Dva mrazici (1953)

Dva mrazici (1953)
Article 5525 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 1-1-2018
Directed by Jiri Trnka
Featuring the voices of Jan Werich and Vlasta Burian
Country: Czechoslovakia
What it is: Comic fantasy

Two frost spirits seek to freeze two human travelers in the woods; one is a sleeping carriage rider and the other is an industrious lumberjack.

Here’s another short from the oeuvre of Jiri Trnka, and here he combines two different types of animation. The non-spirit characters (two humans and a bird) are in Trnka’s usual puppet-animation mode, while the two spirits are apparently animated in a style known as “shadow puppet animation”; the overall effect of the latter is that it looks like conventional cel animation layered over the puppet animation. This one has dialogue between the two frost spirits; from what I gather, they’re voiced by two well-known Czech comic actors, and those who understand the language (which don’t include me) say that the dialogue adds a lot of fun to the proceedings. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed and appreciated this one; most of the action is visual, with the one spirit being very successful in freezing the carriage rider, but the other often finds himself frustrated in his task because the lumberjack is too industrious to let the cold settle into his bones. It’s not the best of the Trnka shorts I’ve seen, but I like it quite a bit, and it is worth catching.

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The Furies (1934)

The Furies (1934)
Article 5524 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 12-26-2017
Directed by Slavko Vorkapich
Cast unknown
Country: USA
What it is: Experimental music video

Avenging angels arise out of the blood of a murdered man.

For the record, in Greek mythology, the furies were avenging spirits who set upon Orestes after he murdered his mother (Clytemnestra) as vengeance for the murder of his father (Agamemnon). What exactly they’re up to in this short I’m not sure; they seem to be breaking the windows of people making out in skyscrapers. Still, the fact that this doesn’t quite make sense to me doesn’t detract from the fact that this short is visually impressive and stirring; it’s fascinating to watch the title characters fly over this urban landscape. It runs less than three minutes, and even feels a bit incomplete, but I quite liked what I saw.

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O zlate rybce (1951)

O zlate rybce (1951)
Article 5523 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 12-18-2017
Directed by Jiri Trnka
Featuring the voice of Jan Wenrich
Country: Czechoslovakia
What it is: Fable

A poor fisherman catches a golden fish; the latter grants the former three wishes if he is released. The fisherman does so, but the three wishes unleash a greedy streak in the fisherman’s wife.

Before I started watching this one, I had to double check whether I’d already covered it, as I do recall having seen a puppet-animated version of this story before. It must have been a different version, but I’m glad I was already familiar with the story; unlike some other Trnka shorts, this one is full of narration in Czech without English subtitles. It is also not stop-motion puppet animated (Trnka’s usual approach); in fact, I don’t think it’s animated at all, as it consists of a series of expressive but static drawings. Which is not to say that it isn’t a good retelling of the story; it is, though the ending seems slightly different from the previous version I’d seen. All in all, it’s not bad, but I couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed because I was expecting something a bit more elaborate; as it is, it’s not one of Trnka’s more striking shorts.

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Il caso Valdemar (1936)

Il caso Valdemar (1936)
Article 5522 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 12-5-2017
Directed by Gianni Hoepli and Ubaldo Magnaghi
Featuring Lav Kemanarovic, Gino Eprisi, Carlo Bissi
Country: Italy
What it is: Poe adaptation short.

A man on the verge of death is kept alive by being put in a hypnotic trance for several months. But what will happen when he’s taken out of the trance?

The copy I saw of this short was in Italian, but the Poe story is familiar enough that I was able to follow it anyway. It’s a very stylish little short, with bizarre camera angles and interesting visuals. It’s also a pretty grotesque short for its time; those familiar with the story (Poe’s THE CASE OF M. VALDEMAR) knows how it ends, and the special effects for this moment do not disappoint. This one is satisfying and memorable.

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Certuv mlyn (1949)

Certuv mlyn (1949)
aka The Devil’s Mill
Article 5521 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 11-25-2017
Directed by Jiri Trnka
No cast
Country: Czechoslovakia
What it is: Animated fairy tale

A beggar wanders the countryside, trying to entertain the animals with his out-of-tune music box, but he only drives them away. One little boy takes pity on him and offers him a crust of bread, which the hungry wanderer nevertheless gives away to another beggar who magically disappears. When a storm breaks out, the wanderer takes refuge in an old mill, which is inexplicably full of amenities. However, the mill is the abode of a devil…

Here’s another gem from the oeuvre of Jiri Trnka. One of the joys of Trnka is that he eschewed dialogue in favor of visual story-telling, thus rendering them enjoyable in any language. As usual, there is a great deal of wit to the story, and Trnka’s ability to instill his puppet stop-motion animation with a real cinematic sense; they don’t feel like animated puppet movies. I’m really enjoying my forays into his work.

