The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

March, 1923 School Department 127 of steam, gases and ash, admirably illustrating the explosive force of a volcano. A close view, taken as the plane flies over the very pit of the crater, closes the reel. 'Gators (Prizma). One of the early Prizma reels, and made primarily of course for entertainment, yet not without definite value in a study of this class of reptiles. The young animals on alligator farms are first shown, an e^^ is displayed at close range, and the tiny alligator is seen emerging. The eggs are laid in nests on the ground and hatch from the heat of the sun and the decomposition of vegetable matter. The animals are seen to achieve only a rather slow growth for the first few months, but make up for it later during their long lives — one specimen shown having reached the age of 275 years. Good closeups afford a chance to study the head structure, and the enormous mouth with its full set of teeth, which is contrasted with the head of a crocodile. The second part of the reel takes one to the natural haunts of the animal. Men in a boat on a reedy creek search for the alligator and when he is "spotted" one dives after him, ties him after somewhat of a struggle, and dumps him into the boat — a valuable catch when one remembers how much in demand are the skins of these animals. Gambling With the Gulf Stream (Hodkinson). A Bray subject, rather pseudo-scientific in character. As with most Brays, there is clever animated drawing which one could wish were done in exposition of a more serious subject. The reel is devoted to an explanation of the proposition (said to have been seriously advanced at one time in Congress) of building up from the Grand Banks, which are scarcely 200 feet below sea level, a wall which would stop the southward flow of the Labrador current, turn it outward into the Atlantic where its colder waters would sink, and leave the warmer waters of the Gulf Stream full sway in tempering the climate of North Atlantic lands. Rather extravagant suppositions are entertained as to how such a scheme would work in melting Greenland ice, and modifying the climate of Canada and eastern United States. It is even suggested that the melting of so much polar ice would change the balance of the earth, inclining the northern hemisphere more toward the sun. Much of the science in the reel is of the Sunday supplement variety. The animated drawings which show the currents of the north Atlantic and explain the reasons for their courses, the cross-section drawings of the Grand Banks and the diagrams explaining how anchored buoys connecting a cable laid on the ocean bed might cause a bar of sand to be built to deflect the Labrador current, are all excellent. But the reel also achieves the height of the ridiculous, and in doing so, becomes utterly worthless from an educational standpoint. In letting the imagination play upon the climatic changes which might result from such a scheme as has been described, the film pictures an igloo replaced by a rose-covered summer cottage; in place of construction workmen climbing the steel • framework of a skyscraper in Times Square, the entire population of eastern United States, it is predicted, would soon be climbing cocoanut trees, and a man in the dress of a native Hawaiian is seen descending the steps of a city apartment house. The producer evidently believes that even our Science must be jazzed. Attention FREE Attention Are you interested in securing a motion picture projector for your use in your School, Church, Y. M. C. A. Rooms, Homes, Community Center, and elsewhere, absolutely free of charge, so that you may have the benefit of motion pictures? I will install a well known projector and keep same in good condition absolutely free of charge to you, and can furnish you with the best and latest films as often as you desire. For further information •write or call in person. M. FELDSTEIN 804 So. Wabash Avenue CHICAGO ILLINOIS