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Saint Paul (Minnesota) Police DepartmentSaint Paul Police Detectives and Their Work: A Color Chartoon (ca. 1941)

Visionary stop-motion animation film showing the activities of St. Paul Police detectives.


This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives

Producer: Saint Paul (Minnesota) Police Department
Sponsor: Saint Paul (Minnesota) Police Department
Audio/Visual: Sd, C
Keywords: Police; Crime and criminals; Animation: Stop-motion

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: uniQ - - April 8, 2009
Subject: Clever little film, badly mangled though
Unfortunately this film, which must have been very impressive when complete suffers from many cuts both in sound and image, sometimes they are badly out of synch (Best example: "For your enjoyment, the national anthem" set to the "Blue Danube"). Even so, it's a nice thing to watch.

Best part: "THE AMERICAN WAY OF JUSTICE FOR EVERYONE!" with dramatic music in a funky fontface. (Last scene but one)

Reviewer: Spuzz - - June 21, 2004
Subject: Saint Paul Strangeness
A very strangly animated piece about what the Saint Paul Police does. Covers its many departments (Larceny, 'Pawn Shops' and 'Sex' being some examples), and shows examples of bad stuff the officers look for (marijuana powder, opium etc). First of all the film suffers from having titles too high, so we sometimes scratch our head over what is being represented. 2nd) the film is somewhat dark, and some things aren't easy to see (What WAS that chart supposed to represent?? And what was said at the end?). Also, this film appears to have parts missing. Having said that, you REALLY should check out the animated examples they've got going here. I REALLY liked the representation of 'Sex' with the greasy hands picking apart the flower. The film has a lot of things going for it, it's too bad that too much of it is a little confusing.

Reviewer: dynayellow - - September 11, 2003
Subject: What the heck is Yen Shi?
Trippy little film about the various detective bureaus of the Saint Paul, MN, police force.

The big draw for this "chartoon" is the stop-motion work used to pep up the info about the various departments and what they do. Most of it is pretty fun, particularly the little cars chasing each other around to demonstrate auto theft. Someone must have gone to art school, however, because the Sex Crimes divsion is illustrated by a pair of hands destroying a rose bud.

Strictly an informative piece, and the sound is kind of funky, but kinda fun.

Shotlist

Ken Smith sez: A narrator explains the many aspects of St. Paul police work as guns, drugs, money -- whatever is appropriate -- slide across the screen on construction-paper backdrops in crude animation.

Danger Lurks Police Saint Paul, Minnesota (History and culture) Detectives Animation Cartoons Stop-motion animation Crime and criminals Robbery Burglary Sexuality Sex crimes Rape Murder Homicide Flowers Gambling Telephones Hands (dialing telephones) Slot machines Gangsters Organized crime Civics Patriotism Drugs Narcotics Marijuana Heroin Punch boards Guns Weapons Pistols Tools (burglary) Saps Bludgeons