Home Movies (1944)

HOME MOVIES FOR JANUARY 1 l CLEVERLY directed, fast moving skit facetiously titled "Bohemian Baloney" is the Movie of the Month for December. Produced on 125 feet of 8mm. panchromatic film by Werner Henze of St. Louis, Missouri, the production is especially notable for fine photography, excellent lighting of interiors, a pleasing titling and editing job, and some fine acting by a carefully managed cast of amateurs. Mr. Henze's movie making skill first came to the attention of Home Movies' editors in the fall of 1940 when his contest entry, "Slab Happy" was nominated for honorable mention. In "Bohemian Baloney," this filmer demonstrates that he has come a long way since the days of filming "Slab Happy." "Bohemian Baloney" is a story about an artist and his wife and a moneyed couple who visit them unexpectedly to purchase paintings. The artist and his wife have decided to go to a movie and, as is so often the case, the impatient husband is pacing the floor of their apartment while his wife applies final touches of makeup, adjusts the seams in her hose, etc. A good human interest touch is the manner in which the artist is shown roaming the living room, adjusting a crooked lamp shade, or o 8<J/0 3r°diw ''9ht, e""'an movie o( )\i\\n X straightening a picture frame he imagines tilted. When a fleck of cigarette ash is dropped on a small table, he carefully brushes it into palm of his hand and properly disposes of it. Just as he and wife are ready to leave, the telephone rings. Answering it, the artist tells his wife the rich Mr. and Mrs. Gotdough are coming over to buy some paintings. They hurriedly change from street clothes to less meticulous attire of artists. The husband gets out his paintings and sketches and distributes them about the room. His wife, to lend an air of the bohemian usually expected of artists, reclines on a divan and lights up a cigarette. Mr. and Mrs. Gotdough arrive and are admitted by the artist. They are seated and various paintings are held up for them to admire by the artist who explains the fine points of each. At Mr. Gotdough's elbow is a sketch of a nude figure which catches his eye and distracts his interest in the paintings admired by his wife. The artist then presents his masterpiece, heavily framed and • A page from Werner Henze's shooting script. Each scene was visualized with a rough sketch, augmented with the briefest of description of the action. An artist by profession, Henze also hand lettered and decorated all titles for the picture. covered with a drape. When uncovered, it appears a life-like portrait. "Here is one of my old self-portraits — when I had hair, ha, ha," he tells the Gotdoughs. Actually it is a live figure within the frame; and when the artist's wife offers drinks to the couple, the figure within the frame reaches out while Mr. Gotdough's head is momentarily turned, takes his glass and quaffs its contents. A choice of paintings is made by Mrs. Gotdough and she tenders a substantial check for same. As they turn to leave, with the artist and his wife showing them the door, Mr. Gotdough, making use of an opportunity, takes the drawing of the nude he had been admiring and conceals it among the several paintings he has purchased. Disposing of the Gotdoughs, the artist and his wife rejoice over their good fortune, discover they can still make the "second show" and hurriedly re-dress. Final scene shows the artist as before, impatiently pacing the floor while his wife lingers over her makeup. The excellent photography of this picture indicates careful preparation as tc camera locations and lighting. In a letter to the editors which accompanied the film, Mr. Henze stated: "The evening before the production began, I took time to go through the home with my camera, studying camera angles accord• Continued on Page 28 . 15