The director of this educational short, Herk Hervey, is best known for his one feature, CARNIVAL OF TERROR. His day job however, consisted of directing industrial films like PORK: THE MEAL WITH THE SQUEAL and pieces like this one. When I was in school, someone from the Audio-Visual squad would bring in a projector and we would be treated to efforts like these, probably to make us wish we were doing something more interesting, like taking a pop quiz on President Garfield.
The point of the film is that we make assumptions of others' attitudes that are unwarranted. It's certainly competently done by the standards of the form and era, but the earnest manner in which everyone lectures everyone else and the emphatic, stagy way they read their lines offers a flatness to the entire affair that makes it boring.
I can't really blame anyone. These were produced on a strict budget for a small market and there wasn't time or money to work in any subtlety -- not that subtlety would be appreciated by the people who bought these films for the schools. If their students couldn't appreciate the fascinating history of James Garfield, they must need to have every point driven home with a steam hammer.
Still, it was a good training ground for Hervey in getting things done quick. He shot CARNIVAL OF TERROR during a vacation at an abandoned fairground.
The point of the film is that we make assumptions of others' attitudes that are unwarranted. It's certainly competently done by the standards of the form and era, but the earnest manner in which everyone lectures everyone else and the emphatic, stagy way they read their lines offers a flatness to the entire affair that makes it boring.
I can't really blame anyone. These were produced on a strict budget for a small market and there wasn't time or money to work in any subtlety -- not that subtlety would be appreciated by the people who bought these films for the schools. If their students couldn't appreciate the fascinating history of James Garfield, they must need to have every point driven home with a steam hammer.
Still, it was a good training ground for Hervey in getting things done quick. He shot CARNIVAL OF TERROR during a vacation at an abandoned fairground.