Reviews of film ephemera, including such things as educational films, industrial films, military and propaganda films, tv commercials, movie trailers, shorts, experimental films, and movies made for non-mainstream audiences.
The Ancient World: Egypt. This 1951 history film for the classroom on the ancient Egyptian civilizations is surprisingly compelling. I was expecting dry narrated facts or poorly-acted recreations, but no; this film tells its story through the majesty of ancient Egyptian art. Shown in beautiful color and with finely-crafted camerawork, the art tells the story, with the help of dramatic music and stirring narration that never quite gets over the top. This was probably a breath of fresh air for students in the 50s, who were used to dry ERPI fare for history class. A fine film that could be shown in classrooms today. NOTE: The link is to Part 1. Follow the link on the archive.org page to view Part 2.
Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Better Reading
Better Reading . Teenager Harold Wilson has a problem—he can’t read for (expletive deleted). So he has to spend all his free time studying ...
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Base Brawl (film #5 on Cartoon Sing-Along DVD (PC Treasures, 2006)). At the zoo animals’ baseball game, the elephant team is pulverizing a...
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Fools of Fate (film #12 on The Origins of Cinema, Volume 4: The Arrival of D. W. Griffith (Video Yesteryear, 1995)). Fools is right. Our h...
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American Falls from Above, American Side (film #9 on Edison Film Archive ). [Category: Early Film & TV] This is most likely the first ho...