"Lake Mohawk, Preferred, made by Leo J. Heffernan, is a picture of the attractions, residences, entertainments, dog shows, yachting regattas and water sports of Lake Mohawk in New Jersey. But Lake Mohawk, Preferred is also a film with a continuity idea utterly new to amateur movies, for the not unusual subject matter of the picture is held together with a "screwball" theme and "gags" that keep you wondering what is going to happen next and entertained in the meantime. A handsome couple have a movie camera. "Concentrate to make good movies," says their instruction book. This they do in a very pleasant way (see the frame enlargement on page 577), and the results are surprising. Their mental efforts transport them and the camera bodily about the lake, at just the right time and place to film whatever is going on. They have some astonishing experiences, too. Sometimes they can't seem to materialize, and they pick up odd characters in their voyages through ether. But their method works and they get beautiful and lively sequences of life at Lake Mohawk." Movie Maker, Dec. 1940, 603.
"Oscar Horowitz, of Newton, Mass., has taken the theme of Plymouth and developed it into the Movie of the Month. Opening with scenes of modern Plymouth we are reminded of the growth and prosperity that is our heritage. And this month, November, as the nation prepares to again celebrate Thanksgiving, Home Movies Magazine salutes Mr. Horovitz for producing a film that should remind one and all of the unrestricted freedom and opportunities that exist within our borders." Home Movies, Nov. 1950, 460.
"After years of seeing the rugged Colorado River conquered by small parties of adventurers as rugged as the river itself, O.L. Tapp has produced Land of the Rock Up Over, a film in which a party of perhaps half a hundred young men and women thoroughly enjoy a mass invasion of the river country in seven large rubber rafts and only one cataract boat. The charm of Mr. Tapp's capable but perhaps over-long film lies in the companionship, fun, and excitement that stem from the very size of the exploring party. Admittedly in the river passage from Hite, Utah, to Lee's Ferry the river's most dangerous rapids have been avoided. But who cares - the group had fun! Skillfully photographed and with an interesting narrative well-recorded on magnetic stripe, the film holds audience attention by its very competence throughout its considerable length" PSA Journal, Jan. 1955, 50.
"The wilderness of Colorado where the visitor may wonder how the Indian can extract a livelihood from the dry, treeless land. To be sure, there are trees, and some with the raiment of ghosts, from which life long ago departed. The rugged Indian does eke a living from this waste, mostly from sheep, goats, weaving, and trinkets. The film is a record of these things in well chosen settings, including a desert storm" PSA Journal, Oct. 1961, 49
"A well done travelogue of Hawaii showing the sports the tourist usually sees, the profusion of flowers, etc." PSA Journal, Nov. 1956, 45.
A Little Bit of Yukon takes you on a trip north to Alaska. You get 18 minutes of some very beautiful scenery (in color, of course) and the location of some very well-stocked fishing holes. Tom Mitoma is our tour guide, with a very good job of camera work. It's an interesting film for outdoorsmen and a very easy way to take a trip to Alaska for those of us who are not," PSA Journal, Mar. 1970, 44.
"Charles O. Barr, jr., in Long Remember, has done an extremely difficult thing admirably. This is a Kodachrome record of the recent last meeting of Union and Confederate veterans of the American Civil War on the battlefield of Gettysburg, in Pennsylvania. Because the persons of chief interest, the veterans themselves, were unable to contribute motion to any real extent, Mr. Barr's problem was to avoid using movie footage for still photographs, and yet not to offer an incomplete record of the interesting and historically important gathering. Aided by title wordings that were both dignified and exciting, the maker of this film managed to give to it a sweep of action that, without them, would have bogged down badly. There was motion, of course, in the parades, but these, of themselves, would have been trite fare, had they not been related to the battlefield by shots of watching veterans and by a whole series of admirable angled shots of the statues and markers on Gettysburg field. It is noteworthy that what might have been the dull portions of the record — the construction, housing and victualing arrangements — were given very intelligent, brief handling." Movie Makers, Dec. 1938, 619-620.
"Edited film used by an amateur travel-lecturer documents travel in western and southwestern United States beginning at a rodeo in Phillipsburg, Kansas (trick riding, lassoing jack rabbits, roping calfs, wrestling steers, horse races, bucking broncos and bucking steers as well as scenes of an airplane flyover and of an airplane crashing which possibly was a stunt) and continuing to Black Hills, South Dakota (forest scenery and ca. 1927 construction of Mount Rushmore--blasting off cliff face, scaffolding, men working and completed monument). Shown are roadside scenery, railroad tracks, men cleaning railroad tracks with hose and tank on small train car on the way to an unidentified mountain fishing camp possibly in Colorado (canoeing, fishing in stream, and a smokehouse) and a mountain farm where colts are branded. Cog railway is taken up to Pike's Peak. Travels continue to to the Southwest (unidentified southwestern town possibly Santa Fe with adobe buildings and men and children in Mexican dress singing and playing guitar, American Indian dance performance indoors possibly Zuni, parade of American Indians in unidentified city perhaps Gallup and Navajo band. Scenes of the southwest continue with Navajo in Canyon de Chelly (hogans and herding sheep), prehistoric archaeological sites (Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon another unidentified cliff dwelling possibly Montezuma's castle) and Taos Pueblo. Film records American Indian dances at a gathering of Indian tribes possibly at Gallup, intertribal horse races and women's tug-of-war. Hopi are shown dancing at Hopi. Also shown are Indian women (possibly Apache or Navajo) and children together and children in cradleboard and the Navajo reservation (hogans, women spinning and weaving under a ramada, herds of sheep and goats and "dipping sheep"). Natural wonders of Grand Canyon, Monument Valley and Rainbow Bridge National Monument are featured.Travel continues to Yellowstone National Park, California (scenery, black bears, hot springs and geysers) and onto the California coast possibly Monterey (seals on rocks). Also shown are an unidentified town with oil pumps and derricks and people waterskiing" via the Human Film Studies Archives, Smithsonian Museum.
"In 1921, Sheeler and Strand collaborated to make Manhatta, considered to be the first American avant-garde film. Inspired by Walt Whitman's poem "Mannahatta," which is quoted in one of the intertitles, the film portrays life in New York City in sixty-five nonnarrative shots. The sequences display one epic day in Lower Manhattan, beginning with a ferry approaching the city in early morning and ending with a sunset view from a skyscraper. Shot from extreme camera angles, the film captures the dynamic qualities of the new metropolis" Museum of Modern Art (New York), Department of Film.
"A visit in New York City but mostly in the spirit of its night life although we do see some of its people and sun-bathed architecture, all to the beat and narration of a Decca recording. The source of the picture material appears to be from magazines and other printed picture sources including some live (but static) posing. The use of camera movement and lens zooming conveys a feeling of motion and activity for an enjoyable visit in New York" PSA Journal, Oct. 1962, 35
Total Pages: 22
Amateur Cinema