"Garden Closeups, by W. T. McCarthy, ACL, demonstrates its right to be placed among the ten best films because of the painstaking care and time expended in its preparation and because of the exceptional results achieved. The film covers a subject which is almost entirely in miniature, but which, in its motion picture interpretation, reveals a whole new world which only the eye of a discriminating filmer and a nature lover could catch. Here are excellent closeups of the common varieties of garden flower, pictured so skillfully that the technique used is forgotten and the actual, living flower seems revealed on the screen, sometimes swaying gently in the breeze, sometimes rifled by a gigantic bumblebee pictured in alarming closeup. Another sequence will show the honeycombed intricacies of a wasp's nest, a time condensation technique showing its gradual cessation of activity as the winter comes on. An outstanding achievement in closeup technique showed the praying mantis in the very unprayerful act of devouring its victim. The film was made almost entirely with the aid of a telephoto lens with special extension, which enabled the patient cameraman to capture his flower and insect subjects from a moderate distance. Focus and exposure alike show the result of painstaking care in Garden Closeups." Movie Makers, Dec. 1932, 560.
"In one sense, the outstanding strength of The Gannets, Maxim Award winner for 1950, is its seemingly worst weakness. That strength is the unquestioned — but apparently accidental — entertainment which the film provides. Running a brief 400 feet of 16mm. color, the picture examines the famous gannet colony on Gaspe's Bonaventure Island, treating the giant birds with lighthearted good humor and casual unpretension. The entire accomplishment seems too easy. You could do it, you feel, over a single sunny weekend. But don't let this fool you. To begin with, there is the technique. In The Gannets, Warren Levett has employed with a knowing skill every technical artifice learned in long years of bird filming. Telephoto lenses present his gleaming subjects in crisp and astounding closeups. The follow shots of birds in flight are suave and invariably centered, while slow motion reveals arrestingly their superb aero-dynamics. Side and back lighting enhance repeatedly the natural beauty of the birds, aided on occasion by a shrewd use of the polaroid filter. Secondly, there is the subject matter treatment. Pictorially, Mr. Levett knows his way around a sequence with unerring instinct. He knows, too, the strength which lies in a pair of shears; his editing of a subject so often overladen by the amateur is incisive and refreshing. And, perfectly interwoven with the pictorial presentation, is the third strength of The Gannets — the delight of the picture's narrative. You learn things about gannets as you listen — but they're not long-winded nor in Latin — and you're scarcely conscious of the learning. What you are conscious of is that the gannet is a strange, gabby, beautiful and, sometimes, supremely ludicrous creature. You are, in a word, entertained as you are informed — and you love every light-hearted minute of it. It is only later, if at all, that you realize the true measure of this superb movie." Movie Makers, Dec. 1950, 446-447.
"A South Shore High School student film that is an allegory on the wastefulness of war and the duplicity of those who wage it. Filmmaker Wayne Williams, who was 17 at the time, cuts back and forth between a chess game and a guerrilla theater war game to underscore the sense of importance of the fighters and the cynicism of those who control their lives - and deaths." Chicago Film Archives
"Galleon Gold, 1600 ft., 16 mm., produced by the San Jose Players under the leadership of John C. Waterhouse, strikes a more sober note. This entertaining drama of the youth of a venerable Spanish family, who discover the treasure trove of the Conquistadores in time to save the family hacienda from the encroachment of the lime quarries, contains much good photography, a smooth continuity, experienced acting and first rate direction." Movie Makers, Sept. 1930, 569.
"Galleon Gold, 1600 ft., 16mm., produced by the San Jose Players, deserves special mention for its smooth flowing continuity alone. Although the difficulty of securing a lucid continuity is greatly increased in a longer dramatic picture, the producers of this film have achieved perfect clarity. This film was made during a summer vacation at a mountain ranch and it seemed at first that the lack of electric current for lighting would be an insuperable obstacle since the script called for many interior scenes. The problem was finally solved by a portable motor generator driven by a gas engine which, with proper lighting equipment, made ample illumination possible." Movie Makers, Dec. 1930, 788.
"An impressionistic, experimental film commenting on politics in Europe and the United States with references to the First World War, food shortages, the Weimar Republic, the world economy and the Wall Street Crash. Uses a mixture of animated silhouette and live action" (EAFA Database).
A short comedy about a couple who are unable to decide on a sporting activity to do together.
"Life at the Pribilof Islands fur seal colony on the Bering Sea." (BC Archives)
May include some footage shot on St. Paul Island in 1946 and provided to Dr. Carl by the Fouke Fur Co., St. Louis.
"dis. an. didattici"/animated educational doc
Total Pages: 299
Amateur Cinema