Valley of the Tennessee

1945 Oscar nominated short documentary about the Library Of Congress

Conductor Arturo Toscanini is shown at his home in New York City and leading tenor Jan Peerce and the NBC Symphony Orchestra in Verdi's "Hymn of the Nations" and "Overture to 'La Forza del Destino.'"

"To Be Alive!" was designed to celebrate the common ground between different cultures by tracing how children in various parts of the world mature into adulthood.

Analysis of personality cited as an important step in choosing the right partner for marriage. Emphasis is placed on choosing marriage partners with care and on accepting the other for what he or she is.

Probably the best-known advertising film for Bata, where joke and irony meet commercial purposes. Tires are sent from rural countryside to the turmoil of the city to serve progress.

Promotional film extolling the wonders to be seen at the New York World's Fair.

A documentary about the conquest of Czechoslovakia by the Nazis just prior to World War 2.

One of the great artistic forces of the twentieth century, performer, choreographer, and teacher Martha Graham influenced dance worldwide. Criterion presents a sampling of her stunning craft, all collaborations with television arts-programming pioneer Nathan Kroll. A Dancer’s World (1957), narrated by Graham herself, is a glimpse into her class work and methodology. Appalachian Spring (1958) and Night Journey (1961) are two complete Graham ballets, the first a celebration of the American pioneer spirit, scored by Aaron Copland, the second a powerfully physical rendering of the Oedipus myth. These are signature Graham works and tributes to the art of the human body.

Night Journey, the dance, had its premiere only two and a half years after Appalachian Spring, and it is a close cousin. It too has a stream-of-consciousness narration: Jocasta, as she is about to kill herself, remembering what has happened to her. It too contains soul-delving solos, broken up by ensemble dances. Here, however, the ensemble is a darker element. As the story was taken from Greek tragedy, so the corps is the equivalent of Greek tragedy’s chorus. They tell us how to feel: afraid mostly. In this piece Graham pushed her habitual economy to its limits. — Joan Acocella