The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

School Department 327 t commends itself to a more serious use an mere entertainment. It was pro- uced under the supervision of George I Sherwood of the American Museum f Natural History, and is a most ade- luate summary of the work of water as i carving tool, modifying the surface of he earth. First, in the work of waves, both along he sandy beach of a low coast and dash- ng against high rocky cliffs, water wears he shore. As vapor, water continually ises from the surface of lake and sea and onus into clouds, which, driven by the wind, cross even the highest mountains. Then follow some beautiful views, look- ng down from mountain tops to the louds below. Clouds are seen to give o the sunsets some of their most beauti- ul effects. Clouds in turn furnish snow for gla- iers that carve the surface over which hey pass, and give birth to lakes and ivers. Rain collects into rivers or, sinking into he ground, comes to the surface again in springs. Hot springs and geysers in Borneo are shown, as well as the geysers of Yellowstone with the remarkable ter- races of the hot springs. The rivers of the earth are undoubtedly the greatest sculpturing tool, as evidenced by such gigantic examples of their work as the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, and the gorge of Niagara. Falling waters are beautifully represented by Vernal and pfosemite Falls. A truly splendid treatment of a sub- ject rich in educational material—and what is still rarer—the reel is titled with simplicity and directness. It should find a place in every school program. As a classroom reel for groups studying phys- ical geography, it merits special atten- tion. The scenes are in Prizma color. LITERATURE AND MUSIC Oliver Twist —8 reels (First National) -Tt is hard to sav much about the little boy, Oliver, without getting it terribly mixed with what one must say about Jackie Coogan—certainly the most fin- ished and by far the most irresistible of all child actors. Here is little Oliver in the workhouse—a new, wild-eyed, hun- gry, disheveled Jackie pleading for more gruel—and Oliver, the undertaker's ap- prentice—a tiny mite of a figure beside the tall Sowerberry, who accepted him because he "had a lovely face for funer- als." Later, after his escape and his journey on foot to London, there is Oli- ver in Field Lane, fallen into the hands of the "professor of pickpockets," Fagin —a charming Jackie eating his first real mea! awkwardly with his knife because he sees no one else manipulating a fork. Then there is Jackie on the witness stand, charged with thieving, his rumpled hand hardly. above the railing—and Jackie the pantomime artist, describing to the Brownlows the methods of Fagin, and mimicing the latter's every gesture. And finally the little Oliver, coming into his own—a Jackie regarding his half-brother with righteous scorn and aloofness. Here is background and atmosphere which really belongs to Dickens, and characters who seem to have walked out of the etchings in some of the early edi- tions. As Fagin, Lon Chaney gives a remarkable piece of character acting, which deserves to be added to his already- creditable list of fine performances. The only lamentable and discordant note is the modern slang of some of the titles, made with a theatrical slant. Minor faults, however, in an otherwise uni- formly excellent production. Timothy's Quest (American Releasing Corporation)—Made from the homespun story of Kate Douglas Wiggin's, the pic- ture version has much to recommend it. There is a general sort of appeal for very young audiences and those of much more mature years in the story of Tim- othy and little Gay, in their search for someone to mother them, the reward of