Magic Movie Moments

Magic Movie Moments (1953)

** (out of 4)

Mildly entertaining short subject takes a look at Warner's NOAH'S ARK, which was released in 1928 and to this day contains some of the greatest special effects that you'll ever see. This short, according to IMDb, was made for the film's re-released into theaters so that's important to keep in mind. I say this because there's really no point for people to watch this today because it's pretty much nothing more than narrator Dwight Weist showing various scenes from the film and explaining what's going on. It's somewhat pointless to watch this today because the actual film is so easily available for viewing so anyone interested in it should just watch the actual thing and not just the clips here. I will say this remained mildly entertaining simply because it gives the viewer a chance to see how Warner tried to stir up some interest in a silent picture (with some sound in it). This here is clearly just for film buffs interested in the promotional side of things.

Here's an early short subject by Robert Youngson, doing what he did best: showing that silent movies were good before they learned to talk.

It was produced to publicize Warner Brothers' reissue of NOAH'S ARK, which was a silent epic directed by Michael Curtiz, with some goat-glanded talking sequence; that's a term for some late silent movies that had some talkie sequences added to make it appeal to the big-city audiences who were mad for talking pictures.

Although NOAH'S ARK moved between the Biblical story and a modern World War One story, this short shows the big sequences from the Noah story, highlighting the flood sequences. It's a compelling movie for the growing groundswell of interest in silent movies, which Youngson would return to very successfully.