Educational film magazine; (19-)

By Mabel G. Foster "A MAKER OF MEN" ALWAYS quick with his fists in defence of the under dog, Bruce Douglas, little son of a poor widow, works in a mine in order to augment his mother's meager earnings. At her death he is adopted by Mr. Fairchild whose life lie saved during a mine disaster. Given a tine education, Bruce graduates from college with high hon- ors, but is then disowned by his adopted father for becoming a minister, a profession it was his mother's ambition he should enter. Parting sadly from his beloved adopted sister, Edith, Bruce goes to the toughest mountain town he can learn about, and prepares to carry on the work from which many of his predecessors have been driven by the rough element. After difficult experiences, Bruce wins his place in the com- munity by disguising himself as a man whom Buckner, the leading tough, is planning to attack. At the bridge where the holdup is planned, Bruce tights the tough and pitches him into the river. After this ex- perience with the yeggman methods of disguise, surprise, knock-down- and-drag-out, Bruce's Christian work goes forward apace with Buckner as his staunchest friend. Some years of successful labor follow and then a call comes to a wider field. Bruce goes to bring the peace of the mountains to the city streets. Time passes. Edith, his sister, has married unhappily and her son, Charles, over-indulged by his grandfather, Mr. Fairchild, has been sentenced to five years' imprisonment for forgery. Charles es- capes, locates in the mountain town where Bruce formerly preachd and elopes with and marries Buckner's daughter, Lorraine. Buckner appeals to Bruce who discovers Lorraine and her babe in the city slums just as they are carried into a house of ill-fame. Through Bruce's instrumen- tality these innocent victims are finally enstated in the home and heart of the now venerable Mr. Fairchild who realizes that mere money-getting does not insure peace and happiness. In Bruce he recognizes a maker of men; one who has chosen the better part. Charles is once more in custody but the happiness of all is completely achieved when Bruce suc- cessfully pleads with the governor for a pardon, thereby restoring tlie misguided young man to his family. Several cuts are suggested, including titles: "I always thought he was a d—— fool"; the quotation beginning "If I were damned body and soul," etc.; "Old Madam will give us $500 for her," and "We'll croak her brat." A shortening of the under- world scenes may be desired for certain groups and for juveniles the boys' fight at the beginning of the picture might be omitted. The picture opens with the Scripture quotation referring to the feet upon the mountains of him who publishes peace but as the hero is of that type of fighting parson so popular on the screen just now, we cannot but feel that the quotation is malapropos. On the whole, however, the message of this picture is constructive, accenting as it does the effect of the passing years upon the lives and characters of the different individuals in the story and show- ing how time brings in the inevitable harvest of whatever youth has sown, be it selfishness or the spirit of Christian service. A Maker of Men. Plymouth Film Corporation, 71 West 23rd St., New York aty. 5 reels. BEREA COLLEGE THREE-REELER ALTHOUGH the medium of the screen has been utilized befftre by at least one college in making itself known to the public, the use of amateurs as principals is unusual enough to attract attention. Berea College, Berea, Kentucky, is an institution which has applied itself to the national problem of educating the 3,000,000 people of the southern mountains who, since Revolutionary times, have dwelt in the recesses of the hills, aloof from most features of modern civilization. The hero and heroine of this film, which is called Our Contemporary Ancestors, are students of the college, as are the supporting characters. Practically all of the "properties" for the picture were found among the natural surroundings of the institution. The scenes, many of which are said to have great charm and picturesque beauty, give a compre- hensive view of the ways in which Berea is providing education for the boys and girls of the mountains. The film shows conditions in the mountains as they have existed and as they exist today. It takes a typical illiterate mountain boy and girl from a log cabin in the hiUs of Kentucky through the training given at Berea College and shows what a powerful influence they are when turned back to the mountains. THREE NEW SCIENCE SUBJECTS OPTICAL DEFECTS OF THE EYE combines explanatory diagrams with scenes showing the results of defective sight and is a lucid exposition of especial instructional value to chil- dren and young people for whom the picture is primarily made. How objects look to persons having various kinds of defective eyesight is ingeniously illustrated. The advantages of properly- fitted glasses is convincingly shown. Hints are given as to the correct relative position of the reader to the light, children tak- ing part in all these scenes. The instructive and genial sub- titles will win supporters to the lesson inculcated both among children and adults. A short visualization of blood circulation has been prepared by Mr. Herm for school use under the title Microscopical Cir- culation of the Blood. This might be termed a brief recapitula- tion of the longer Herm film on the same subject and is adequate and of genuine educational value. The Marvels of Crystallization illustrates the progress of crys- tallization in many familiar solids, the scenes being varied by attractive shots in natural color photography. The crystalliza- tions which take place before the eyes of the spectator include those of alum, salt, Epsom salts, rock salt, various bichlorides, iron, citric acid, snow and chemicals used in photography. Optical Defectn of the Eye. 1 reel. Microscopical Circulation of the Blood. 1 reel. The Marvels of Cryslaliiafiori. I reel. All distributed by Charles F. Herm, Inc., 220 West Forty-second St.. Xew York. "PIED PIPER'S LAND" 'T'HIS patriotic pageant was filmed last August by the Newark, N. J., board of education, marking the close of the summer schools and playgrounds. One thousand children participated in the pageant and the setting was in a picturesque spot in Branch Brook Park, in that city. The scenario was prepared by William J. McKiernan, director of pageants and dramatics of the board of education. The film pictures the results of the training involved in the system of summer playgrounds as seen in the drills and dances. As the story runs—Hamlin Town was greatly afflicted by rats which was the consequence of the neglect of the people and particularly that of those who ruled. The aspirations and hopes of the human heart toward better things arose in the form of Pied Piper, who rid the town of its pestilence and then by reason of the ingratitude of the mayor and corporation led the children of the town into a joyous land. "For he led us, he said, to a joyous land Joining the town and just at hand. Where waters gushed and fruit trees grew And flowers put forth a fairer hue, And everything was strange and new." So Pied Piper of the film may be said to represent the longing of the soul to be rid of oppression and human limitations that seem to stand in the way of a free and full development of the individual toward try where children have access to schools and playgrounds, where liberty, justice, law, and order obtain and where the blind and the lame are not happiness. The joyous land in the instance of the film is our own coun- hopelessly left to themselves. Trials of a Late Christmas Shopper, a Briggs cartoon trailer which tells a story about a man who dreams of neglecting to do his shopping until just before the holiday and the disappointments and difficulties which he experiences in making his selections of gifts, has had wide dis- tribution. Local retail organizations purchased prints showing them at motion picture theaters as part of their publicity campaign to per- suade the public to do their Christmas shopping early. 13