A Frank Capra WONDERS OF LIFE film.
Some of the best scientific sleuthing of the 20th Century was needed to crack THE STRANGE CASE OF THE COSMIC RAYS.
In the mid-1950's, AT&T and Bell Science teamed with famed Hollywood director Frank Capra to produce a series of CBS television science films to educate the public about the Universe around them. A far cry from the dreary black & white fodder so often foisted off on young scholars, the Capra films would both instruct and entertain with lively scripts and eye-catching visuals shown in Technicolor. The four films - OUR MR. SUN (1956), THE STRANGE CASE OF THE COSMIC RAYS (1957), HEMO THE MAGNIFICENT (1957), THE UNCHAINED GODDESS (1958) - quickly became schoolhouse favorites, where they were endlessly shown in 16mm format.
The star of the series was Dr. Frank C. Baxter (1896-1982), an affable English professor at the University of Southern California. This avuncular pedagogue proved to be the perfect film instructor, genially imparting to his audience the sometimes complex facts in a manner which never made them seem dull or boring. Dr. Baxter, who won a Peabody Award for his achievements, continued making high quality instructional films after the Capra quartet were concluded.
THE STRANGE CASE OF THE COSMIC RAYS, which was produced, written & directed by Capra, tells of the search to understand the makeup of the Universe by revealing its most basic components: electrons, neutrons, protons, etc., using experiments, animation and gentle humor. Film star Richard Carlson appears as the Fiction Writer, who presents the story as a scientific mystery to Bil and Cora Baird's marionette figures of Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe & Fydor Dostoevski.
The devotional sentiments voiced by Dr. Baxter at the end of the film are completely in tune with the tenor & tone of the production.
