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cadreamin67
Reviews
The Outsider (1951)
Better than others
A grim film that portrays the rise to popularity with many dissapointments on the way. Susan Jane is a pretty young girl who is always in the corner or out of the way while the other kids plan parties and picnics and buy the same things at the drugstore. This was the first film in the famous Centron series "Discussion Problems in Group Living." Better than others.
Speech: Using Your Voice (1950)
Just another of Centron's speech stuff
"Speech: Using Your Voice," Centron's last speech series film back in 1950, was no better than one of the others in the series, particularly "Speech: Platform Posture and Appearance." This one was really hard to sit through, first it talks about a guy who makes speeches so boringly that people get up and leave and fall asleep. Then they introduce the "speech" series' star actor, Herk Harvey, as John, a young man who is always in demand to make speeches. If you were steadily watching every Centron film from the company's beginning to the company's ending, you'd be begging by now for Centron to stop doing these series about sewing, punctuating, cooking and speech.
Speech: Platform Posture and Appearance (1949)
Not the best
I'll agree with icehole that this film is pretty bad, mostly thanks to the acting and the weird drawings used from time to time. It just shows how low-budget Centron was back in their early years of 1947-50. I think Herk Harvey's portrayal of a good speechmaker was enjoyable, showing how he combs his hair, shines his shoes and ties and ties. It's kind of funny that this man thirteen years later would direct "Carnival of Souls" and appear as the ghoul with complete make-up in the movie. Somehow I didn't find this film hard to sit through, but that narrator really bugs you.
Glenn Wakes Up (1950)
Finally
Finally Centron has finished their speech series, a living hell to sit through, and now they have set up no series whatsoever, just one little film. "Glenn Wakes Up," filmed less than five months after the last speech film in 1950, was Centron's first social guidance film and became a big seller. It's story of a bratty young boy named Glenn whose ways are changed by a midnight visit from Mr. X, who tells him to start helping people and improve his diet of pickles and ice cream. Apparently, the success of this film was the reason that Centron decided to do a social guidance film series which lasted from 1951 to 1959 called "Discussion Problems In Group Living."
Why Punctuate (1948)
Yeah, why?
I noted right away that the title was not properly punctuated. Centron sometimes didn't punctuate their titles correctly, although this is the worst example, they are doing a film instructing children to punctuate correctly and the title right off the bat is not punctuated! This is probably the first step of the films after the boring sewing series that were greatly entertaining. Also, Centron has just expanded their company, hiring a few workers. Other than Russell A. Mosser and Arthur H. Wolf, the two friends who started Centron in 1947, cameraman Norman Stuewe, editor Chuck Lacey, writer Margaret "Trudy" Travis and director Harold "Herk" Harvey (who would later direct the full-lengh feature "Carnival of Souls" on a vacation from Centron) were on staff at Centron beginning in 1948 and the company evolved around these six who started out this company by the time the company had expanded to many people in the 1960s and 1970s. "Why Punctuate" is an example of how these new staff brought magic to these films from 1948 on.
Sewing Simple Seams (1947)
Kind of boring
Other than a few other films from time to time, this is the only Centron production that is painfully boring. I guess I'm not a sewing person. The thing is that this was their first ever film in 1947. I heard the woman in the film, identified as Mrs. Freark, had a hair-do that almost caught on fire when a light was moved too close to her hair. For some reason, Young America Films thought this was the best instructional film of 1947, so they distributed the movie. Being a citizen of Lawrence, Kansas, where Centron was based and shot almost all of their films, I must say that they have done over a hundred excellent films--this just happens to not be one of them. I heard they did a whole sewing series! That'd be hard to sit through.