 Although
Sam Campbell captured prodigious amounts of video footage during his lifetime
for use in his immensely popular nature lectures, the footage he captured
was nearly all silent, and was intended only as a visual illustration to
which Sam, himself, provided the live 'audio', in the form of his own unique
mixture of warm-hearted wit and wisdom, entwined with explanation of the
footage being projected onto a screen. It was this combination, bound
up with the charm of his own winning personality, which once drew large
audiences, and made Sam one of the most popular speakers of his time, in
both America and abroad.
Since Sam's lecture films were silent, the bulk of Sam's film footage
that is known to have survived is unfortunately silent as well, with at
least one very rare existing exception, though, which has now been preserved
from a brittle and damaged reel of film and made available on this DVD.
"Come to the North Country" was a promotional film created by Sam Campbell
as part of his work as an official promoter of the northwoods, of travel
in general (in association with the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad),
and also of a local Three Lakes, Wisconsin hotel concern that Sam was invested
in. The Northernaire hotel (shaped like a ship), which appears briefly
in the promotional film, was an upscale venture in its day, which for a
brief heyday catered to the rich and famous of America, or to anybody with
means who was hearing 'the call of the wild' and looking for a rustic and
remote, yet comfortable location for nature retreat.
Many of the animal friends made famous in Sam's story books can be seen
in this film, but unlike with silent film clips that require
a good deal of guess-work by modern viewers, the animals in this film are
identified by their names! The real beauty of this
promotional film, however, is that it's voice-over narration by Sam Campbell
provides a most rare sample of Sam's speaking voice which modern fans of
his writing can now listen to. It also provides for modern readers,
a sense of Sam's speaking presence that is not attainable by reading alone.
If you have read Sam's story books, but you've always wished you could
have heard Sam Campbell speak in person, this DVD is the next best thing. |
