Talking pictures : how they are made, how to appreciate them (c. 1937)

Talking Pictures There are many concerns and organizations issuing educational films of more or less merit. An available standard guide for teachers in visual education lists sixteen hundred films by subject. A very extensive survey by The American Council on Education isolated approximately seven thousand films which might remotely be given an "educational" designation. But most of these are described as "low in educational content and hopelessly out of date." A national distribution system, sufficiently sound and large to render making of educational films a safe financial venture, does not exist. Many of the films offered for "educational" purposes have been made and are offered gratis by companies manufacturing various products, or by social, governmental, or religious organizations. Circular Number 150, Sources of Educational Films and Equipment published in July, 1936 by the Office of Education, United States Department of the Interior, lists as distributors of educational films forty-one commercial concerns, ten museums, twenty-six universities, eight religious organizations, and twelve government offices. Other sources reveal that a tire company offers thirty-five films to educators. One electrical equipment company has thirty-three subjects for elementary schools and thirty-five advanced technical films. The catalogue of one distribution concern offers subjects like Mechanisms of Breathing, Body Defenses against Disease, Molecular Theory of Matter, Study of Infant Behavior, Distribution and Assimilation of Foods, Plant Growth, and The House Fly. These subjects, chosen [260]