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War of the Worlds (1952)

War of the Worlds (1952)
Article 5520 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 11-16-2017
Directed by L.F. Broom
Cast unknown
Country: UK
What it is: Amateur Wells Adaptation

Martians arrive on Earth and terrorize a British town.

This being an amateur film, I’m not surprised there isn’t a listing for it on IMDB. And, this being an amateur film, I find myself cutting it quite a bit of slack and accepting certain things of which I’d be more critical if it had been a professional production. Yet, on certain levels, I’m not sure I really need to make these extra allowances; the movie is more coherent, better acted, and more exciting than some professional productions I’ve seen. The fact that it is an amateur film does add a generous dollop of charm to the proceedings; for example, I couldn’t help but notice that the movie advances its plot through narration and its music is a stock classical music piece (I think it might be Holst’s Mars – The Bringer of War from The Planets), yet both touches add to the excitement and effectiveness. Even the primitive stop-motion effects and make-up add to the flavor, and the sincere acting is a big plus. In the end, I love and applaud this little amateur film.

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Legenda o sv. Prokopu (1947)

Legenda o sv. Prokopu (1947)
Article 5519 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 11-10-2017
Directed by Jiri Trnka
No cast
Country: Czechoslovakia
What it is: Puppet animation

Upon taking refuge in a house during a summer storm, the patriarch of a clan of farmers tells the story of the legend of St. Procopius.

I’m not familiar with the legend in question, but the basic story seems to involve the devil’s attempt to tempt St. Procopius. When the devil’s plan is thwarted, he attempts to get revenge by luring St. Procopius’s companion (a deer) out into the world and into the clutches of a hunter. There is no dialogue or narration to this short, though there are lyrics being sung during sections of it. There’s no listing for this short on IMDB as such; however, it was originally included in a feature film about the seasons called SPALICEK, or THE CZECH YEAR; this short was the section on summer. Even though this is one of his early works, I’m still blown away by the cinematic quality of Trnka’s craft; I’m especially impressed by the way each of his puppet creations has so much character that they all seem like individuals. At it’s best, animation can be a very magical form, and Trnka was one of animation’s great magicians.

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Fifty Million Years Ago (1925)

Fifty Million Years Ago (1925)
Article 5518 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 11-7-2017
Director unknown
No cast
Country: USA
What it is: Short animated science documentary

A summary is made of the history of earth before the rise of man.

This is more science fact than science fiction, but fans of the fantastic may find it interesting anyway because of the inclusion of stop-motion footage of dinosaurs. However, it is best to keep one’s expectations in check here; the stop-motion footage is very low on what we would call “action”, and many of the dinosaurs do little more than move their head and neck. Granted, with a running time of eight minutes and with footage dedicated to other subjects (such as the creation of the planet), there really isn’t time for much more. And there is a certain fun ambiance to this short to compensate. Still, this one is largely for stop-motion dinosaur completists.

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Petrol (1957)

Petrol (1957)
Article 5517 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 11-3-2017
Directed by Enrico Cocozza
Featuring Jack Smith and Eddie Cairns
Country: Scotland
What it is: Very short horror movie

A man whose car has broke down has an encounter with a psycho.

This short little experimental runs just under two minutes, and was added to my suggestion list as an example of one of those obscure little movies that has fallen through the cracks. It’s probably only marginally horror due to the fact that it’s so succinct it doesn’t provide us any motivation for why the killer does what he does. Still, one does have to admire the efficiency of telling a miniature little cinematic story without sound. It makes for an enticing little curiosity.

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Sweeney Todd (1928)

Sweeney Todd (1928)
Article 5516 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 10-28-2017
Directed by Walter West
Featuring Moore Marriott, Iris Darbyshire, Judd Green
Country: UK
What it is: Time for a shave and a snack

A barber and an innkeeper who specializes in meat pies join forces to kill rich men for their money.

From what I gather, this silent version of the Todd story was a fairly low-budget affair, and the print I saw was not in the best of condition; furthermore, there may be some footage missing. Nevertheless, it is an entertaining version of the story, and is arguably better than the more-well-known Tod Slaughter version. It has a few curious touches to add to the mix. It has a framing story in which a husband returns home and gets caught up in reading the story about Sweeney Todd in the paper, and begins dreaming he himself is Todd. It also takes a definite turn into clear fantastic territory when a ghost shows up near the climax of the movie. The movie doesn’t make the cannibalism angle explicit, mostly using subtlety and suggestion to imply it. It may be the most enjoyable version of the story I’ve seen, though I should point out that I’ve never seen the famous musical version.

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