The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

Page 272 The Educational Screen ^mKh4dei from page 270) iiitr, the story of physical fitness applies ill ,:f-li.^.^i stnd^nts in cities having Visual Aid Depart- ments serving the schools. Applica- tions should be made to the producer. ■ Visu.AL Art Films Distributors, Empire Bldg., Pittsburgh, Pa., have been assigned exclusive distribution of the Father Hubbard films in the states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and East- ern Ohio. Among other subjects re- cently added to the rental library of Visual Arts is the feature film: Our Town —9 reels—based on Major Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer prize play, portraying life in a small tovi'n, with Martha Scott and William Holden as stars. Other acquisitions are "Child- dren of the Wild" "Fangs of the Wild" "I Conquer the Sea" and "Under Strange Flags." ■ Bell & Howf.ll Company, 1801 Larchmont Ave., Chicago, report the fol- lowing new features are now available for approved non-theatrical audiences. Ride 'Em Cowboy (Universal)—9 reels—Bud Abbott and Leu Costello on an Arizona dude ranch. Bombay Clipper (Universal)—6 reels —an action mystery drama concerned with jewel smugglers on a transpacific airliner. Caption Caution (United Artists)— 9 reels—from the story by Kenneth Roberts, starring Victor Mature. What's Cookin' (Universal)—7 reels —a musical comedy with the Andrews Sisters, Woody Herman, Leo Carillo and Gloria Jean. Scenes from British films: "Silent Village" (left), "World of Plenty" (right). "A Warrior of the Sahara" (From a one-reel film on "Warriors of the Sahara," made by Count Byron De Proprok, noted archeologist. who visit- ed the famed, veiled Tauregs. The film portrays the discovery of the tomb of Tin-Hinan, white queen of Sahara. It is distributed by Bell & Howell Co.) ■ Russell C. Roshon Organization. large distributors of 16mm motion pic- tures, has opened branch offices in five additional cities, namely, Boston, San F'rancisco, New Orleans, Denver, and Cincinnati. This now makes fifteen Roshon offices serving non-theatrical film users throughout the country. Head- quarters are in the State Theatre Build- ing, Pittsburgh, and additional branch offices are located in Philadelphia, At- lanta, Dallas, Memphis, Kansas City. New York, Minneapolis, St. Louis, and Chicago. Major I6mm sound feature films are now available to projector owners from coast to coast, including such outstanding pictures as "The Howards of Virginia," "Arizona," "His Girl Friday," "Sweet- heart of the Campus," "Golden Boy." "EUery Queen," and many others exclu- sively distributed in the non-theatrical field by the Roshon Orga'.iization. In addition to its large catalogue list- ing hundreds of films for all purposss. the company issues Filtii Fax, which is furnished free to all users of 16mni sound films who write to the Pittsburgh, Pa., office. ■ AuDioFiLM Studio of Vancouver. Washington announces the production and availability of a one-reel sound film titled: Electrons and Current Flow — de- signed for High School Physics classes and other classrooms teaching basic electricity. The film explains the laws of attraction which cause electrons to move among the atoms of a conductor of electricity, showing how current flows, why a wire has resistance and the effect of increased voltage upon current flow. The true meaning of "voltage" is mads clear and the "speed" of electricity as contrasted with "elec- tron drift" is explained in detail. ■ Union County Film Service, 128 Chestnut St., Roselle Park, New Jersey, announces the offering of a wide variety of 16mm sound and silent subjects at rea- sonable rentals. Included are features, cartoons, comedies, sports, travel, musicals, etc. A careful effort is made to select only those films that seem best suited to the school demand. All films are screened before acceptance in the library to en- sure satisfactory photographic and sound quality. ■ British Information Services, 360 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, have released for non-theatrical showings two important recent productions of the British Minis- try of Information. They are: Silent Village —a Crown Film Unit Production in 4 reels, made with the cooperation of the Czechoslovak Min- istry of Foreign Affairs and the South Wales Miners Federation. In this film the story of Lidice is re-enacted by the people of a mining village in South Wales, whose peacetime life was simi- lar to that of the people of the Czech village. It depicts the effect of the Nazi attack on the life of the village in terms of the life of Cwmgiedd. Throughout the film the people, there- fore, continue to speak their Welsh language, wear their own clothes and sing their own Welsh songs. Theme of the film is that freedom can always be maintained so long as there are people with conviction enough to die for freedom. World of Plenty— a Paul Rotha Pro- duction in 5 reels—a film on the pro- duction, distribution and consumption of food, the implication being that in peace as well as in war, food is man's primary security. Opening with the pre-war problems of overproduction and the anomaly of glutted markets and hungry people, the film goes on to show the control being exer- cised over production, distribution and price during the present war. The final message is that after the war there must be international control of world products and world-wide planning of distribution. Well-known experts on the subject of food appear in the film, discussing the many problems raised. Other British 16mm sound produc- tions recently received for showing in this country are two features, "I Was a Fireman," and "Before the Raid," and ten short subjects on farming, science, health, war and industry. ■ College Film Center, 84 E. Ran- dolph St., Chicago, is also distributing the four British features listed above, as it handles all the films released by the British Ministry of Information, and the National Film Board of Canada.