The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

May, 1923 School Department 337 Film Reviews TRAVEL AND SCIENCE Pageantry in India (Vitagraph). One of the earlier numbers in the Urban Popular Classics, and an interesting study of the elephant — apparently the most useful of all animals to the native of India, and on the occasion of the Durbar, one of the most ornamental as well. After glimpses of the elephant at work, the animals and their keepers' are seen in preparation for the Durbar (meeting of the chiefs) "the occasion when the elephant comes into his own." He is first bathed by being driven into a pool, where the keeper, riding on the elephant's back, forces him to get entirely under water — a' performance which the beasts seem to regard with the same spirit as do the keepers, who themselves take a dip betimes. ; After the bath, the animals are painstakingly decorated, their huge heads elaborately painted by the keepers, and trappings and cloth of gold blankets put on, • The parade starts — and although there are Qther animals, such as the Zebu and the Camel, appearing as the procession passes in review before the camera — it is the elephant which is the most impressive. Particularly interesting are the strange conveyances drawn by the animals, or carried on their broad backs. All typical of the Oriental love of display in the midst of the general poverty of the natives, for India is a spectacular-loving country, "treading unquestionably the beaten path of ancestral precedent." Torquay (Prizma). "The gem of South England" on the coast of Devon. A wide panoramic view shows the city built on seven hills, as Rome was, and fronting on a beautiful natural harbor with hundreds of little boats at anchor. The warm winds from the Atlantic foster a subtropical vegetation in this sheltered spot, and the reel permits us to look into some of the city's finest gardens. "Seascapes" of rare beauty along the rugged Devon coast are among the most picturesque scenes in the reel— the barren rock offering a ledg€ here and there on which a house may perch high above the waves — and a hint of the romance of old times clings to the sea cove, the ancient. rende?^vous of pirates, but now one of the spots most favored by the summer colony of visitors-. Within walking distance of Torquay is the village of Cockington, pictured in all the quaintness of the typical English countryside. A charming reel, beautifully photographed in Prizma color. Playdays at Banff (Federated). Produced by the Associated Screen News of Canada, the reel is devoted to the "American Alps." Some views of the little city of Banff — its railroad station and main street — prepare one for a glimpse of the Banff Springs Hotel on its beautiful site "rising against its rugged background like a mediaeval castle." The bathers may enjoy its hot pool while admiring the snow-clad mountains rising on every side. Some scenes in the reel are devoted to the Indian gathering at Banff, when the Stony Tribe set up their tepees and prepare for their annual pow-wow. The remaining scenes give a splendid idea of the beauty of the surrounding country — Bow River Falls, and the Spray River — and the everpresent majestic mountains. Johnson's Canyon is especially picturesque, the gorge with its tumbling waters accessible to the tourist by means of the stairway along the rocky sides. By the Still Waters (Federated). A succession of views of the beautiful country in southern British Columbia — but not always recorded in photography adequate to its subject. Great valleys, mountain-walled, are occupied by little quiet lakes, turbulent streams break the still darkness of the mills, and across Kootenay Lake, busy stern-wheeled steamers make their way. Along with its wild primitive beauty, this district of British Columbia boasts stretches of cultivated country where flourish wonderful orchards, shown first in blossom time, and later when the harvest brings girl harvest hands into the orchards. Of purely entertainment value. PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE Your Mouth (United Cinema Company). A subject well organized and carefully worked out. to show the importance of dental hygiene and to outline methods by which the teeth may always be kept in a healthy condition. The statement is made that the digestive system is all automatic except the chewing machine, which has a most vital part to play. Some examples are shown of badly decayed teeth, which furnish breeding places for millions of