All Films

Chuka, the Little Beaver

1953 • 11 min • Soviet Union

The hardworking beavers rebuild a dam, but one beaver named Chuka is lazy and unwilling to help. He decides to go to the forest in search of new friends, hoping to find an easier life.

Eastside Summer

1953 • 11 min

Rudy Burckhardt's color portrait of Manhattan's East Side strolls along at an easy pace befitting blue skies and Thelonious Monk's piano score. Where most city symphonies prize grandiose views of the urban organism, Burckhardt sticks to the walker's view.

Special Days in February

1953 • 10 min • United States of America

Children in the third grade learn the reasons for celebrating George Washington's birthday, Lincoln's birthday, and Valentine's Day.

The Evil Within

1953 • 30 min

Scientist perfects a chemical unleashing the beast within, but before he can create an antidote, his neglected wife accidentally is dosed when he has to rush a batch home to keep it refrigerated. Her mild resentment of his endless hours at the lab accelerates into a torrent, after she gobbles pie on which the potion dripped.

The Young Fighter

1953 • 29 min • United States of America

Directed by Hurwitz for the CBS Omnibus program, The Young Fighter is a moving portrait of a young boxer who faces key life decisions as he tries to balance his responsibilities to his family and to his sport. The film played an important role in the history of the documentary. It is the very first broadcast example of the technique that came to be known as cinema vérité.

Not Far From Krasnodar

1953 • 20 min • Soviet Union

Documentary film about the town of Kuban oil workers (Akhtyrsky village, Abinsk region), filmed in 1953.

Elizabeth Is Queen

1953 • 51 min • United Kingdom

This spectacular 1953 documentary, released in cinemas, records the events of Elizabeth II's coronation day in glorious colour.

North Pal

1953 • 7 min • United States of America

Casper, the friendly ghost, makes friends with a baby seal at the North Pole. Mama and Papa Seal are afraid of Casper, but the baby and Casper becomes playmates.

Bonfire Evening in the Mountains

1953 • 14 min • Sweden

Documentary short about Västerbotten, Sweden from the Norwegian border to the coast.

Come Back, Sebastiana

1953 • 28 min • Bolivia

The story of a poor girl who leaves her starving family and sheep for a more prosperous village. Her grandfather finds her and tries to convince her to return to her home.

Leonardo Da Vinci The Tragic Pursuit of Perfection

1953 • 26 min • United Kingdom

A portrait of the artist as a "sublime demon with the archangel's face", with an innovative musique concrète soundtrack.

Between the Sea and the Fish Line

1953 • 23 min • Brazil

Catty Cornered

1953 • 7 min • United States of America

Rocky the gangster kidnaps Tweety Bird for a million dollar ransom and holes up in an abandoned city building...

The Mask

1953 • 29 min • United Kingdom

In 1909 Cornwall, the affair between a disfigured miller's wife and his estranged cousin leads to a tragic case of mistaken identity.

The Voices

1953 • 14 min • United States of America

A surreal piece of cinema, mostly comprised of stark religious and homoerotic imagery, accompanied by increasingly dissonant music (starting with ‘The Unanswered Question’, and getting more jarring as the movie progresses).

Jack and the Beanstalk

1953 • 10 min • United States of America

A short re-telling of the classic fairytale.

While You Are Asleep

1953 • 11 min • Poland

A documentary about the night life in a city. While some sleep, others work.

Don't Give Up the Sheep

1953 • 7 min • United States of America

A sheepdog thwarts the efforts of a thieving wolf whose tricks include altering the time clock, hiding in a bush, imitating Pan, digging a tunnel, unleashing a wildcat and disguising himself as the dog's coworker.

Freedom Is Indivisible

1953 • 15 min • United States of America

This film is a powerful reminder of the importance of human freedom and the need to protect our rights and liberties. It follows the inauguration of Columbia University's new president, General David Eisenhower, and includes speeches from a number of dignitaries, including former Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe, Admiral Leahy and Halsey. The film emphasizes the need to be educated and aware of the dangers of statism and communism, and the importance of preserving our freedoms and liberties, including the right of property, profit and wage incentives, competition, a free market, and a government that serves us, not rules us.

Bouncer Breaks Up!

1953 • 8 min • United Kingdom

Story of a young girl and boy and a picture-dog that comes to life.

Health: Your Cleanliness

1953 • 12 min • United States of America

This classroom training film teaches elementary-school students about the benefits of a neat appearance and good grooming.

Des Hommes Et Des Montagnes

1953 • 25 min • France

History, advice and demonstrations of mountaineering in the Mont Blanc massif by the renowned guides of the National School of Ski and Mountaineering from Chamonix. The film starts with an historical summary illustrating the aspirations and methods that lead man to conquer the mountains. Armand Charlet teaches mountaineering techniques and takes his students to the field for glacier or rock exercises. Gaston Rebuffat makes demonstrations of particularly dangerous climbs. At altitude, people move in solitude, cold and silence, like circus acrobats without spectators, but nothing stops the modern mountaineer.

Vesuvius Express

1953 • 16 min • United States of America

The first travelogue released by Twentieth Century-Fox in CinemaScope, produced and directed by Otto Lang, is a photographic record of a journey from Milan to Naples, through Florence and Rome, on a streamlined passenger train. En route, the film takes time out in the cities mentioned to take a look at the landmarks -- past and present -- with the climax on the edge of Vesuvius' smoldering crater. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.

Meaning of Adolescence

1953 • 16 min • United States of America, Canada

An overview of the social, emotional, mental and physical changes which occur in the adolescent with suggestions on how adults can help.