Educational film magazine; (19-)

"IN THE DAYS OF SAINT PATRICK" A FILM suitable for Roman Catholic optiences is In the Days of Saint Patrick, describing the life and works of Ireland's patron saint. The picture begins with the baptism of the saint by a hermit of Gaul, where he was born in 373. Patrick per- formed his first miracle at the age of ten, by transforming ice into firewood for the fos'.er parents with whom he was placed. Several years la!er he was captured, with his sister Lupita, by a pirate, and sold to the King of North Ulster as a slave. He worked as a laborer for some years, until the Angel Victor appeared to him, telling him that the time was now come when he could be free. He escaped to the coast where a ship was waiting on Killala strand, and was taken aboard, as one of the sailors felt that it would be a bad omen to refuse him passage. After his arrival in Gaul, he entered the monastery of Marmoutiers, where was his aged kinsman, the Bishop of Tours. In course of time, he had a vision which called him to help the people of Ireland, where he had lived as a slave, and he went to Rome to be ordained as a bishop. This ceremony is shown in detail, and is rather impres- sively worked out. In the year 432, he went to Ireland with three disciples, and immediately began to make converts and work mir- acles. His first chapel is shown—a barn in Ulster. The saint's experiences in Ireland are well illustrated in the picture, and the scene in which he explains how the sham- rock typifies the Holy Trinity is particularly impressive. Various miracles are shown, and the film ends with the saint's passing on at the age of 120. The costumes are a bit stagy at times, but this is prac- tically the only criticism to be made. The picture is made from a religious point of view, and for such use it is well adapted. />! the Dni/s of Saint Patrwk. Produced and distributed by Killester Film Corporation, New York. W 9 A LITTLE NONSENSE NOW AND THEN OURELY the best of men may at times seek mere enter- -tainment, and for such a quest Brewster's Millions, played by Roscoe Arbuckle, is a worthy objective. The story • adapted from the book and play is of a young man blessed with two wealthy grandfathers. Dis- agreeing about his upbringing, they do nothing at all for him until he has attained his majority, when one gives him two million dollars and the other promises ten more if he spends the two and complies with various other con- ditions. The various devices by which Brewster tries to get rid of his two millions are of course not needed by most of us, but they are very amusing to contemplate. The sub- ject matter is irresistibly funny, and it has been treated in a masterly way; one laugh is barely begun, when another funny scene follows, and there is not a dragging moment in the picture. Technically speaking, the picture is unusually good. There are several uses of double exposure which will set the audience gasping, and Arbuckle affords much merri- ment by the personification of Brewster at the tender age of one year. Bremleri Uaiion$. Produced and distributed by Famoiu Players. 5 reel*. "THE MYSTERIES OF THE HEAVENS" A T the Cirque d'Hiver in Paris, France, a French edu- "^ cational film "The Mysteries of the Heavens," by Louis Forest, was recently given a private showing. The film has been treated from a popular angle and therefore is rather elemental. It shows the surface of the moon, eclipses of various kinds, imaginary views of the planets and comets, and the rudiments of astronomy. A novel feature of the picture is the insertion of pictorial episodes of the lives of famous men of science, astronomers, phil- osophers, and others. While there are crudities present, an inevitable accompaniment of such pioneer work, the film has decided instructional value. "A CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS"—PICTOGRAPH 477 T^HIS is a complete thousand foot travel study photographed -■- by John L. Hawkinson during the recent Powell Expedition to the Far East. "A City That Never Sleeps" is Canton, China, a city of 2,000,- 000 inhabitants living in an area no larger than Hoboken, N. J. Tliese people are crowded together in such close quarters that the roofs of the houses in which they live overlap above the narrow streets. The entire area is encircled by a wall eight feet thick and twenty-five feet high. The life, occupations, and social habits of the peoples of this strange community are faithfully depicted, there being no effort to dramatize any detail of the daily routine, but merely to show the Cantonese as they really are at home. The titles are by Marguerite Gove, whose life in China gave her command of interesting facts of Oriental life. "JUST PRINCETON"—FIVE REELS 'T'HE picture gives a complete represenl-ALion of Princeton ■^ University in all its varied activities, ranging from the re- searches of its professors in the laboratories and the gathering of students in classroom and in chapel, to the relaxations afforded by Lake Carnegie, tlie university tennis courts and the athletic fields. Crammed into its 5,000 feet of film are glimpses of the 85 buildings on the Princeton campus (including an airplane view of the Grover Cleveland Memorial tower and the Graduate col- lege in which this former president felt so deep an interest); a historic record of the awarding of honorary degrees to such notable personages as Cardinal Mercier, Robert Lansing and Herbert Hoover; scenes from intercollegiate contests in water- polo, soccer, rowing, track, baseball and football—even a side- line view of last fall's football game with Yale in Palmer stadium; "GOOD BYE, BOLL WEEVIL" pOOD BYE, BOLL WEEVIL," is an entertaining, instructive ^-^ two-reel film recently released by the United States Depart- ment of Agriculture. Mr. Boll Weevil, destroyer of American crops to the extent of many million dollars a year, is the "heavy" villain. The hero is Mr. Calcium Arsenate. "Cal" descends upon Mr. Weevil from a battery of horse-drawn machines, of which forty are shown in one spectacular scene. The department's laboratories in Tullulah, La., and Washington, D. C, are pictured. An interesting feature is the laboratory work by which bogus weevil exterminators are detected. The second reel shows thou- sands of acres of snowy cotton fields and negro cotton pickers Contrasts are shown between fields where calcium arsenate dust has been applied and adjoining rows which were neglected. "THE SCREEN," NEW WEEKLY PUBLICATION 'T'HIS office is in receipt of the first issue of The Screen, a new ■"• weekly "journal of motion pictures for busines.s, school, and church." According to the announcement of the editor and pub- lisher, George Blaisdcll, the publication aims to supply the central point of contact for tlie non-theatrical field of motion pictiiret. As there is no editorial pronouncement it is impossible to deter- mine what the policy of the paper is to be, but judpng solely by the treatment of material in this first number it Is to be a sort of modified trade journal edited from the viewpoint of the industry rather than from that of the educational, religious and Institutional world. The feature article is a two-page question- naire interview with Tliomas A. Edison in which he largely re- peats what he said in EdocatioWal Fum Maoaziki in January, 1919. There is little of a conitructive or original character lo the remainder of the pages. 20