Film and Radio Guide (Oct 1945-Jun 1946)

Jonuory, 1946 FILM AND RADIO GUIDE 21 Chambers. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1941. Pp. 60, size 8 Vi x 11, unnumbered, with 73 illustrations. This book is Walt Disney’s interpretation of a modern classic, the story of Bambi, a forest deer. The tale begins the day after Bambi’s birth, when his mother teaches him how to stand on his wobbly legs. It ends when Faline, the beautiful doe who becomes his wife, gives birth to twin fauns in a woodland thicket. The Felix Salten text has been rather closely followed throughout, but Walt Disney’s version introduces a few new characters — notably Thumper, the rabbit, and Flower, the skunk — two delightful creations who will become as well loved as Dopey in Snoiv White and Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio. The pictures of the animal characters — 14 pages in full color, and 54 black-and-white drawings — are all in the tradition of Disney’s finest. When Bambi was first published, the late John Galsworthy said of it : “Bambi is a delicious book. Delicious not only for children but for those who are no longer so fortunate. For delicacy of perception and essential truth I hardly know any story of animals that can stand beside this life study of a forest deer.” 11. BEHIND THE SCREEN: HOW FILMS ARE MADE. Stephen Watts, Editor. Preface by Hugh Walpole. New York: Dodge Publishing Co., 1938. Pp. 176. A comprehensive symposium on film production. The motion picture critic of the London Sunday Exjrress has compiled a unified and coherent account of the work of a great studio with excellent perspective. The book includes contributions on “The Producer,” by Hunt Stromberg ; “The Director,” by George Cukor; “Scenario Writing,” by Frances Marion ; “The Art Director,” by Cedric Gibbons ; “Clothes,” by Adrian; “Casting,” by Billy Grady ; “Makeup,” by Jack Dawn; “The Actor,” by Leslie Howard and Lionel Barrymore; “Photography,” by Lee Garmes ; “Color,” by Natalie M. Kalmus; “Sound,” by Douglas Shearer; “Film Music,” by Herbert Stothart; “The Cutter,” by Margaret Booth ; “Public Relations,” by Howard Dietz; and “Distribution,” by Sam Eckman, Jr. Here is a fascinating case-study of the work of the magnificent MGM producing organization, a “must” book for students of photoplay appreciation. 12. BEST PICTURES, 1939-40, THE. By Jerry Wald and Richard Macaulay. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1940. Pp. 534, illustrated. An excellent annual summary of the trends, news, and production data of the film year, with condensations of the scenarios of Goodbye, Mr. Chips (drama). Bachelor Mother (farce), Ninotchka (comedy) , Rebecca. (tragedy) , Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (comedy drama). Dr. Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet (biography) , and Destry Rides Again (action melodrama). If these films could be revived as a planned series, the book might serve as the basis of a course in “Types of the Film.” 13. BRITANNICA BOOK OF THE YEAR. Walter Yust, Editorial Director. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britonnica, Inc. Published annually. This yearbook, issued as a supplement to the famous Encyclopaedia Britannica, now controlled by the University of Chicago, includes in its annual record of the march of events, an illustrated review of motion pictures and film-industry developments, prei)ared by experts, with due utteution to t'ducat ioiial films. Similar in size to the volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. k 14. DECENCY IN MOTION PICTURES. By Martin Quigley. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1937. Pp. 100. A monograph in restrained and impartial style, by the man who can best tell the story behind the development of the motion-picture industry’s notable production code. The author, as head of filmdom’s most comprehensive publishing enterprise, originated the idea of the present code and fought for its serious application, with a view to compelling observance of moral standards at the source of films. The validity of voluntary selfregulation as the only alternative to censorship is now established to the satisfaction of all concerned. U 15. EDUCATIONAL FILM GUIDE. Compiled by Dorothy E. Cook and Eva Rahbek-Smith. 490 pp. New York: The H. W. Wilson Co. 1945. A selected, classified, and annotated list of 3540 films for use in classrooms, libraries, clubs, etc., with a separate title and subject index. This Guide applies the Dewey decimal system to films. The enormous increase in the number of educational film productions makes the development of a catalog of this kind a tool of prime necessity for librarians and administrators of audio-visual programs. Out of this Guide will grow an increasing correlation of books and films. 16. EDUCATIONAL MOTION PICTURES AND LIBRARIES. By Gerald D. McDonald. Chicago: The American Library Association, 1942. Pp. xii, 183. Report of a study sponsored by a joint committee on educational films and libraries, initiated by the audio-visual committee of the A.L.A., and madt* with the aid (,»f a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. This is