All Films

Soul of Brazil

1931 • 54 min • Brazil

The film tells the story of the removal of Laguna in the Paraguayan War. The nonlinear storyline starts showing the military visiting the graveyard of heroes of the battle. Then, a flashback shows the hardships they have endured Brazilian forces that strategic withdrawal. It is the first film entirely national historical reenactment with sound in Brazil.

The Village Specialist

1931 • 6 min • United States of America

This cartoon about how Flip, the village handyman gets called in to deal with a piece of plumbing that won't stop leaking is well constructed, paced and drawn -- the Rube Goldberg pipes in the cellar are quite a sight.

The Right Spirit

1931 • 9 min • United Kingdom

Don’t judge a book by its cover but do judge a political party by its garage.

A Brother's Revenge

1931 • 55 min

Two brothers fall for the same girl, though she loves the older brother. Through trickery, the older brother isn't able to reach his beloved and dies of heart brokenness. The younger brother, seemingly happy with this fate, seeks to woo the girl but is faced with the ghost of his older brother.

The Joy of Water at the Zoo

1931 • 9 min • Germany

"Natural history footage shot at the Hagenbeck zoo with original sound shows colourful waterfowl, including a flamboyance of flamingos. The walrus and the elephant seal are recreational swimmers, while the Indian elephant prefers a shower." - Berlinale 2018

Taro Urashima

1931 • 1 min • Japan

A Japanese legend about a fisherman who rescues a turtle and is rewarded for this with a visit to Ryūgū-jō, the palace of Ryūjin, the Dragon God, under the sea.

Statues of Portugal

1931 • 20 min • Portugal

Launch of a competition, organized by the newspaper O Século, entitled Statues of Portugal.

Old Man Goichi

1931 • 11 min • Japan

Far Away in Asia

1931 • 45 min • Soviet Union

Vladimir Erofeev was a key figure in the development of the Soviet travelogue during the late 1920s. See for example Far Away in Asia [Daleko v Azii, 1931] and The Roof of the World: An Expedition to Pamir [Krysha mira: ekspeditsiia na Pamir, 1927].

Bâtir

1931 • 17 min • France

After filming the construction site of the Berlitz Palace (2nd), Pierre Chenal shows us in contrast other contemporary architectural achievements which, using the same technical processes, do not sacrifice the structure of iron and concrete for decoration. A documentary to the glory of the modern designs of Mallet-Stevens and Le Corbusier.

Believe It or Not (Second Series) #3

1931 • 7 min • United States of America

This entry in the series criss-crosses America to find various curiosities. Among them are a church in Nebraska made of bales of hay; a duck with four legs that lives with its owner in Flint, Michigan; a 128-year-old former slave who lives in Holly Springs, Mississippi, with her 100-year-old daughter; and, in a cemetery in Mayfield, Kentucky, a family plot wherein the deceased members are memorialized with life-size statues, including the patriarch's horse and other family pets. Vitaphone No. 1304.

The Thief

1931 • 59 min • Soviet Union

An engineer steals the the sketches of a new device from a worker.

Anoush

1931 • 60 min • Soviet Union

This adaptation of a classic poem by H. Tumanyan tells the story of the tragic love of Anush and Saro.

My Wife's Gone to the Country

1931 • 6 min • United States of America

A woman is packing her kids and belongings for a trip to the country. Dad will miss her it seems, but once they are gone Dad goes crazy partying.

Heroes All

1931 • 51 min

WWI coverage showing French, Italian, Russian, English, and American troops in action. Emile Gauvreau and General John J. Bradley provide commentary.

Simla Scenes: Indian Viceroy at Lahore

1931 • 13 min • United Kingdom

An intimate insight into the servant culture and lifestyle of the Viceroy of India and family, as they visit Simla (Shimla) and Lahore.

Soda Poppa

1931 • 7 min • United States of America

Kitty is seduced into leaving the ice cream shop with a sneaky fox until she discovers his true intentions. Krazy Kat is called to the rescue.

Light Rhythms

1931 • 5 min • United Kingdom

Avant-garde piece making use of trick lighting.

Earth

1931 • 6 min • Japan

A main agenda of the prewar farmer's movement was struggle against landowners. Prokino also considered this as their prime concern. The main title sequence and the latter part of the film have unfortunately been lost. While we cannot see its entire structure, we can still get a glimpse of it from this surviving short.

Go West, Big Boy

1931 • 5 min • United States of America

A Terrytoons cartoon released 22 February 1931.

The Darktown Revue

1931 • 18 min • United States of America

With a series of long takes and frontal camera set-ups, Michaeux provides a record of several cabaret acts, using intertitles to separate the individual numbers. This quietly outrageous film begins with the high-toned Heywood Choir singing "Watermelon time" and concludes with Amon David playing a preacher using heavy blackface. Amon Davus was known as "the Back Biting Comedian, Par Excellence", and his sermon is one of Michaeux's many notable send-ups of the clergy.

India - Hardwar

1931 • 18 min • United Kingdom

Amateur shots of pilgrims and temples at Haridwar, followed by rural scenes and the Gorrie family at home.

Melbourne Today

1931 • 9 min • Australia

The first documentary of Frank Thring’s Cities of the Empire series, this episode is about Melbourne in Victoria. It shows the city’s architectural highlights and public buildings along with its famous parks and gardens.

A Day in Santa Fe

1931 • 29 min • United States of America

“Riggs’s film poem conveys delight with his adopted hometown through a documentarian’s eye for significant detail, a lyrical sensitivity, and homespun humor. The film, too, serves as a chronicle of people and places of Santa Fe in the early 1930s, when it earned the epithet ‘Greenwich Village of the West.’” - William M. Butler