All Films

Carnivorous Plants

1955 • 10 min • United States of America

Photomicrography reveals the unusual structure and behavior of the Venus's flytrap, the trumpet plant, the cobra plant, the common pitcher plant, the sundew plant and the utricularia.

A Flirtatious Woman

1955 • 10 min • Switzerland

Agnès, a bourgeois young woman from Geneva, writes a letter to a friend, telling how she ended up cheating on her husband. Fascinated by the attitudes and gestures adopted by a prostitute to attract clients, Agnès decides to imitate her and seduces the first man she sees, sitting on a garden bench.

Amahl and the Night Visitors

1955 • 46 min

A destitute, crippled child and his mother are visited late one night by three traveling strangers who claim to be following a star so that they may bring gifts to a newborn king. The yearly live telecasts of Gian Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors were a cherished Christmas tradition throughout the 1950s. In addition, since its premiere in 1951, Amahl has been performed regularly by community groups and small opera companies throughout the US, making it the single most popular American opera. This production, staged by the composer himself and originally telecast on Christmas Day, 1955, is a testament to the work’s enduring power to move the heart and stir the soul. Starring Rosemary Kuhlmann as the Mother and Bill McIver as Amahl. Members of the Symphony of the Air are under the direction of Thomas Schippers.

Die Geschichte vom Sparschweinchen

1955 • 9 min • East Germany

Two children, a boy and a girl, are each given a piggy bank. The boy is unimpressed and happily continues to spend his money. The girl takes every opportunity to "feed" her beautiful pig quite often. She is rewarded for this exemplary behavior with a ride to toyland.

Witch Crafty

1955 • 6 min • United States of America

A witch's broom breaks right outside of the broom factory where Woody just happens to be working. Unfortunately for her she doesn't have the 50 cents needed to purchase a new handle.

Sting of Death

1955 • 51 min

Horror legend Boris Karloff stars in this rarely-seen mystery tale, directed by Daniel Petrie (A Raisin in the Sun, Sybil) . Sidney Silchester, a college professor, is enjoying a summer holiday in a quiet English village. His peaceful vacation turns into a nightmare when the town is invaded by a swarm of killer bees. One of the few to escape, Silchester finds refuge with an elderly recluse, ""Mr. Mycroft"". With the old man's help, the academic discovers that the bees were let loose by a mad killer. As the two men close in on the lunatic, Silchester realizes that Mycroft is no ordinary retiree, and in fact may be the greatest detective of them all.

The Age of Swordfish

1955 • 11 min • Italy

A short anthropological documentary from 1954. Director De Seta was fortunate enough to document swordfish fishing; by 1956 it no longer existed.

In the Far Eastern Seas

1955 • 20 min • Soviet Union

About the work of fishing vessels of the Okhotsk expedition.

Too Old for Dolls

1955 • 30 min

Parents are concerned that their teen-aged daughter doesn't have a date for her school's formal dance. She assures them she has a boy named Al all lined up. Recalling that "Al" was the name of her imaginary childhood friend, Dad arranges for one of the boys from the office to escort her. It turns out that Al really does exist.

Aesop's Fable: The First Flying Fish

1955 • 6 min • United States of America

According to Aesop, Philip, a little fish who lives at the bottom of the sea with his dogfish, catfish, shark and other classmates in the school of fish, desires to become the first flying fish. His horrified friends ostracize him for his strange wish, but he practices until he is able to fly, but the birds flee in terror at the sight of a flying fish. When a pelican invades the ocean-bottom and proceeds to scoop up Phillip's ex-playmates in his large bill, Philip takes to the air and drives off the villainous bird. Philip is now a hero and the fish establish a flying school in his honor...according to Aesop Terrytoon.

A Man on the Beach

1955 • 28 min • United Kingdom

This weird short manages to pack in fraud, murder, alcoholism and transvestitism, with two somewhat obvious plot twists but a acertain amount of interest in the characterisation and mise-en-scene. You can see Losey's long-take style in its early stages. If anything, his filming is TOO articulate, tipping his hand and giving away plot turns before they happen.

