The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

Page 34 The Educational Screen ■ DeVry Films and Laboratories, 1111 Armitage Ave., Chicago, report that the DeVry Film Library of 16mm educational subjects has expanded its rental facilities to include 16mm recrea- tional films, representing some of the out- standing productions of Hollywood Studios. These features, now available from DeVry, have been carefully select- ed for their cultural and educational values, and as such are suitable for show- ing to non-theatrical audiences. Each recreational film rented will in- clude at no extra cost, selected short subjects so as to ofTer a XYz hour minimum program. Rental rates are moderate, with important savings offered to film patrons booking five or more recreational, or twenty or more educa- tional subjects within a period of one year. For a free catalog of Recreational Films, write to DeVry Films and Laboratories. Mr. Gordon Hale is Gen- eral Manager of the Film Library. ■ Commonwealth Pictures Corpora- tion, 729 Seventh Ave., New York City, have the 16mm sound distribution of the feature film: A Night of Terror— a tense, sus- penseful drama starring Basil Rathbone and Ann Harding. The story opens with the heroine's winning the Grand Prize in a French National Lottery. The sud- denly acquired wealth leads to an es- trangement with her fiancee, and changes her whole life. She meets a fascinating stranger and marries him. They move to a house in the country so he can carry on his photographic experiments, which she is never permitted to see. His behavior grows more strange and finally she realizes her husband is a murderer, planning her death also. For self-pro- tection she tells him she has poisoned his coiTee and, terrified, he dies of heart failure. She is then reunited with her former suitor, the substantial Ronnie. Ideal Catalog The 23rd Annual Catalog of Ideal Pictures Corporation, 28 E. Eighth Street, Chicago, has just been an- nounced. The thousands of films described in its 102 pages—size 8^x11 inches—are listed in two main sec- tions—16mm sound films and 16nim silent films. Each of these sections is subdivided into the following three classifications—the School List, the Church List and the Recreational List. Educational subject headings include Agriculture, Art and Architecture, As- tronomy, Athletics and Sports, Bird and Animal Life, Geography, History, Industries, Music, Sciences, Safety and Health, Insect and Plant Life, Foreign Languages and many others. Films re- leased by the U. S. Office of War Information, by the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs on our Latin- American neighbors, as well as Civil- ian Defense subjects are included. There is a list of 8mm films. The cata- log is available to school, church, club and community group film users, on request to Ideal Pictures Corporation. "Background for Tomorrow" Here is an exceptional piece of film- making, a seven-reel motion-picture, tellingly titled, that vividly presents museums as live educational centers, teeming with activity and wielding a powerful influence on the minds and thoughts of millions that come within visual range of their intellectual treas- ures. Six famous Chicago museums gave fullest cooperation by their en- tire administration and staffs to the Atlas Productions Inc. for the mak- ing of this unique picture—namely, the Field Museum of Natural His- tory, the Museum of Science and In- dustry, the Chicago Academy of Sciences, the Chicago Historical So- ciety, the Chicago Art Institute and the Oriental Institute. Views of the six buildings, of some of the outstand- ing exhibits of each, of the year-round stream of visitors and students, are but a minor part of this feature pic- ture's content. A central purpose dominates the film, to show how events and develop- ments from the remotest past to the present day furnish the experiential basis for a still richer future for the human race. The continuity of the picture falls logically into units—evolu- tion of the natural world, biological growth of animal life, dawn and de- velopment of the human race, the gradual advance in the arts, in trans- portation, in manufacture and industry, and the amazing complexity and achievement of present-day civilization with its brilliant promise for the fu- ture—illustrated by selected displays in the various museums shown in orderly sequence. At frequent inter- Courtesy Field Mnseum Behind the scenes in a great museum—the first coat of plas- ter of paris on a museum model. shots, deftly inserted and always relevant to the narrative in hand, such as actual walrus hunting, a remark- able close-up bit of beavers at work, underground mining operations, an airplane survey of lands of archaeo- logical treasures, modern art tech- niques in pottery, painting and sculp- ture, and many more. The entire picture is excellent in its technique, lighting and photography, and nice variety in camera angles. Different speakers for the narrative accompani- ment are a pleasing feature. Those who still incline to think of museums as merely mortuaries for dead facts of the past should see this picture. It is a revelation of what museums really are and what they can mean to children and adults alike. It is not only stimulating in itself to both young and mature minds but should prove a powerful incentive to increased museum attendance through- Courtesy Field Museum Actual filming of a museum exhibit group. vals are integrated smoothly into the continuity actual motion shots of various museum expeditions in the far north, the tropics, the ancient East—the vast creative activity behind the exhibits by artists and artisans constantly busy in the museum work- shops and studios, always invisible and unknown to the museum visitor— with many illuminating supplementary out the country wherever it is shown. The picture is available for com- munity showings, with admission charged for local fund-raising pur- poses. It should be brought within reach of the school field generally in single reel units as well as full length showing. (Full information can be had from Atlas Productions, Inc., nil South Boulevard, Oak Park, 111.