Hemo the Magnificent (1957)

*Spoiler/plot- 1957, A 50's and 60's school science class documentary film which covers the hard biology and science with some comedic and animation to keep the subject interesting for all ages provided by Frank Capra's talents. The use of Greek mythology is clever.*Special Stars- Richard Carlson, Dr Frank Baxter, Dir: Frank Capra*Theme- Educational school films don't have to be boring.*Based on- 50's biology and circulatory blood science*Trivia/location/goofs- Dr. Frank Baxter was the co-host of this video subject and the many other videos in the science documentary series. However, it seems strange that Dr. Baxter is an English professor at University of Southern California is presented and speaks in these films as a hard science presenter or researcher, since he's not. His career and reputation is not about science at all. He must have got the job for his on-camera screen great screen 'presence' or authority.*Emotion- A memorable and enjoyable film shown in Los Angeles schools during the 60's. I snapped up buying this found VHS video along with it's less memorable sister video subjects sponsored by the Bell Labs. The production quality and memory pathos was worth the buy and viewing time. This is a charming documentary all around. Let's give a big 'thank you' to Frank Capra and his directing talents.

I love this film so much, I transferred mine to DVD (with beautiful results!) so i could watch it again and again without it degrading like VHS tapes do. Did you know Hemo debuted at 9 pm,on CBS TV March 20, 1957? It was the second Bell Science gem ("Our Mr Sun" first shone the previous November). It stars Dr Frank Baxter , Richard Carlson (cigarette smoking man in the picture) from "The Creature from the Black Lagoon", Sterling Holloway (the Disney legend THE original Winnie the Pooh and Kaa from Jungle Book) and of course HEMO.....Hemo is the best educational film EVER- This movie has inspired and continues inspire generations of health professionals- Imagine today's Doctors, Pharmacists, Nurses, Dentists, Paramedics as 6th graders sitting on the floor in their Toughskins watching Hemo for the first time. Nobody teaches the LUBDUBS like HEMO [its all in the valves]! HEMO also shows us why we breathe, why we faint when we stand for too long, why we stretch each morning, how boxers get knocked out, vagal and sympathic systems and MUCH MUCH MORE! When I watch Hemo as an adult health professional I am amazed at how well it stands up and how much solid info is packed into this 55 minute masterpiece! .

I recall seeing this in the late '50's and to this day, I am still in possession of the knowledge that it gave me. I was probably in the 5th or 6th grade and learned a great deal from this series of films. The amount of information was very great but it was presented so "gently" that nearly anyone could remember it. It was in color, too, which still wasn't all that prevalent in films then. Big budget films were in color, but many were still filmed in black and white, so it was impressive in and of itself that it was in color. Frank Capra, probably the greatest director ever, did a splendid job and it educated millions of school children. Great job!

I also saw this movie in elementary school and can, to this day, recall facts about the heart and blood with the animated depiction. Why? Perhaps Capra was just that good at direction, but I think that the real reason was that this was before color TV was ubiquitous. Unlike today, when kids are constantly bombarded with video and sound, we had very little "multimedia" exposure. When we experienced it, it had a lasting impact. I defy my 11-year-old to remember what he saw just last night.