Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1953)

180 FACL and AACL, 1953 Adding a new honors status of Associate, the ACL names nine of its members for recognition THE ACL takes pride and pleasure in announcing for 1953 the appointment of two of its members to the status of Fellow of the Amateur Cinema League. They are, alphabetically, as follows: George Merz, of Hollywood, Fla. Roy C. Wilcox, of Meriden, Conn. These members were elected to Fellowship by vote of the League's board of directors, at the board's twenty seventh annual meeting held on May 9, 1953. The honors status itself was established in 1940, with the first Fellowship awarded posthumously to Hiram Percy Maxim, FACL, founder president of the League from 1926 until his death in 1936. The present roster of League Fellows stands at thirty. Also named by the directors at the same board meeting were seven ACL members who become Associates of the Amateur Cinema League. This new honors status, which will rank just under that of the Fellowship, was established by the directors in recognition of an ever-growing number of able and aspiring movie makers among the League's membership. Those appointed as Associates of ACL in 1953 are: Alfred T. Bartlett, of Brisbane, Australia Timothy M. Lawler, Jr., of Kenosha, Wise. William Messner, of Teaneck, N. J. Herbert D. Shumway, of Greenfield, Mass. Haven Trecker, of Kankakee, 111. Glen H. Turner, of Springville, Utah Helen C. Welsh, of Albany, N. Y. Honors awards in the Amateur Cinema League, whether of Fellowship or Associateship, are accorded to individual members in recognition of their achievements in or contributions to the craft of personal motion pictures. Among the qualifications considered by the directors are the production of able and honored pictures, the personal use of one's camera, projector and films in civic, welfare, educational or scientific projects, informed and helpful writing or lecturing on the techniques of our hobby, unselfish and energetic cooperation in movie club affairs, active and enthusiastic support of the ACL — these, and still other accomplishments may contribute to one's selection for League honors. The ACL directors believe that these qualifications are admirably and variously exemplified among those members honored in 1953. Their biographies and accomplishments, necessarily briefed, are presented herewith. GEORGE MERZ, FACL In 1910, only seven years after the Wright brothers flew the first man-carrying airplane, George Merz built and exhibited in Boston an exact duplicate of the then-famous Curtiss biplane. Happily for Mr. Merz (and the hobby of amateur movie making), his father soon ordered him to "leave that crazy thing alone and learn to do something worthwhile." It was good advice. By 1919 Mr. Merz had established his own business as an engineering pattern maker, and in 1944 he was able to retire at the age of fifty. In the meantime (1938) he took up movie making with an 8mm. Cine-Kodak Model 60; this led in due course to an 8mm. Model 90 and, in 1946, to a Bolex H-16 which is his present camera. Projector-wise, Mr. Merz has recently aligned himself with a Bell & Howell 202 magnetic projector, after many years of operation with a B&H Showmaster and a wire recorder. From these cameras, over the years, have come 17 completed pictures which have won a total of 22 awards, in all levels of competition from local club contests to ACL's Ten Best. And from the man behind these cameras have come no less than eight Movie Makers articles, in which Mr. Merz has described and pictured the many ingenious accessories created by his skills at mechanical and optical design. Mr. Merz also has shared his films and filming abilities through membership in the Passaic (N.J.) Cinema Club, the Amateur Movie Society of Bergen County (of which he is an honorary life member), the Metropolitan Motion Picture Club and the Miami (Fla.) Movie Makers Club. Since making his home permanently in Hollywood, Fla., he has presented five film programs annually at that community's amphitheatre, a public service which has brought him the city's title of director of motion pictures. Both Mr. and Mrs. Merz (there are no children) are keen travelers, and pass the summer months touring, filming and presenting picture programs at League movie clubs along their route. Aviation's loss, clearly, has been ACL's gain. ROY C. WILCOX, FACL Roy C. Wilcox has been making amateur movies since amateur movies began — which was in 1923. He purchased in that year camera No. 76 of the Model A Cine-Kodak, Eastman's first 16mm. design. It was hand-cranked and came equipped with a 1 inch lens. Mr. Wilcox still has this rare but reliable instrument, as well as the more modern Magazine Cine-Kodak, a CineKodak Special and a Filmo 70-G with 128 frames-per-second slow motion speed. He uses these cameras in documenting his devotion to the out of doors. His films are of hunting (big game, upland birds, southern quail and ducks), fishing (Atlantic salmon and trout), and wild life of all kinds (animals, birds, bugs, snakes, bees and flowers). He is an ardent conservationist and devotes both his cameras and his projector (an RCA 400 magnetic) unselfishly to that cause. More than a dozen of his authoritative nature studies have been televised educationally, and one of them, Along the Waterways, was named in both the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals of 1952 as a gold medal winner in the documentary class. This latter film, through Mr. Wilcox's donation, is on file in the League's Club Film Library. Sixty two years of age, Mr. Wilcox is executive vicepresident of the International Silver Company, in Meriden, Conn., with which organization he started during his teens as a stock clerk. His wide business experience and membership on the directorates of many leading industries bring to ACL's own board of directors invaluable and friendly counsel. ALFRED T. BARTLETT, AACL In 1937 Alfred T. Bartlett swapped an electric razor for a Univex 8mm. camera. What he has been doing since then tonsorially is not known; but on the cinematic side of this deal the record is clear and impressive. From the eight films he has completed since 1947 (he had switched to 16mm. in 1940), Mr. Bartlett has garnered eight first places in local club contests throughout Australia ; he has twice won the Gold Cup in international competitions sponsored by the Australian Amateur Cine Society, in Sydney, and in 1952, with his first entry in ACL's international Ten Best selections, he was a solid Ten Best winner with Give Us This Day. Mr. Bartlett's movie club activities have been equally vigorous. He is still president of the Queensland Amateur Cine Society, in Brisbane, a post which he also held in 1950 when that club screened its contest award winners before a whopping 4000-plus audience. He is a member of the Australian Amateur Cine Society, in Sydney, and he is the [Continued on page 189];