Co-Directors Paul David and Jim Reed did an admirable job introducing us to John Mauchly
and two of his most well known inventions, the ENIAC & UNIVAC computers. The fact that
Jim Reed is Mauchly's grandson seemed to give these filmmakers access to people and
materials I don't think most others would have. This documentary is told mainly though
conversations with those close to the inventor including Mauchly's widow Kay Mauchly (one
of the original "women of the ENIAC"), Joe Chapline (friend of Mauchly and writer of the
ENIAC/UNIVAC documentation), as well as archive interview footage with John Mauchly
himself.
Overall I liked this film and found it quite interesting. There was one editing choice
that really nagged me though. The fact that there are a lot of the "audio fade" cuts
between different interviewees, where someone voice would be trailing off with an
unfinished sentence fading away. I didn't really like that, I found it distracting and
thought that "clean audio cuts" would have been better for the film. All the editing was
done on a circa 1999 home Macintosh, so I guess I gotta cut editor/director Paul David
some slack.
But damn, I really like the subject matter. And for the most part, the filmmakers let
the information "sell itself" through the interviewees. They also shied away from other
possible distractions like background music or cheesy narration. The somewhat "over the
top" WWII era "news reel" near the beginning of the film provides a nice contrast to the
rest of the style of the documentary, which is much more subdued and relaxed.
If you get a chance, see this film. With some "cleaning up" and slight re-edits, this
would be something you might expect to see on "a good night" of PBS. As it is, you'll
have to do a little work to see this film. It's available for rent or purchase via The Cinema Guild and it will also be shown at The
Anthology Film Archives in New York
City Sept. 29th and 30th. For further information on MAUCHLY: The Computer and the
Skateboard, visit the film's website: http://www.blastoffmedia.com/mauchly/
