Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1952)

198 Closeups— What filmers are doing Ralph Freas and members of his Actors' Cine Lab, ACL. in New York City, paid us a visit recen'ly with their chief cameraman, Jose Pavon. Wanted to run off some screen tests, they said, made on their newly acquired Auricon CineVoice. The group has taken over an old loft downtown and will soon be launched on their first film production. Charlie See, ACL, of Los Angeles, a new member himself, sent us another new member recently in the person of Dato Nik A. Kamil, ACL. the Prime Minister of the State of Kelantan, Malaya. Mr. Kamil, here as a guest of the American State Department, took time out from his diplomatic tasks to come in and get acquainted. From here, he was en route to London on official business. Also on his way to England was Harley Davis, of Wichita, Kans., who is going over to attend a conference of Quakers to be held in London. Mr. Davis, a member of the Wichita Amateur Movie Club, ACL, will record the proceedings on film, as well as making a personal travel reel. From Italy comes word that Fulvio Borghetty, ACL, of Turin, has just returned from an extensive tour of South Africa and is currently regaling friends and fellow cinemaddicts with the results of his filming efforts down there. Funny thing, sometimes, the power that an innocent amateur picture may develop . . . Back in 1942, on the one hundredth anniversary of New York City's present school system, the community of Staten Island staged a costume fete celebrating its 246-year-old Voorlezer's (lay reader's) House. To the surprise of practically no one in S.I., Frank E. Gunnell, FACL, volunteered to make a movie of the ceremonies — and of the freshly painted schoolhouse. The picture (called The Voorlezer's House) promptly won an ACL Ten Best in 1942, and there the matter seemed to rest. But wait . . . The time is now ten years later; the scene a semi-private gathering of Staten Island burghers, and Mr. G. has just concluded a screen program with — you guessed it — The Voorlezer's House. As the lights come on, there is a momentary hush over the audience. Then, tinged audibly with emotion, a gruff voice spoke up. "This here picture," a man said, "makes that shabby old house look so pretty / think she needs another painting. Here's fifty toward a fund . . ." Well, in no time at all, there was five hundred in the kitty and the paint began to flow. Arthur Dewey, ACL, of Cleveland. Ohio, stopped in on his way to South Africa, a trip he and his wife have long planned to celebrate their twenty fifth wedding anniversary. They are flying both ways and plan to shoot about 10.000 feet of Kodachrome in the course of the two months trip. His Bell & Howell camera is equipped with a 200 foot film chamber. Some weeks ago Vance Packard, an associate editor of American Magazine, was assigned by that journal to do an article on home movie making. At first this seemed little different from other hobby stories he had worked on for the American: quietly, with the detached skill of the expert, he went about gathering data and amassing no'es. Then, one bright summer day, he found his way into ACL headquarters. This was, apparently, the beginning of the end for Mr. Packard. Before leaving that afternoon he had become Vance Packard, ACL. Two days later he had galloped his way through The VARIABLE SPEED MOTOR 110 VOLT AC/DC iB with TACHOMETER for EK CINE SPECIAL Motor drive your Cine Special with confidence! Tachometer is mounted in clear view of operator. Calibrated from 16 to 64 frames per second. Definite RED marking for 24 fps. Electrical governor adjusts speeds. Steady operation at all speeds. No adapters needed. Motor coupling attaches to camera and couples to motor. Spring steel drive arm * shears if film jam occurs. Easily replaced. SPLICES NOT HOLDING? Try Jefrona all-purpose cement. Send for FREE sample. FRANK C. ZUCKER (7flm€Rfl€quipm€nT(o. ^■"* 1600 BR0RDWRM \ nCLU yORK CITS ^— * AUGUST 1952 ACL Movie Book and sundry back issues of Movie Makers. And, less than a week after that, he admitted with a grin that he was now the proud owner of an 8mm. camera, an exposure meter, several rolls of film and . . . An enthusiastic writer, this man Packard! Probably lucky his assignment was not the home life of a circus sword swallower. Small-World Item: In a not too recent letter from Leopold Barnato. ACL. of London, he advised us that he had just been commissioned to produce a series of 16mm. sound films for the famous Royal Doulton Potteries in England. Emphasis, he said, would be placed on the tradition and craftsmanship in ceramic ware produced by Doulton. as opposed to mass production methods. And. he concluded, as the films were intended mainly for overseas screenings, introductory sequences would be filmed in Australia, South Africa. Canada and the United States. Well, we don't know who filmed these sequences in Australia, South Africa and Canada. But we do know who filmed them in the U.S., for we had a small finger in that pie. Man by the name of Leo J. Heffernan. FACL. of Forest Hills. N. Y.. onetime Maxim Memorial Award winner in 1941. Charles B. Whitehead, ACL, now of New Rochelle. N. Y.. and lately of Lima. Peru, is in the throes of producing a film on New York City, nothing daunted by the crushing heat wave that has enveloped this city the past two weeks. His production, believes Mr. W., will be the first amateur film to incorporate stereo, full color and magnetic sound. After viewing some 2000 feet of his pictures, we had the opportunity the other day to greet the Reverend J. M. Poitevin, ACL, in person; he was passing through New York City en route to his native Quebec from Cuba. A member of an order of Canadian missionaries. Father Poitevin combines his movie making with his religious duties, using the resulting films for teaching purposes. Among the footage we screened were many vivid and sympathetic studies of Cuba and her people, especially through the outlying rural areas. A cheery letter from Major Carroll M. (Buck) Newstrom. ACL. currently in Newburgh, N. Y., reveals he has just come back from the West Coast where he had the time of his life being shown around the Paramount lot by none other than that master guide, Bob Hope, whom Buck had met out in the Pacific somewhere. "The Paramount Studios," he says, "look just like my cellar — only bigger!"