The Motion Picture and the Family (Oct 1934 - May 1937)

4 THE MOTION PICTURE AND THE FAMILY May 15, 1937 Ga. Leader Is Honored By A C. of C. Medal FILMS FOR THE PUPIL AND TEACHER By Sarah McLean Mullen A Clubwoman Chats On Family Films DOWN in Atlanta, Georgia, they obviously appreciate the importance of motion picture activities. That fact is evidenced by the presentation of the Chamber of Commerce award to Mrs. Alonzo Richardson, Secretary of the Board of Film Review, for being Atlanta's outstanding citizen in religious, civic and motion picture work. This reviewing board serves as a clearing house for all motion picture organization activities in Atlanta and the Better Films Council, of which Mrs. Clifton Perkins is president, works in close cooperation with the board and receives much of the impetus for its activities from this source. Council Has Passed Some Significant Milestones The Atlanta Council has passed a number of significant milestones this year. For a number of years it has tried to gain an entree into the schools to enlist interest in better films. This year its goal was reached when the Board of Education officially authorized the introduction of motion picture study into the curriculum and the use in the schools of all the study guides prepared by the editorial committee of the Department of Secondary Education of the National Education Association. Another new step this year has been the inauguration of a bulletin board service in the boys' and girls' department of the Carnegie Library. Upon large bulletin boards informational and advertising material regarding the superior pictures is regularly posted. The council has also established a regular class of instruction on what to look for in pictures and how to grade them as to audience suitability. Wear "Qood Earth" Almost Threadbare Though they could not see the film, blind readers constantly haunted the Cleveland Library for the Blind when The Good Earth was showing in the Ohio city and the three copies of the book in braille were worn almost threadbare. Sighted Readers Enthused Too Similar interest was recorded by the sighted readers, for although the Cleveland Public Library has a hundred copies of The Good Earth, borrowers frequently had to be told, "we haven't a copy" when the film version of Pearl Buck's novel was showing in Cleveland. Much of this interest was undoubtedly stimulated by posters and other display material in the fiction and history divisions as well as by an elaborate exhibit in the second floor corridor, which inspired a great deal of conversation about the film. Head of English Department and Co-ordinator of Visual Education, Abraham Lincoln High School, Los Angeles; Author of "How to Judge Motion Pictures." THE school year is flying along, with only a brief time left for the unit on motion pictures which an increasing number of teachers are incorporating into their class work. What materials shall be studied? What pictures shall be selected for the whole class to see as a required part of the course? How can motion pictures and literature or social studies be connected? These seem to be almost universal problems for the teacher. The first question finds its answer in the many excellent articles in current magazines listed in each issue of the Motion Picture and the Family and in the discussion guides, published by Educational and Recreational Guides, Inc. As to the second question, the choice of pictures depends upon the use to be made of the picture to be studied. And the third, well, that depends upon the class, the pictures, and the ingenuity of the teacher. SHALL WE DANCE? (RKO Radio) If the emphasis of the class work is to be upon the motion picture as a form of dramatic art, then excellent results would grow out of a study of the latest hit of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It is a fine example of what constitutes screen entertainment. One should note the zest with which the story is carried forward without interruption by the dance numbers, songs, or comic sequences, especially those of background characters. Not onlydoes the film constitute a good example of coherence and sustained dramatic interest. It will also afford opportunity for a discussion of what makes one laugh. No one could sit unaffected through Mr. Horton's delayed responses or his scenes of self-induced sea-sickness, or listen silently to Eric Blore as he spells out the location of his incarceration, or to the "shushing" scene in the club. Astaire's dance number in the engine room is superb in its setting and in its interpretation of the rhythm of the dance while other dance numbers are equally effective in depicting grace of line and motion. The whole production is a cinematic treat. THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER (Warner Bros.) While most of the world is saying, "Oh, to be in England," there comes to us through the movies a palliative to our desire in the form of an unusual fantasy based upon Mark