This reel presents a number of “Hymnalogues” . These were lovely short films created by Neil E. McGuire, released by Audio Visual Devotional Aids Productions, and photographed by Phil E. Cantonwine circa 1945. At least four Christmas shorts were produced (including “O Little Town of Bethlehem”) as well as an unknown number of other religious films; this reel presents three hymnalogues: “Silent Night, Holy Night”, “Come All Ye Faithful” and “Onward, Christian Soldiers”. These were apparently sung by a group called the ADA Crusaders Quartet (or possibly the AVDA Crusaders Quartet?). The beautiful animated miniatures and 3-D backgrounds were all constructed by McGuire, who created artwork and visual effects for intertitles during the silent film era.
At 1:06, a creche, nativity scene or Christmas scene with figurines is shown. At 3:17, “Come All Ye Faithful”, with text appearing over images of a heavenly sky, a church tower, a California mission with palm trees, and a priest emerging from a church after services. At 5:54, “Onward Christian Soldiers”, with images of actual U.S. Army troops and Christian crosses. The footage is also intercut with images of California missions. The brief film ends with footage of children, including hispanic children, Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, walking past the camera and into a church. At 8;25 they are seen walking out of a Salvation Army post.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
