"The Cinch is a quick, cute comedy about a do-it-yourselfer who decides to fix his own TV set. He fixes more than the set and ends up in quite a fix himself. The film won the Most Humorous Film Award. It is sharply cut and the fast pacing gives it its punch and humor" PSA Journal, Sept. 1964, 50.
"documentario a fantasia"/avant-garde documentary
"Una cinta cargada de referencias a Jean-Luc Godard (Los Carabineros, 1963) pero sobre todo concentrada en la crítica mordaz al radicalismo de izquierda. Una vez más Marco Antonio Madrid hace el papel de protagonista, un joven de pelo largo, pantalón de mezclilla y saco, que se dedica a ligar en los cafés de la Zona Rosa adoctrinando a las mujeres. Lee a Marx después de hacer el amor, y se junta con sus amigos para brindar por "la muerte de la intelectualidad burguesa". Montero utiliza intertítulos como recurso irónico, una suerte de narrador externo que interpela la historia: "¿Qué es la intelectualidad burguesa?". La lucha revolucionaria del joven y sus amigos está teñida de sentido del humor. En una secuencia que recuerda mucho a Los Carabineros, suben al techo de una fábrica para iniciar la lucha armada (...) Por último un cartel proporciona una última burla: "Y si el sol es burgués detendremos al sol" " (Vázquez Mantecón, 2012).
"A film loaded with references to Jean-Luc Godard (The Carabineers, 1963), but above all focused on biting criticism to the radical left. Once again Marco Antonio Madrid plays the role of the lead character, a young man with long hair, jeans and coat, that dedicates his time to hook up in the coffee shops of the Zona Rosa indoctrinating women. He reads Marx after making love and he gets together with his friends to toast for the "death of the bourgeois intellectuality". Montero uses intertitles as a resource for irony, a sort of outside narrator that interpellates the story: "What is bourgeois intellectuality?". The revolutionary fight of the young man and his friends is filled with a sense of humor. In a sequence that reminds us of The Carabineers, they go to the rooftop of a factory to begin the armed fight. (...) Finally a sign shows one last derision "And if the sun is bourgeois, we will stop the sun" " (Vázquez Mantecón, 2012).
"Chronos is a deft little documentary that calls our attention to the matter of the time, how we are regulated and governed by the passage of minutes and hours, and how occasionally time traps us in spite of our attempts to elude it. the film also won the MPD documentary Film Award" PSA Journal, Sept. 1966, 34.
"The producers of 'Chronicle' must be commended for a novel treatment. They employed the hands only to show the life of a boy from his third birthday until maturity. Into this novel treatment they spun a story of the boy's downfall until he is found guilty of murder and is incarcerated. All of it was interior and was well photographed." American Cinematographer, Jan. 1936, 40.
"Combining the sensitivity of an artist and a camera skill that theoretically only professional experts could acquire, Robert P. Kehoe has produced, in Chromatic Rhapsody, a film that would command the amazed admiration of any movie club in the country. This beautiful picture can only be described as a scenic — a scenic held together rather tenuously by editing to create a symphonic arrangement of color and to associate scenes with the seasons. It is in the sheer beauty of color cinematography that Chromatic Rhapsody excels. This reviewer has never seen, in any medium, more gorgeous color photographs of autumnal foliage and winter landscapes. One is so impressed with the flawless color that he is inclined to suspect that nature puts on a special show for Mr. Kehoe. The truth is probably that Mr. Kehoe has a special understanding of nature and an intuitional sensitivity to light and color. For the rest, as Mr. Kehoe would say, he simply follows exposure instructions. The film is marred somewhat by lack of complete camera steadiness, the only flaw in an otherwise superb cinematic accomplishment. A charming musical score, arranged by double turntable, accompanies the movie's presentation." Movie Makers, Dec. 1939, 634.
"Taking the familiar 'Twas the Night Before Christmas as a theme, Bert Seckendorf and Vic Watson have put together an appealing children's holiday film combining live action with animation. The live action interludes show a father reading the poem to his young son on Christmas Eve, with the familiar lines superimposed at the base of the scene. These connectives then fade out to miniature sets in which animated figures re-enact the well known story of St. Nick. The film suffers from some underexposure and uneven animation in places, but it offers a very pleasant holiday item." Movie Makers, Dec. 1949, 455,468.
"Christmas Nuts, presented with a sound on film recording on a separate 16mm. film, produced by Paul Braun and Howard Goodman, is not only an interior color picture of exceptional beauty and impeccable technical quality but is also one of the best puppet films thus far created. With a camera technique paralleling that of the latest theatrical, animated talkie cartoons, the story of a wolf "hijacking" Santa Claus and the consequent near calamity for the two squirrels is unfolded in a completely cinematic fashion. The camera moves freely from medium shot to closeup, the mechanics of the sets are not obstrusive and the puppets move with agility and grace. The sets, which were designed and constructed with great care, are very handsome and exquisitely finished so that no imperfections are revealed in the enlarged picture of them on the screen. The sets, in combination with the colored lights used in part to illuminate them, embody the producers' theory of "created color." That is, no attempt is made to simulate nature, but rather to produce pleasing, vivid color combinations, as in the illustrations of a child's story book. A cleverly compiled dialog, song and music accompaniment has been synchronized with the picture, although recorded, at present, on a separate film." Movie Makers, Dec. 1935, 534.
"Christmas at our House reflects the joy that Mrs. Olaf M. Olsen must have experienced in making it. It is an utterly sincere and delightful record of old Norwegian Christmas customs, carried over and observed in the United States by second generation Americans. It presents, in minute detail, the elaborate cookery and decorations of Christmas in Norway. The recipe for each dish and the kitchen utensils required are shown in closeup at the beginning of the individual sequences. Each step in preparing the particular food is then presented in orderly fashion from start to finish. This pattern may sound prosaic, but there is a charm about this film that defies any feeling of monotony. The choice of camera viewpoint and the lighting and exposure in this movie leave nothing to be desired. In fact, the camera handling is so fine that mechanical factors cease to exist, and the spectator feels as if he were actually present within the scene, to watch the action. This movie's titles, done in color, are most attractive, while the editing of the entire picture is smooth and interesting." Movie Makers, Dec. 1941, 541, 563.
Total Pages: 299
Amateur Cinema