography, magically infused throughout with a sensitive feeling for the relationship of ordinary people to their natural backgrounds. Beyond the veritable perfection of many of the scenes in these pictures it seems impossible for camera and film to go, even when guided by skill and imagination as superb as Mr. and Mrs. Bollinger's. Compositions, cutting and sequence structure are incisive and stirring, while the title wordings and execution leave little to be desired in suave good taste. The two subjects are first and last reels of a four reel study of Nova Scotia, in which, it is understood, Mr. Bollinger has done the camera work and his wife the editing and titling. It is a happy combination, from which have resulted documentary reels of magnificent skill and breathtaking beauty." Movie Makers, Dec. 1935, 550.
"Irwin Sharpe and Cye Landy have gone back to film beginnings in composing their engaging little etude, Picnic. The fundamental of their selection is the old reliable device of the chase sequence. Beginning quietly with a simple family picnic, the producers soon overlay on this bucolic subject a mysterious kidnapping and its resultant chase. The cutting, camera positions and tempo of this climactic sequence show a true understanding of cinematic expression." Movie Makers, Dec. 1947, 538-539.
A Catalonian film by Mr. John Salvans about camping in the Pyrenees.
"George Mesaros, who has demonstrated his competence as a maker of good movies in other fields, turns to humor in this film comment on wartime conditions. The point of the story — for it is the foray and not the tale that is pointless — turns on providing for a picnic in the yard of the home. While the master of the house is shopping with ration points, the skeptical family gets, from the Victory garden, cooks and eats the alfresco feast, at the end of which Father — who really did find something in the shops — returns with loaded arms. First class Kodachrome pictures and a well knit continuity are used by Mr. Mesaros to bring to American audiences something of the spirit of easy and natural outdoor fun with food that for so long characterized the Europe of happy memory. Some of the scenes of cooking are so realistic that one almost reaches for what is shown on the screen." Movie Makers, Dec. 1943, 478.
"Rainbow Fantasy, in the words of Charles C. Hammack, is "an attempt to produce — not a conventional travelog — but more a story of adventure, a hiking adventure to what is probably one of the least visited of our national monuments, Rainbow Bridge, in southeastern Utah." In achieving this goal, Mr. Hammack has been largely and creditably successful. For him and his young wife, Rainbow Bridge takes on the aura of a lost horizon, a Shangri La protected from the outside world by the blistering desert heat and the brutal desert rocks. He brings this overtone of feeling to his film, both through his imaginative camera treatment of the subject and the intentionally dramatic acting of the two travelers. Mr. Hammack's is a new name in Ten Best competition, but it is one which we believe will be heard again."Movie Makers, Dec. 1943, 478.
"It takes a good deal of ability to treat fishing cinematically. It takes still more ability to approach the subject with humor and yet avoid the ludicrous. O. L. Tapp has bypassed both pitfalls in his Rainbow Trail, a beautifully paced, short film that catches the fun of all fishing trips but still makes its point that the angler's life is not all sweetness and light. Mr. Tapp precedes the body of his film with several short shots and titles, all of which indicate a candid view of a fisherman's veracity. The succeeding footage illustrates his thesis, as he (thin, awkward) and a companion (stout, capable) undergo the rigors of stream fishing. That a reviewer can sum up the characteristics of the two men in two adjectives is an indication of the excellent casting and direction which distinguish Rainbow Trail." Movie Makers, Dec. 1948, 491.
"Among the films awarded honorable mention is Remote Control, by Louis W. Bleser, ACL, which gives a fine cinematic exposition of the activities of a train despatcher, by means of an unusually well equipped miniature railway system. Here the technical problem is especially important, calling for closeup studies of the first quality, the aim being so to light and photograph the subject that there would be a semblance of realism. In effecting this result, the use of well chosen titles and fine editing played no small part. Such a film as this upholds the maxim that "cinematics begin at home." " Movie Makers, Dec. 1933, 522.
"Several people, differing widely in age and character, and all requiring a quiet break, rent a country cottage, 'Resthaven'. Due to a booking mix-up, they arrive at the same time. A storm, a surly caretaker and smuggling activities cause further complications before all is happily resolved for the visitors." (EAFA Database)
"The story, older than the craft of lobster fishing, of a ten year old boy earning his own first few pennies is told beautifully and sensitively in Riches from the Sea, by T. J. Courtney. As simple and human as the life of those it pictures, this film captures the spirit of the young fisher boy as he goes about his work of baiting and dropping lobster pots. They are his own, just given by his father. The money he makes from selling the lobsters he catches, some of which he boils on the beach, is also his own. Finally, when the last one is purchased by tourists along the dusty road and the boy races to the village, clutching his coins, to buy the coveted store window toy, the picture swells to its climax, fully equal to the importance of the occasion in the youngster's life. Lovely angles and expert composition bring beauty in black and white to the photography, and the acting, by Philip Boutilier and his little sister Lorraine, of Seabright, Nova Scotia, is unaffected and agreeable. This photoplay illustrates how completely the locale and life of an interesting community can be conveyed by threading it on a simple story of human nature." Movie Makers, Dec. 1938, 597.
Total Pages: 14
Amateur Cinema