John Nicholls Booth

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With the blessings of the Boards of successive churches recognizing the cultural values stressed,
John Nicholls Booth's second pulpit (1949-1957), Belmont, MA, Boston suburb (photograph by Keller of Belmont)
I was able to shoot, lecture nationally, and have exhibited on television, my eight documentary type feature films, one produced roughly every three years during vacation and/or sabbatical time. I returned to my parishes refreshed and strengthened. These projects (1954-1975) took me to Africa, India, the south seas, South America, Britain and Spain, as well as the USA, where I filmed "The Amazing America of Will Rogers." This biographical study enjoyed the actual participation of the late cowboy humorist's sons, Will, Jr., and Jim. When I returned to Claremore, Oklahoma to premiere the film, the mayor declared it officially Will Rogers Day.

One picture, "East from the Khyber Pass," was projected on television worldwide. Another, "Morocco," caused the pleased King to decorate me with the Order of Ouissam Alaouite Cherifien. American TV was a big market. But all films were primarily made for my 35-lectures-a-year personal appearance tours. I stood in darkness by the screen, narrating the film on stage, as it unrolled.

My audiences were in places like Chicago's Orchestra Hall for the Geographic Society, Detroit Institute of Art, Hancock Hall in Boston, Wilshire-Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles, Cincinnati's Taft Theatre, Eaton Auditorium in Toronto, Sydney Laurence Auditorium in Anchorage, Peabody Auditorium in Daytona Beach, and Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh.

In 1967, my portrait was hung in the prestigious Cinematographers' Wall of Fame, then located in Town Hall just off Times Square in New York City. Entirely apart from that, I lectured at New York's Town Hall ten times across the years. Indonesian government representatives sought a copy of my "Indonesia" for global promotion. Terminating my Belmont pastorate after eight quiet, pleasant years, I spent 17 months in Asia—including sabbatical time—making two films: "Golden Kingdoms of the Orient" (India, Kashmir and Nepal) and "Indonesia: Pacific Shangri La" (Java, Bali, Sumatra and Borneo).

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