Educational film magazine; (19-)

By Mabel G. Foster THE FOUR SEASONS ACCURATELY informative throughout; crowded with ex- amples of the plant and animal worlds; reflecting the year-round aspects and phenomena of na'.ure, Charles Urban's four-reel story of the seasons presents what is perhaps ihe most complele and satisfactory record of its kind yet given to ihe screen. The ti'.les are informative but not technical; a bit poetic, with that imaginative spontaneity springing from a love and understanding of the object described. Continuity is ingeniously preserved by means of stressing the processes of cer- tain animal development; such as the frog from egg to maturity, and the shadding and growing of the deer's antlers. An occasional condensation of material would facilitate the introduction of panoramic scenes of beautiful nature to visualize each season. We miss the expansiveness of the "big out-of-doors." The inclusion of such scenes would take the picture out of its somewhat restricted angle of vision, establishing that breadth of effect which would lift it into the realms of a genuine screen epic. Tlie first voices of spring-av/akened nature are heard soon after the pussywillows put forth their gray faces. Tliese are the shrill voices of the "petpeis" calling from tl-.e marshes when the lowly skunk cab- bage, first of green things, pushes its broad leaves above the mould. The pollywogs are hatching; tlie snakes are coming from their rocky strongholds; Mr. and Mrs. Woodchuck emerge from winter quarters. By the time the apple orchards arc white with bloom, the swallows, song sparrows and other winged visitors have built their nests and are raising their families. In the barnyard chickens are cracking their shells. At the Zoo animal mothers are guarding their young and Father Deer's antlers have dropped off before the arrival of thfe fawns. May finds tlie azaleas, rhododendrons, and momitain laurel in bloom. When spring merges into summer daisies and warm winds herald the change. The wild babies of tlie spring have struck out for tlieni- selves. The bees are gathering honey. Father Deer's new horns, soft and covered with a velvety sheathing, are now growing rapidly; the Mother Deers are caring for their fawns. In .Tune caterpillars and various ilestructive insects appear, but the dignified toad keeps the balance in favor of plant life, and the bat chases noxious niglit insects. Summer is the season of wonderful cloud effects, of "heat lightning" and of thunderstorms. After the rain cascades are renewed and trout play in the freshened brooks. Only the beaver is disturbed, for a wa.sliout necessitates the repairing of his house. At the Zpo the polar bear survives the heat by plunging in bis bathing pool. Then comes a day when the goldenrod hangs out yellow banners of Autumn's vanguard. The improvident grasshopper is nearing the end of his gaiety. 'J'he caterpillar spins his cocoon. Bees on the asters gather the last of their winter's store of honey. Beavers lay in their supplies. Mother Rattlesnake returns with her young to her hibernating rocks. Forests turn gold and red. Sometimes a storm liastens the de- nuding of the trees. The por<'upine is growing wool under his quills; the rabbit turns a protective white; the woodchuck retires to his hole. Suddenly Father Deer's antlers harden and the velvety covering drops off. Wind clouds bring winter's cold. Ice and snow follow. The jiolar bear and the buffalo sniff the cold air and face tlu' icy bla.st with pleasure. Investiga- tion of the woodchiick's hole reveals him sleeping, scarcely animate. Noi.se will not awaken him. liut indoors warmtli coiivincc's him spring has come. Wild fowl at the /oo take the snowdrifts i)hilosopliically. The autumn-iipun cocoon hangs on an icy branch. Tlie marsh, hu.shed beneath its icy sheathing, .slcejis unconscious of its recurrent mission as harbinger of sjiring. 'J'hus from year to year our world travels the I.ane of Kternity. The Four tieaoona is of general appeal: suitable alike for the schmil- rooin, the community center, and tlu^ church midweek program. The Four Seanons. L>i8tribute<l by Kineto. i reels. NEW KLEINE SUBJECTS C*VjO\UiV. KI^KINK announces that in ad<lition to his film classics ^-' Hparliii-uii, Juliug (Uie.aar, /Intoni/ and Cleopatra, Quo Vadii, The ImiiI J>iii:i< rif I'ovipeii. Othello, Lion of Venire, (inil Vavitji Fair, luj has the story of ili-len Keller in l/eliv/iranre. On November first he will have ready for distribution I'iUjrim's I'rogreas in four part.s. 'HOME-KEEPING HEARTS" A T the critical hour of his daughter's birth, Robert Colton, i diver, is driven, through anxiety, to seek solace in his gre est enemy, drink. This eventuates in his dismissal from h diving company in disgrace, and his subsequent commitment slate prison on circumstantial evidence of a murder he did i: commit. His wife succumbs to the tragedy. His little daugh Mary grows up in the care of Tead, a distant relative, whci crooked practices make him a menace to community welfare.! As chairman of the local school committee, Tead misappj priates the school funds, risking the lives of the children al teacher in a school house far gone from lack of repair. He owt a creamery and underpays the farmers for milk. Upon thi* attempt to organize against him, he bargains with a dishon'j milk inspector to condemn and kill the local herds. j Robert, pardoned after ten years' imprisonment, comes i ihe scene at the height of Tead's power. He joins the scho- mis:ress and his daughter in a campaign for honest school £- ministration and forces Tead to attempt a break with the d- honest milk inspector. In retaliation the inspector shuts Tel in a vat in the creamery, from which he is rescued by Rober Tead reforms and puts Robert in charge of the creamer. Seconded by Mary, Robert urges the little schoolmistress b stay wi:h them "till the cows come home." Thus three ho: keeping hearts find sunshine after storm. This film is pre-eminently a non-theatrical, recreational pict with cons.ructive appeal to a wide range of interests includi village school politics, temperance, and anti-tobacco crusad Occasional melodramatic moments are, for the most part, hand 1 with restraint, al hough the pursuit of the little girl by the m; inspector might well be shortened when children are to see t! picture. The scenes of drinking, essential to the moral lesson the film, are treated with reserve. The photography is superii The work of little Mildred Ryan as Mary has that charm of ah j lute naturalness which will appeal to all beholders. Home-Keeping Hearts. Distributed by Patlip. S reels. 9 9 ' "HATS OFF!" \ RECENT useful addition to the films which are sui;a for patriotic Americanization programs is Hats Off: Story of the Flag. Aimed to teach respect for Americ i principles as symbolized in the flag, this film pictures a you : lad's careless indifference toward the national emblem as passes at the head of a parade. His schoolmate taunts with disloyahy and the boy is shamed in'.o reading Ameri? history. Falling asleep, he dreams of those historic episo< which have crystallized the national spirit and established honor. In his dream Uncle Sam leads him to Betsy Roi house where he witnesses the making of the first flag; to 1 ba'.tlefields of the Revolution and of the Civil War; to Linc( with ihis concept of national unity; to San Juan Hill and Roo velt; to the sacrificial fields of France where America fouj that liberty might not perish from the earth. Upon awakening, the erstwhile careless boy is athrili vr. patriotism, and ready to .salute even the tiniest of American fli which he sees. Hats Off I Society for Viiiual Education. 1 reel. 14