Of Stars and Men. 1964. USA. Directed by Faith and John Hubley. 54 min.
“Just think if the animation artists of the world did nothing but visualize difficult concepts. All the ‘obscure’ knowledge would become available to the non-specialist,” said Faith Hubley, describing this documentary-style adaptation of Harlow Shapley’s book on mankind’s quest to understand his place in the universe. Ray Hubley recalled, “long a favorite of my siblings and I growing up. Many were the 16mm viewings the four of us watched and dozed through—sprawled in various configurations across the crowded living-room floor. Astronomer/Narrator Harlow Shapley [was] a kind of celluloid surrogate for the grandparents we never had.”