films for the classroom

films for the classroom Galileo: The Challenge to Reason (Learning Corp. of America, 1967)26 min. Color Alexander Koyre saw Galileo as the pivotal personage in the Scientific Revolution from Copernicus to Newton. This is a superb film portraying Galileo's scientific achievements in relation to the era in which he lived. Galileo is shown as the leading adversary against Aristotelianism. Therefore , his ideas posed not only a threat to the accepted science of his day, but also to the accepted religious principles of the Catholic Church. Galileo as a defender of the Copernican Heliocentric view of the universe, is called a "greater threat than Calvin or Luther" to the Catholic Church by a Jesuit in the film. Galileo is persecuted by the Jesuits and is finally forced to recant his ideas before the Inquisition in this period of reaction against the Reformation. The film is very clear in making its points to the viewer. This is exemplified by a dinner conversation between Galileo and two cardinals over the question of the rate at which an object falls to the earth. The question of dynamics is shown to also be a religious question and the Scientific Revolution would in A. R. Hall's words "pervade every aspect of European life." I highly recommend this film for the use in both basic History courses and in électives covering the Scientific Revolution or the seventeenth century . (Course: The Development of European Ideas and Institutions.) Theodore Lauer, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, New York Crisis at Munich (CBS News, 1960) 24 min. b&w Walter Cronkite narrates this look at the Czechoslovak crisis of 1938. It begins by describing the spring and summer events showing news clips of Henlein and Benes. At the very end there is a brief look at the German occupation in March, 1939. It centers, however, on September and the three visits of Chamberlain to Germany which culminated in the Munich agreement of September 29, 1938. A personal touch is added with the British diplomat Sir Ivone Kirkpatrick describing the meetings at Godesberg and Munich at which he had been present. The film as a whole is good in that the major events and actors of the drama were shown in reasonably long film clips. The major problem was that the narration, although precise in its particulars, tended occasionally to make judgements that historians, aware of the complexity of events, might disagree with. On the whole, however, it was quite worthwhile. (Course: Europe in the Twentieth Century-The Development of Modern Europe H-A History of England II) Charles A. Watson, Pvoger Williams College, Bristol, Rhode Island 11 Turn of the Century (CBS News, 1960) 25 min. b&w A superior documentary of well-integrated film clips of European scenes, personalities and events between 1895 and 1914. The first half is devoted to society and culture: the Eiffel Tower (with a foolhardy "batman" who "flew" off to his certain death), Bernhardt, Pavlova, Tolstoy, the Moulin Rouge, the 1900 Paris World's Fair (with moving sidewalk), Rodin, Renoir, Matisse, leisure activities (balloon rides, picnics, bathing), and eyery-day street scenes of Paris, London, and Berlin. The second half covers politics: Edward VII, William II, Nicholas II, Franz Joseph, labor unrest, Mrs. Pankhurst and the suffragettes, the growing arms race, the 1914 Sarajevo crisis. The film ends on a sober note as the armies leave for war. The script has some interpretive weaknesses, but over all the film (narrated by Walter Cronkite) is very effective in conveying the flavor and appearance of the middle and upper classes of the time. Film editing is excellent and a catchy musical score adds to the story. Film quality is above average, considering the age. (Course: Nineteenth Century Europe) Taylor Stults, Muskingum College Warsaw Ghetto (BBC-TV, 1967) 51 min. b&w This is a strong film composed primarily of films taken by the German Army, the S.S., and the Gestapo plus still photos from Himmler's private collection. The films apparently were taken to provide an anthropological record for the future when the Germans expected the Jewish culture and way of life would no longer exist. The narrator is a survivor of the Ghetto, Alexander Bernfes, who spent 20 years collecting the...