Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1949)

448 CloseupS— What filmers are doing This department, dedicated annually to those many fine films which just did get topped by better ones, will be this year extraordinarily crowded. For, with eighteen pictures definitely considered for Ten Best honors, and with fifty one more tapped for possible Honorable Mention, many good ones had to go. Here, among others, are some we liked. Travel pictures, as usual, led the list of submissions in popularity of subject matter. And So To Mexico, by Mrs. E. B. Kellam, ACL, is a typical title, ^-sw BULLFIGHT STATUES were among new scenes in And So To Mexico, by Mrs. E. B. Kellam, ACL. pairing with such others as My Trip to South America, by Harry Groedel, ACL, and Mexico, by Mrs. George F. Muehlhausen, ACL ... Or there is Winter Escape, by Mannie Lovitch, ACL, In the Sky Over Miami, by George Merz, ACL, Acadia, by T. H. Sarchin, ACL, and Washington, City of Stately Beauty, by Clarence W. Lahde, ACL. If you pine for the National Parks, as many do, you could have sat in on Hi! Colorado, by C. L. Spaulding, ACL. Southwestern Wonderland, by Robert A. Rose, ACL, or Beyond All Roads, by Lester F. Shaal, ACL . . . Some leavened their subjects with a simple story thread, as in Two Babes in the Park, by 0. L. Tapp, ACL, A Journey to Nowhere, by Al Londema, and Picturesque Southivest, by Guy Nelli, ACL HUMAN INTEREST was high in Picturesque Soufhwesf, Indian study by Guy Nelli, ACL. . . . And, just for the record, the majority of these movies — as well as some of the winners — still suffer from softhearted scissoring. Family filmers, of course, were hard on the heels of the car-borne cameras in popularity. Charles H. Benjamin, ACL, tempted the judges with Happy Birthday, Helen Loefner, ACL, made her entry with Dear Diary, and Saul Maslow, ACL, presented a familiar problem of apartment living in We Want to be Alone. . . . Direct and satisfying was Occupation Housewife, by Herman E. Dow, ACL, while hearty and happy was A Perfect Day, by Olav Soelberg ACL. Recollections, by Ernst Wildi, was interesting for its cinematics, with Christmas Carols at the Mittelsdorfs appealing by its sincerity. Wildlife will never lack supporters among filmers who shoot for the fun of it. Mrs. Warner Seely, ACL, reported in with another study of birds, this time Mourning Doves. Francis Spoonogle, ACL, is still tracking the tiny creatures of his backyard and came up with Rogue's Gallery, while Eugene E. Wilson, ACL, presented a well rounded record in Atlantic Salmon Fishing. Water seemed a winner in '49, what with four to six such subjects in the CENSUS TAKER asks the question prompting Occupation Housewife, by Herman Dow, ACL. honored listings. Seen also on our screen were Aquarelle — A Water Color, by Marshall D. Mutt, Aquakids, by Roy M. Fulmer, ACL, and Niagara Falls, by Elmer J. Maderer, ACL . . . It may have been the same subject which prompted Velma and Leonard Graham, ACL, to make Spin to Lake Mead, Jack Gieck, The Ohio Canal and Olin Geer, ACL, his Winter Cruise. Story films surprise us annually, both with their number and their ingenuity. Two filmers turned to James Thurber for their inspiration. The results were The War Between Men and Women, by David W. Kean, ACL, and Reversing Mitty, by Stanley H. Yasbec, ACL . . . Good natured clowning in costume was the feature of Sir Lance-A-Lot Meets the Queen, by James L. Watson, while farce conquered all (except the judges) in Elmer's Fantasy, by Charles J. Car DECEMBER 1949 bonaro, FACL. Merle and Marie Williams turned out a boy-meets-girl tale (junior level) in The Brush Off. Camping and Scouting claimed the cameras of others. There was Overnight, by Patrick Maher, ACL, which featured the climactic overnight hike; Breaking GOOD LIGHTING marked interior scenes from A Scout's Camp Diary, by E. E. Carl, ACL. Into Scouting, by A. D. Furnans, ACL, and A Scout's Camp Diary, by Eugene E. Carl, jr., ACL. All showed competence on essentially difficult subjects. Still others chose to dramatize familiar and often funny domestic didos. There was, for example, Best of Intentions, a group production by the Peoria Cinema Club. Or, you would have had a choice among Charley Takes a Nap, by R. G. Hall, Helpful Hubby, by George S. Labes, and Taffy Pull, by A. Millard Armstrong . . . Or, you might turn to Following Father's Footsteps, by E. G. Frow, Movie Miseries, by George A. Valentine, or Barbecue, by Peter B. Laurenti. Pictures in proof of the amateur's wide and often socially serious interests were not lacking. Dr. Herbert Shaw, ACL, in Town and Village Democracy, tackled the problem of anti-Negro discrimination in rentals at one of New CRISP CLOSEUPS were a feature of Mourning Doves, bird study by Mrs. Warner Seely, ACL. York's largest and latest real estate developments. Harold L. Teele, ACL, documented an ancient, exacting and little changed artifice in Fine Bookbinding, with Stanton Becker doing the same devoted service in Creating a Stained Glass Window . . . Again for the record: Neither worthiness of intent nor seriousness of subject compensate for uneven camera work.