Brush with Fate

Century of Progress Documentary about the Midget Village exhibit at the Chicago World's Fair.

Athletiquiz: What's Your... The audience is asked questions about sports facts and records involving tennis, wrestling, swimming, golf, and cycling.

Animals in Action The profession of capturing animals in action on celluloid is both an art and science. Some of the most exciting footage can be obtained in different ways. Examples are: a large herd, such as of reindeer, moving as one; slow motion footage of fast moving animals, such as racing greyhounds, especially when they do something unexpected; mothers and their newborn offspring doing what comes naturally; animals placed among special props; animals placed in human situations; combining the exciting and dangerous, such as the running of the bulls in Pamplona and the bullfights to follow; placing animals that are not natural companions together; and placing animals in the situation of a challenge, such as a bunch of bananas just out of reach of a hungry monkey. Many of these elements are combined into the final sequence of a steeplechase race.

Water Sports This short film showcases water sports activities such as sailboat racing and surfboard riding, including Christian Peterson doing a human surfboard at 45 mph.

The Camera Caught It A man looks at stacks of canisters of film on shelves. He pulls out a few to show real-life events caught on camera. He pulls out spools of film that include clips of the effects of heavy rain, of early attempts to fly, of an auto race with a spectacular series of crashes, and, last, of the destruction of a suspension bridge newly-built near Tacoma, buffeted and then ruptured by wind. None of these events were staged, and the camera caught them.

A Leap Year On the streets of the regional city, a cheerful holiday bustle reigns. The apartment of the Kupriyanovs is also noisy — friends of their youngest daughter Yulka are preparing for the New Year. The old driver Leonid Kupriyanov will not have to celebrate the holiday with his family, he should go on the next trip. Preparing for the New Year, none of the heroes imagined what dramatic events would fall on them, how difficult and unexpectedly the destinies of three families would intertwine, how difficult it would be to recover from their experiences ...

Rough Riding This rare Technicolor entry in the Pete Smith Specialty series shows various events at a rodeo in Casper, Wyoming

Fine Feathers A look at colorful (and mostly imported) birds, ranging in size from hummingbirds to storks.

Devaki Devaki takes a look at the parallel lives of two young women, belonging to strikingly different backgrounds, who were both betrayed by their fathers and lovers.

The Unknown Craftsman Towards the end of the eighth century, an architect journeys across the lower Himalayas in search of the perfect site for constructing a temple, not merely as a place of worship but as a monumental record crystallizing the collective accomplishment of a civilization.