The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

April, 1933 School Department 175 is its picture of the wonder of the Hawaiian Islands — Kilauea's lakes of fire. A native Hawaiian guide, who for thirty-five years has been showing tourists this marvel, conducts the tour to the crater's edge. Marvelous panoramic views show the bubbling mass of lava, seething as in a giant caldron, with a temperature of approximately 2,000 degrees. There are remarkable scenes of the liquid lava spurting up in jets 70 feet into the air, and spectacular night scenes showing the fiery-hot molten rock bubbling up through the crust of partly hardened lava on top. Color adds tremendously to a subject like this — and no study of the Hawaiian Islands, or of volcanic activity in general, should be complete without this pictorial portrayal. HISTORICAL The Land of Our Forefathers. (Pathe.) History on the screen, with definite educative value, is this reel, first picturing by map diagrams the three shiploads of settlers who made their way up the Chesapeake. In 1609 John Smith made a map of Virginia, which is interestingly shown. Ruins of the old church at Jamestown speak mutely of the faith of these sturdy pioneers. In 1676 Jamestown was burned — the only remnants of its past now to be observed are the graves of its early settlers, and a few relics of ancient spearheads and pipes found among the ruins of the headstones. The film goes on to show the site of the first capitol in America, at Williamsburg, Virginia, and the spot where Patrick Henry uttered his famous words. Scenic remnants of Washington's time are followed by views of Yorktown and its harbor, one of the finest ports along the Atlantic. Here are built the first customshouse in America (1715). Views of the city today probably look much as did the early town, for even the oldest house in the city Is still standing, although it numbers its years from 1699. A view of the farmhouse where Cornwallis surrendered to Washington closes the reel. Athens the Glorious. (Pathe.) A collection of splendid views showing a number of the famous landmarks of old Athens — among them the Acropolis rising some 228 feet above the surrounding plain, the Temple of Nike, and fine views of the Parthenon. The theatre of Dionysus, dating from 120 B.C., which was given over to the presentation of Greek tragedy, shows a number of remains of richly sculptured figures. From the Roman period dates the gateway to the market place. Theseum also is finely preserved, and the Arch of Hadrian is visible — if not with all its ancient background, yet with much of its ancient splendor still preserved. From Athens it is but a step to the island of Crete, where its ruins speak eloquently of the glory that was once theirs. The ruins of King Minos' palace are visible, as well as the Roman bridge. Modern Crete, and a glimpse of its easygoing life of today, where travel is still by the time-honored donkey, where shepherds tend their flocks, and where spinning is done in the old way, are in perfect harmony with the spirit of the ancient relics from the glorious past. Acknowledgment is made to the Department of Classical Art of the Metropolitan Museum for assistance in titling and assembling the reel, which is notable throughout for its scholarly and dignified treatment of the subject matter. NATURAL SCIENCE Br'er Rabbit and His Pals. (Pathe.) One of the uniformly fine series of Screen Studies — this devoted to the general subject of Rodents, the largest order of mammals. They get their name by virtue of their gnawing propensities, and the skeleton of the rabbit's head is shown in closeup to illustrate the structural adaptations in the jaws and the particular development of incisors. , The enemies of the rabbit are briefly shown, and the reel passes on to illustrations of other animals belonging to the same order — the cottontail and squirrel families. Mice and rats are the pests of the group, and one scene shows the kangaroo mouse in unusual closeup. The prairie dog is taken as representative of those rodents living underground. A crosssection drawing shows the depth to which burrowing extends, and the plan of a typical system of underground passageways. Some rodents sleep through the winter, and the reel ends with one of these hibernating animals being dug out of his hole, to all intents and purposes more dead than alive. But some instinct which tells him Spring is on the way brings him out of his hole later, as