Another to Conquer (1941)
Camera: Robert Cline
Sound: Clarence Townsend
Consultant: Ruth Underhill, Ph.D., a noted Southwestern anthropologist
Editor: H. E. Mandal
Establishing shot: A night scene in which Navajo people dance around a campfire in full frame. In a quick cut, the camera is then positioned closer to the campfire as the men circle.
Named locations: No named location
Major themes covered: The impact of tuberculosis on Native Americans, particularly the Navajo
Native activities shown: Another to Conquer includes footage of what looks like a Navajo “Fire Dance,” also known as the Corral Dance, possibly as a part of the “Mountain Way Chant.” In addition to this, a second “social” dance is shown, with men and women dancing side by side. For more on the Corral Dance see Navajo Night Dances. This film includes footage of a “sheep dip” attended by the local community.
Individuals Named: Cast — Howard Gorman (Slow-Talker), Sammy Day (Don, his grandson), Geraldine H. Birdsbill (Nema, his granddaughter), Richard Hogner (Robert, a friend), W. W. Peter, M. D. (Doctor); Zonchee (the children’s mother, who has already died–only mentioned).
Native language spoken: Yes, sung during a campfire scene and spoken by Navajo elder, Slow-Talker (Howard Gorman).
Audio: Good quality audio
Noteworthy elements: An interesting, scripted film that attempts to explain why the Navajo must fight their new enemy, tuberculosis. Howard Gorman from the Navajo Nation was on the founding council for the National Congress of American Indians (1944).
Other notes: Made in cooperation with the United States Office of Indian Affairs. 1970 Oral History of Howard Gorman on file with University of New Mexico Digital Collections. Edgar G. Ulmer (1904-1972) was a prolific director of stylistic cinematic films; his filmography includes “The Black Cat” (1943), “Detour” (1945) and “The Man from Planet X” (1951). The website Senses of Cinema offers an in-depth biographical entry on Ulmer including an exhaustive filmography. See: http://sensesofcinema.com/2003/great-directors/ulmer/.
The Oxford University Press’s website for the reference work, “Learning with the Lights Off: Educational Film in the United States” has an entry on Ulmer’s extensive work on Tuberculosis films, complete with links to the films preserved on the Internet Archive http://www.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780195383836/examples/chapter13/?view=usa
–Mikel Stone 2012
Arts and Crafts of the Southwest Indians (Navajos) (1940)
Establishing shot: Low angle shot of a Navajo man, medium close up in frame, wearing a yellow bandanna and an ornate silver and turquoise necklace.
Named locations: Arizona; New Mexico; Window Rock, Arizona; Pine Springs
Major themes covered: Overview of Navajo artisans
Native activities shown: Building a hogan. Sheepherding. Women working with rugs. Trading post activity. Step by step presentation of sandcasting silverwork, from purchasing scrap silver, to mold creation, casting silver, and finishing work (00:01:58-00:04:22). Sam Begay, silversmith. Step by step presentation of Navajo rug weaving techniques. Includes setup of the outdoor vertical loom, harvesting of plants for dyes, preparing dye, carding wool, spinning yarn, coloring yarn, and weaving (00:04:23-00:07:33). Irene Yazzie, weaver. Local trader (Sammie Day) looking at rugs and jewelry; Yazzies getting their pawn jewelry out; Yazzies leaving the trading post; Watching the white trader from Window Rock as he lands in a plane.
Individuals Named: Sam Begay (silversmith); Irene Yazzi (weaver); Luke Yazzi; Sammie Day (trader);
Audio: Good quality; English narration
Noteworthy elements: Good information about silversmithing process (Sam Begay)
Other notes: Weaving portion lists different native plants used to dye wool.
See also: Navajo Silversmith
–Michelle Boyer, 2011, Mikel Stone, 2012
“Christian Reformed Church 1 Outtakes” (n.d.)
–Mikel Stone, 2012
“Christian Reformed Church Outtakes 2” (n.d.)
El Navajo (1945)
Establishing shot: Navajo riders on horseback silhouetted by sunrise
Named locations: Gallup, New Mexico; Window Rock, Arizona; St. Michael Mission; Ganado Mission; Hubble’s Trading Post, Ganado, AZ.
Major themes covered: An intimate look at Navajo daily life and culture, presented to appeal to an Anglo audience in order to promote tourism.
Native activities shown: Sheepherding and animal husbandry (wool shearing, butchering, skinning); Rug weaving (the process is shown from raw wool to finished product); Moccasin making; preparing food; Visiting the trading post; Farming; Silversmithing; Conducting a sweat; Performing a men’s Shooting Way Chant (the process is filmed from blessing the hogan, to constructing the sandpainting, performance of the sing itself, and destruction of the sandpainting).
Native language spoken: Songs in Navajo played as background music; Navajo is overdubbed on footage of a wedding ceremony; Navajo is overdubbed on footage of a medicine man as he prepares for a ceremonial sing and builds a sandpainting.
Noteworthy elements: Some condescending language typical of the period of its making.
–MIkel Stone, 2012
Land of the Crimson Cliffs (1947)
Field Associate: Arnold Whitaker
Establishing shot: A mid-close up of a man, dressed in a suit and tie, reading a large paper map. A world map can be seen in the background and in the foreground is a large desk, which the man is reading at. The narrator then puts the map down and begins narrating. The narration then becomes voice over as the scene cuts to a car driving on a barren dirt road of Utah.
