Home Movies (1943)

HOME MOVIES FOR DECEMBER • "It will not satisfy us to get a picture of a robin, no matter how fine the exposure, unless that robin is doing something that reaches human sentiments and gives the dramatic touch to our scenes." DRAMATIC VALUES II MATURE FILMIC M CAM The Philosopher of the Forest I LN a movie theatre some years ago, when films were only black and white and very silent, I saw a picture portraying the elephants of India. I cannot recall its title. Nor do I remember clearly a single scene. But I do recall, with a pleasure that makes me smile at the recollection, that a baby elephant was shown in a peculiar predicament and queer antics. The little fellow fell into a trap and was captured quite uninjured. In the course of a few scenes the mother elephant — ponderous, powerful, brave, and fully comprehending the circumstances — rescued her infant by crashing the fence that confined him. What grand triumph it was for everyone in that audience when mother love had endured, and a relatively helpless youngster was freed to return to his natural way of living! My delight at the incident was not just the gratification of a Naturalist's enthusiasm. It was shared by all who sat i" that packed house. There had been murmurs of approval during the earlier scenes. The film was well made. It had to be, for in those day* every movie program included a nature or travel picture, and competition ran high. There had been grand vistas, rich forest scenes, and animal pictures with excellent camera angles. The audience voiced its approval with involuntary little Ohs! and Ahs! — but not until the amusing and deeply appealing drama of that mother and baby elephant came on did they break forth with outright applause. Here was something that picked them up and drew them right into the picture. It was no longer a film of a remote place and exotic animals, but rather a portrayal of the sentiments which live in their own hearts. They saw in it something of their own struggles, and the triumph of right over wrong as always expected by highest intuition. The brief, simple story of an elephant mother and how she rescued her baby put dramatic kick in a film that was not intended to be drama. This film stands out in sharp contrast to another I saw in a private home. The producer was a world traveler who loved ferreting out the wonders of remote places. He was a good amateur photographer skillful at focus, exposure, and composition. His pictures were wonderfully interesting, well worth seeing — and yet, there was something lacking. Not once did the scenes reach off the screen and grip the onlookers until they utterly forgot themselves. There were fine animal pictures, sweeping panoramas nicely paced, dense forests, snow-covered mountain peaks, and regions rich in history and tradition. But the scenes remained just pictures'. They lacked the touch which would draw the audience into them — that subtle but wholly tangible dramatic value which the professional film had found in the simple story of an elephant baby and its mother. Surely nature films are basically factual, dealing with non-adjustable elements. There is very little opportunity to "stage" scenes. However, with more thorough thought, the photographer finds there is a choice of scenes; a possibility of selecting those which add the required appeal. Some of this appeal is gained through good continuity. But there is much for the movie maker to gain in his nature films through a right appraisal of scenes and wildlife subjects in themselves. In the background of dramatic requirements lies little old human nature. Mentally, we human beings are always • Continued on Page 410 400