Film and Radio Guide (Oct 1945-Jun 1946)

38 Volume XII, No. 5 FILM AND RADIO GUIDE All films 16mm, sound. 1. Ambassador of Good Will — 30 minutes. Showing how passenger agents and other personnel who have charge of handling passengers, mail, express, and luggage are trained to carry on service operation. 2. The Constellation — 15 minutes, color. The first flight of The Constellation from Los Angeles to Washington, D. C. 3. Sky Worker — 60 minutes, color. Illustrates the widespread operations of TWA. 4. Winged Horizons — 45 minutes, color. A TWA crosscountry flight, including operation and traffic activities preparatory to flight. 5. Winged Service — 26 minutes. Illustrating the training of reservations and ticket representatives of the traffic department. 6. Youth Takes to Wings — 55 minutes. A film explaining the basic elements of flight. Ray 0. Mertes is associate director of United Air Lines School and College Service. A native of Milwaukee, Mertes was graduated from the Milwaukee State Teachers College in 1929. He began teaching in that year in the public schools of Beloit, Wisconsin. Later he directed the guidance program of the Beloit public schools, acting as chairman of the committee on guidance for several years. Mertes later served as director of guidance at the Lyons Township High School and Junior College in LaGrange, Illinois, and as principal of the Hinsdale Junior High School, Hinsdale, Illinois. He received his M.A. degree from Columbia University in 1935 and has done graduate work at the University of Chicago. With United for the past two years, Mertes has specialized in the production of audio-visual aids for use in the schools. A Classroom Teacher's Plea For Social Studies Films A live, wide-awake, socialstudies film? How can any one afford to make such a film? Do not various ages demand mentalage-level films? Consider the well-known era of United States history which is spoken of in the grade school as “The Nation Expands to the Pacific,” in the junior high school as “The American Frontier,” and in the senior high school and the college as “The Westward Movement.” One might visualize this broad period in a single incident or the story of a great personality, such as Dr. Marcus Whitman. This unsung hero of American history helped shape the destinies and boundaries of our beautiful country. He gave his life that you and I might enjoy the great Northwest. He was far-sighted enough to realize that the pure, clear air of the West held magic healing power. A classroom film might show BY ELIZABETH GRUNER how Whitman rode from Oregon to Washington, D.C., to plead with President Tyler and Congress, and to prove that Oregon must be saved for the Union. What boy or girl, man or woman would not be thrilled to see this daring, thrilling adventure unfold with simplicity, sincerity, and that intimate personal touch that only a good movie can create? Such a film should, of course, be accompanied by a well-prepared study guide for use in advance of the showing of the film. An interesting classroom discussion might include such topics as a comparison of the West of yesterday and today, the ideals for which Marcus Whitman lived and died, and the significance of the great westward immigration of 1843. Small classroom film companies have done well enough considering the limited finances and facilities they have had. Hollywood, which has both capital and facilities, has not been interested in educational movies, because such films cannot yield profits comparable to those yielded by entertainment films shown in theatres. Some theatrical films, such as Wilson, produced by Twentieth Century-Fox, presenting scenes of Princeton, the White House, and Versailles, and speeches in Congress and at Democratic Conventions, have great educational values. The interpretation of Wilson’s speeches, the appreciation of Wilson’s devotion to his country, and the ideals for which he gave his life in the hope that the world might not have to endure another horrible war, were authentically woven into a live, wide-awake film. Of course, every company cannot operate on such a large scale. But even “B” pictures could find