Home Movies (1943)

HOME MOVIES FOR DECEMBER MIIIIE OF T II E YE.il . . . ''Lincoln Trails17 by Kurt Bohse best Movie Of The Month tor 1943 I.N lieu of the yearly awards customarily presented in Home Movies' Annual Amateur Movie Contest, cancelled this year in deference to need for film conservation, the contest committee early decided to award a trophy for the best Movie of the Month submitted during 1943. The amateur film chosen for this award is Lincoln Trails, Movie of the Month for October. Produced in 16mm. Kodachrome by Kurt Bohse, a member of the South Side Cinema Club of Chicago, it is an enduring and impressive By I . amateur accomplishment. It is hardly necessary to again review the film at length here in view of the account appearing in the October issue. Instead, we shall reveal something of the movie amateur who skillfully filmed and edited the picture, and recorded a disc of narrative to accompany it. Lincoln Trails is a documentary of Abraham Lincoln's life as reflected in the numerous landmarks and memorials erected and preserved in his memory throughout that part of our country in which he was born, reared and grew to become one of our greatest statesmen. The research and extensive preparation which Kurt Bohse undertook before beginning his filming is a credit to his ability as a serious and promising amateur photographer. As with many movie amateurs, Bohse's introduction to photography came by way of still picture making in his early youth. His European home • Kurt Bohse has demonstrated with Lincoln Trails how careful preparation and painstaking photography combine to make prize winning pictures. H S C H 0 E N h nd was rich in photographic possibilities and most of his spare hours were spent afield with a snapshot camera. Eventually he gravitated toward the desire to make movies, but the cost for such an adventure made it impossible for a time. Shortly after his arrival in America, he was in his early twenties, then, the activities of movie amateurs stirred his ambitions further; and after a time spent in perusing camera catalogs, he eventually became owner of a Paragon cine camera. Bohse was quick to recognize the importance of continuity as an essential element in amateur movies. During 1936, he filmed "How I'm Doin'?" — a story of his tiny son's first year. A second production soon foilowed entitled "Katie and Dollie." "My advice to all fathers who are movie amateurs," said Bohse, "is never to miss the opportunity to make motion pictures of their children's first year of life. I have found that such a movie well made not only has wide audience appeal, but grows priceless as the years roll by." • Continued on Page 421 401