The Missions Collection

The latest Gospel Films Archive release of vintage short films with Christian themes presents four shorts about missionary work in the 20th century. The first three, hailing from 1960-61, are all directed by Jan Sadlo, although aside from the blending of archival and original footage each is quite different. “Africa and Schweitzer” looks at the dedicated work of Dr. Albert Schweitzer in Africa's Congo, where voodoo was predominant until Schweitzer established medical clinics, schools, and churches. Most interesting is the haunting, mysterious, black-and-white footage that was shot by Sven Nykvist, renowned cinematographer for Ingmar Bergman. “A Christian in Communist China” tells the story of a Christian pastor leading clandestine services in a Chinese village, who was arrested, tortured, and left for dead. Eventually given the opportunity to flee for Hong Kong, the holy man does, but on the way he reflects on what Christ would have done. “No Greater Love” is built around a filmed lecture extolling the virtues of American dentists volunteering their services in Africa, with an engaging wraparound story involving a gung-ho dentist who has to convince his reluctant wife to participate. Finally, “Wings to the Word” (1951) is a narrated docudrama about a minister named Rodger Perkins, who was able to greatly speed up his work in visiting remote villages in the Brazilian mountains through the use of a flimsy-looking plane. Another solid entry in an interesting archival series, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)