Film and Radio Guide (Oct 1945-Jun 1946)

November, 1945 FILM AND RADIO GUIDE 61 Make Literature Live With Films! FOLLOWING EXCELLENT TEACHING FILM CUSTODIAN (M-G-M) SUBJECTS ARE NOW AVAILABLE FOR CLASSROOM USE: "Mutiny on tKe Bounty" Clark Gable Charles Laughton Franchot Tone "Romeo and Juliet" Leslie Howard Norma Shearer John Barrymore "David Copperfield, the Boy" "David Copperfield, the Man" Lionel Barrymore Maureen O'Sullivan W. C. Fields Freddie Bartholomew Other Subjects To Be Added Later "Treasure Island" Lionel Barrymore Wallace Beery Jackie Cooper "Tale of Two Cities" Ronald Colman OTHER FEATURE-LENQTH FILMS: Swiss Family Robinson Little Men Count of Monte Cristo Adventures of Tom Sawyer $17.50 Tom Brown's Schooldays 17.50 Courageaus Mr. Penn 20.00 Little Lord Fauntleroy 15.00 Last of the Mohicans (Special Series Rate) Write for Neiv Free Catalog of Selected Motion Pictures $17.50 17.50 17.50 17.50 YMCA MOTION PICTURE BUREAU 347 Madison Avenue 19 So. LaSalle Street 710 Burt Building 351 Turk Street New York 17, N. Y. Chicago 3, III. Dallas 1, Texas San Francisca 2, Calif. only after painstaking and detailed consideration. In a twelve month period I participated in more than fortyfive “after-hour” evening committee meetings that lasted anywhere from four to eight houis each. I can state enthusiastically from this experience that the idea of having subject matter committees made up of practical experts and letting them advise is eminently sound and pays dividends in terms of better visual materials. There is another important kind of contribution which I believe has been made by the USOE program. A piiceless resource in techniques of visual communication exists in the wide variety of the films. It still remains to be analyzed thoroughly — not in this brief report, but by the objective analysis of other film producers and visual educators, by the experience of classroom teachers, and by experimental studies. Although there were basic policies guiding the audio-visual treatment and organization of subject matter in USOE films, visual specialists and producers were permitted wide latitude. The four hundred and fifty units lepresent a wide range of exploratory experimental technique both in picture and sound treatment. There are pictures presenting demonstrations completely from the "operator’s viewpoint” and with abundant close-ups. There are others that consider the viewer a spectator. There are fast-paced and slow-paced pictures. There are pictures with and without animation ; with and without concluding recapitulations ; with and without introductory orientation. There are single-voice, two-voice, and multiple-voice sound tracks. There are all-dialog pictures. There are first person, second person, and third person commentaries ; active and passive voice. There are authoritative lectures, pedantically expounded ; and there are fantastic dream sequences. Which are the best? Which will do their teaching job most effectively? What can we learn from these pictures about effective film presentation? All the answers to such questions are not yet known. They can be found; but not by the USOE Division of Visual Aids for War Training. In June, 1944, Congress, with words of praise and a small appropriation for administrative expenses, decreed that the visual aid production program of the U. S. Office of Education should be completely executed by July 1, 1945. It has been done. The bell has tolled and these words have extolled. DR. LAW LOOKS AT THE MOVIES ( Continued from Page 59 ) SUNBONNET SUE. Musical comedy. Monogram. Ralph Murphy, Director. For adults. A saloon on the lower Bowery forty or fifty years ago forms the principal setting of Sunhonnet Sue. In the saloon we see a typical Bowery stage-show, and a bar that has constant