Twain's beloved story of a boy king and his misadventures. It is, of course, a plot based upon mistaken identity. The story is good, but our attention is really centered upon the pageantry of the coronation. It is a magnificent spectacle. One of the strongest features of the production is the musical setting and this should be carefully considered. There are many possibilities for historical discussion and an equal number for points of cinematography, including the value of using identical twins instead of resorting to trick photography, as is usually done; the employment of suspense and the careful mounting of sets and costumes. Historical Shorts If one has a class interested in American history especially, there is available a delightful group of short subjects to fit the need. They will provide discussion material concerning historical content and also concerning screen art and technique. SERVANT OF THE PEOPLE (MGM) This two-reel picture is a stirring dramatization of the framing of the Constitution at the Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. Of the many excellent characterizations of historical persons, that of the astute Benjamin Franklin is the most skilfully presented. Lavish costumes and settings, verified as authentic, form an essential part of this feature. The photography, too, is good. SONG OF A NATION (Warner Bros.) Vividness and sincerity mark this two-reel color picture of the circumstance attending the conception of our national anthem. In exquisite color, it depicts the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British, the event which stimulated Francis Scott Key, while a prisoner, to write The Star-Spangled Banner. The flag and the anthem take on new meaning through this excellent dramatization. MT. VERNON (RKO Radio) This unusual, informational short film presents the interior of Washington's beloved home on the shores of the Potomac river. One has a finer conception of the personality of the "Father of His Country" after a screen visit to the home of America's first gentleman. The film is photographed with skill and artistry. GIVE ME LIBERTY (Vitaphone) The perilous times preceding the decision of the American colonies to break away from British rule are given new meaning through this beautiful two-reel (Continued on Page 7) (Continued from Page 3) Soldier and the Lady, Camille, Captains Courageous, Winterset, As You Like It, Ramona. It has brought biography to the screen in Rembrandt and \The Story of Louis Pasteur so historically yet so dramatically handled that it has registered an appeal not only to the intellectuals but to the whole range of motion picture audiences. The year has seen a change in the focus of the activities of most Better Films groups. The trend is increasingly not towards selecting and classifying lists of pictures, since the majority of current films are without offense even to the most captious, but towards the singling out of the most outstanding pictures. All over the country civic groups have articulated appreciation of such films as A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, The Good Earth. Musical groups have urged attendance at such films as When You're in Love, Naughty Marietta, Rose Marie, Maytime. Social work agencies have urged patronage of Fury, Winterset, The Devil is a Sissy. The year has been marked, too, by higher standards of public appreciation of the best in film fare. Record patronage of pictures like Lost Horizon, Call it o, Day, The Good Earth, A Star is Born, Quality Street, have indicated that the public is awake to the artistic, cultural and entertainment value of current film offerings and is patronizing the best. Stokowski Signs Contract We now learn that the coming season, when our committee reconvenes in the fall, will offer new film opportunities. Leopold Stokowski has been signed for a long term contract; Kirsten Flagstad, sensation for the last three seasons at the Metropolitan Opera House, will make her debut in the films. Musical subjects have been proven so popular that producers inform us that the lives of Beethoven, Chopin, Victor Herbert and others, treated with the same dignity as were The Story of Louis Pasteur and Rembrandt, will find their way to the screen. There is in prospect a film version of Elsie Haven Schauffler's play, Parnell, and of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, the drama of Marie Antoinette, based largely upon Stefan Zweig's biography, and the world premiere of the first full length feature production of animated cartoon variety, Walt Disney's Snow White. Of the month's quota of family films, easily the most outstanding is Warner Brothers' version of Mark Twain's child classic, The Prince and the Pauper. Rarely is a film production so opportune. Released almost simultaneously with the coronation of King George VI of England and having as its climactic scene an English coronation of an earlier day, it will be widely sought not only (Continued on Page 5)