Named locations: Southeast corner of Utah; The area now known as Four Corners; Dead Horse Point (sign); Chicago; Salt Lake City; Route 66; Arizona; Crimson Corner; New Orleans; El Paso; Kansas; New Mexico; Colorado; the Southwest; Denver; Phoenix; Monument Valley; The Natural Bridges; Dead Horse Point; The Arches Monument; The Goosenecks of San Juan; Mexican Hat; Emperor, the Mittens; Castle Rock; Big Indian Butte; Rooster Rock; Sitting Hen; Brigham’s Tomb; Casket Butte; Totem Pole; The Three Sisters. Googlemap of the film locations: http://goo.gl/maps/nUWSt
Major themes covered: The landscapes of Utah and other areas of the Red Desert; Overview of the Navajo who live in Monument Valley
Native activities shown: This film portrays a Navajo family at leisure, laughing and sitting outdoors. Also documented are portions of a two-day healing chant. This ritual begins with a group of four men participating in a sweat ceremony inside a small mud hogan and once done, finishing with a ritual ablution with sand. Following this, the filmmakers record a Navajo medicine man (hataałii) carefully constructing a sandpainting (‘iikááh) depicting “Pollen Boy on the Sun.” Once complete, a little boy, of three or four years old, is set down onto the sandpainting and the medicine man begins the sing, keeping time with a rattle. Once complete, the small boy is lifted from the painting and dusted clean; off camera, the sand painting is erased. Mark Bahti’s Guide to Navajo Sandpaintings, contains an illustrated entry on Pollen Boy on the Sun. See: Bahti, Mark. A Guide to Navajo Sandpaintings. Tucson, Arizona: Rio Nuevo Publishers, 2000, 38.
Individuals Named: Arnold (field associate Arnold Whitaker)
Audio: Good quality audio
Noteworthy elements: Lists several locations; Good information about a healing ceremony for a boy with tuberculosis
Other notes: Produced in cooperation with the State of Utah; Viewed and passed by The Association of American Colleges, 1947. Viking Pictures was founded in 1947 By Sullivan Richardson. Based in Chicago, the first films produced by this company were two documentaries of Richardson’s 1940 expedition, by car, from Washington, D.C., into Central and South America along the Pan American highway. Viking Pictures produced instructional and corporate films for clients ranging from Encyclopedia Britannica to Mutual of Omaha (MacDonald, n.d.).
MacDonald, J.F. “Sullivan’s travels: An explorer with the soul of an anthropologist & the eye of an artist.” (n.d.).
Connection to other AIFG films: Painting with Sand (A Navajo Ceremony), also produced by Viking Pictures, contains extended footage of the healing ceremony depicted in this film. Extensive outtake footage from this expedition can be found in Navajo Outtakes 1 and Navajo Outtakes 2. Also by Sullivan Richardson and Viking Pictures: Rough Road to Panama. Also online at the Internet Archive: http://archive.org/details/rough_road_to_panama.
–Mikel Stone, 2012
Vagabond — “Monument Valley” (ca. 1958)
Establishing shot: Seagull flying in a cloudy sky, centered in the shot. The sound of waves and other gulls can be heard.
Named locations: Arizona; Flagstaff, Arizona; Ganado Mission (sign); Canyon de Chelly National Monument (sign); Chambers, Arizona; Chin-lee, Arizona; White House Overlook (ruins); Canyon del Muerto; Beautiful Valley; Whittier, California; San Marino Community Church, California; Presbyterian Church of Chin-lee; El Capitan; Monument Valley; No Man’s Mesa; Navajo Mountain; Colorado River; San Juan River; Seventh Day Adventists School; Mitchell Butte; Mitten Monument; King-on-the-Throne Butte; Castle Butte; Fort Sumner, New Mexico; Ernie Pyle natural bridge; Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce; Phoenix Chamber of Commerce;
Major themes covered: Monuments in Arizona; tolerance (parts with children)
Native activities shown: Navajo woman making bread; Navajo man on horseback overlooking scenery; Whittier children and Navajo children playing games as part of California YMCA/YWCA summer program; Navajo children and Whittier children dancing; Navajos and Presbyterian group building houses; looking at a woven rug; Navajo working small crops; Children attending school in Navajo country; Navajo woman being treated at a clinic by a visiting white doctor (Mr. Marvin Walter); Navajo being treated at clinic; Navajo woman making a meal with her children; Navajo woman making fry bread; Navajo woman weaving at a loom; Navajo family herding sheep; Navajo girl riding a horse;
Individuals named: Michelle, a Whittier student; Ken Grant, minister of youth at San Marino Community Church, California; Dr. and Mrs. Gray of the Presbyterian Church at Chin-lee; Kit Carson (mentioned); Pete Malcolm, pilot; Mr. Gouling, works at trading post; Joseph Munch, photographer; Mrs. Gwen Walter, Adventist church member, and nurse, taking care of children; Mr. Marvin Walter, works at the mission as a doctor; Navajo man getting a tooth cleaning by Mr. Marvin Walter; John Ford, director (mentioned); John Wayne, actor (mentioned); Jack Sleet, driver
Audio: Good quality audio
Noteworthy elements: Good scenery shots
Other notes: Associate producers – Reed Bingham and Milas Hinshaw; Production manager – Leland W. Hansen; Production coordinator – Charles Martin. Filmed on location by Milas Hinshaw, Leland W. Hansen, Buddy Noonan, Guy Adenis, Dick Swenson, Gene McCabe, and Roland Munns; Studio sequences by Ken Carlson and Jim Crabe; Film editing by Marvin Walowitz and Mindy Bagdon; Music and effects by Audio Effects
