Poetry of Nature (1939) User Reviews

Humorous look at wildlife among California redwoods...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 22 December 2008]

This Pete Smith Specialty focuses on humor as it follows the adventures of a black crow attempting to help himself to various bird eggs, invades chicken coops, and has various mishaps during a search for food.

The short ends with the crow getting his comeuppance from other predators--namely a fox and a bear who want to reach his own nest to get the eggs he and his mate are hovering over.

The narration is full of tongue-in-cheek remarks, always ending with "ah, the poetry of nature" after some misdeed.

It's a short that cries for Technicolor rather than B&W to show the beauty of the forest.

Hilarious

[Go-Between · 4/10 · 10 June 2018]

I like to imagine the narrator was just riffing and making stuff up while watching the footage as it appears on the screen.

Nice Cinematography

[Michael_Elliott · 29 December 2008]

Poetry of Nature (1939)

** (out of 4)

Pete Smith short takes a look at the wildlife that lives in the California redwoods but focuses in on a black crow who is constantly trying to steal eggs for breakfast. With Smith's narration we see the crow trying to feast on bird and chicken eggs as well as a bear going after some eggs. I'm really not sure what the point of this short was as it doesn't try to teach the viewer anything and it really appears that the studio just gathered up some stock footage and told Smith to talk over it. Director Freeman also served as the cinematographer and that there is certainly the highlight of the film as we get some nice shots of the woods. I really didn't find any of the dialogue funny, which is certainly why I found this short to be rather boring.