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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol. 1, No. 17 July 27, 1938

Swot Without Tears

Swot Without Tears

So-called "educational" films, in nine cases out of ten, are infinitely more artistic and entertaining than the best Hollywood all-star super production. Once the criterion of "popular taste" is banished, the film comes into its own. And Truth suits the films much better than Fiction.

The five films presented by the Biological Society last week were no exception. A large and genuinely enthusiastic audience clapped spontaneously at the conclusion of each film; each contained superlative photography and artistic design, besides being really informative and interesting. And one or two of the films offered much food for thought in non-scientific realms.

The first two films were produced by the University of Chicago—"The Fight Against Disease" and "The Heart and Circulation." and to "Salient." a mere layman, they were thrilling from beginning to end. By means of ingenious diagrams and microphotography, the first film showed the action of bacteria on the system—the three ways in which they could enter the body, their effect upon the blood, cells, and nerves, the steps which Nature takes to protect the body against the invasion, and the artificial means used to prevent the growth of the bacteria.

"The Heart and Circulation" was again intensely interesting. The course of the blood stream was graphically depicted by means of diagrams and working models, and then close-ups of the actual living heart of a turtle were shown. A particularly fine part of this film was a "shot" of one of the heart valves opening and closing us the blood stream passed through.

The next film had no "talkie" commentary. It needed none.