Hot and Cold Penguin

1955 • 6 min • United States of America

More adventures of Chilly Willy and his quest to stay warm.

Les héritiers

1955 • 12 min

Gilles Groulx's first film shot in 1955 with a camera borrowed from his brother and edited during his spare time when he worked as an editor at the Radio-Canada news service a few years before he joined the NFB. Silent film, presented as its author left it, where the soil and the dialectic of Groulx's work are already there: documentary realism, the social space to be explored, daily life, the relationship between individual and society, social disparities, the consumer society, seduction and happiness.

The Town by the Savinja River

1955 • 11 min • Yugoslavia

Documentary about the town of Celje (Slovenia) and its history.

Aquatic Wizards

1955 • 10 min • United States of America

See the variety of water-skiing in beautiful Cypress Gardens, Florida!

Islands of Fire

1955 • 11 min • Italy

The first light of dawn. The sound of a boat and the screech of birds fill the wide expanse of sea. Black rocks emerge from the water, the “sciara” – the volcanic scoria – of Stromboli, the underwater sulfurous emanations, the layers of reddish rock eroded by the sea. The roar of the volcano can be heard, the flames and the liquid lava are thrown skyward. As nature unleashes itself, the fishermen row toward the shore, the sheep stray and the women return home.

Barnyard Actor

1955 • 7 min

Gandy Goose has been studying his mail-order acting kit, and goes to visit his friend, Rudy Rooster, to show off his mimic skills. Rudy is unimpressed as his attention is more on another rooster who is bidding to replace Rudy as the ruler-of-the-roost in the hen-house. He gets Gandy to disguise himself as a fox and raid the hen-house, and Rudy will show up and run him off and be a hero of the hens. But...there is already a real fox in the barnyard and he has no intention of being run of by a rooster.

Water-Mirror of Granada

1955 • 21 min • Spain

Experimental, cinematic symphony of Granada, José Val del Omar's birthplace.

Bunco Busters

1955 • 6 min • United States of America

A member of the Bunco squad introduces the Case of the Gullible Woodpecker. It seems that Woody wins a pot full of dough that con man Buzz Buzzard notices and sets his sights on stealing. He leads Woody on a phony treasure hunt on Cataloni Island where all the materials Woody needs to continue the hunt (treasure maps, fire extinguishers, toll bridges, etc.) cost him a bundle.

A Progress Report/Nature's Half Acre

1955 • 47 min

The first half covers the initial construction of Disneyland, followed by Nature's Half Acre during the second half.

The Newlyweds

1955 • 59 min • North Korea

The film tells the story of a newlywed couple working on the railroad (the husband is a train driver and his young wife works at a lathe) in a lyrical and poignant tone. Both have difficult personalities and their own views on life, but together they take an active part in the economic recovery of the country after the Korean War.

24 Hour Alert

1955 • 31 min • United States of America

This short film looks at the purpose and methods of the U.S. Air Force, and the difficulties of getting along with civilian neighbors. The story involves members of an Air Force base proving their worth to the mayor of a nearby town who would like to see them gone due to noise pollution.

One Day in Rijeka

1955 • 14 min • Yugoslavia

A short documentary film that follows and describes the city of Rijeka through one day - its port, shipyard, fish market, streets, bridges, parks, houses and the old town of Trsat.

Men of the Blue Cross

1955 • 55 min • Poland

The final film produced by Warsaw’s Documentary Film Studio is an epic re-enactment of a treacherous mission by the Voluntary Tatra Mountain Rescue Service to aid colleagues stranded behind enemy lines at the close of World War II (several real participants feature in the film). Based on a short story about the rescue by Adam Liberak, Munk’s final “documentary” is also arguably his first major exercise in the craft of narrative filmmaking.