25-04-1918
Birthday
Taurus
Zodiac Sign
-
Genres
0
Total Films
Thomas C. Daly
Also known as (male)
Toronto, Canada
Place of Birth
25-04-1918
Birthday
Taurus
Zodiac Sign
-
Genres
0
Total Films
Thomas Daly, Thomas C. Daly
Also Known As (male)
Toronto, Canada
Place of Birth
actor
0 Works
producer
109 Works
director
126 Works
writer
1 Works
other
8 Works
Off the Wall
Two young hitchhikers are picked up a speed-crazed young woman, who tears around the countryside. She leaves them to take the blame for her activities, and they find themselves sentenced to six months in prison. The girl, feeling bad about what she did to them, resolves to break them out of the prisonYear:
1983
The Lost Pharaoh: The Search for Akhenaten
Ancient pharaoh Akhenaten was almost lost to history. Canadian archaeologist Donald Redford, who uncovered the foundation of one of the pharaoh’s many temples, attempts to finally piece together this great Egyptian ruler’s enigmatic story.Year:
1980
North China Factory
This documentary from 1980 depicts a factory community in China where over 6000 workers process, spin and weave raw cotton into 90 million yards of high-quality cloth per year. Also seen are the workers' residential, social, recreational and educational facilities, all located on factory property. The film presents an engrossing study of a lifestyle that is very different from that of the Western world.Year:
1980
A Pinto for the Prince
In 1977, Prince Charles was inducted as honorary chief of the Blood Indians on their reserve in southwestern Alberta. The ceremony, conducted in the great Circle of the Sun Dance, commemorated the centennial anniversary of the original signing of Treaty 7 by Queen Victoria.Year:
1979
Meditation in Motion
A short lyrical document about an ancient Oriental discipline, this film moves from the streets of China, where the people practice Tai-Chi daily, to North America, where the same movements are executed by a solitary figure in a park.Year:
1978
Los Canadienses
This feature documentary profiles the brave Canadians who fought in the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939. To save Spain's constitutionally elected government from the threat of a fascist dictatorship (which eventually prevailed), over 40,000 volunteers from around the world fought in Spain, and 1200 of those were the Canadians of the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion. More than half of them never returned. This respectful, emotional and historically rich film is committed to the memory of those who truly believed in the cause of the Spanish Republic.Year:
1976
No Way They Want to Slow Down
Filmmaker Giles Walker takes an informal look at how our best skiers work and live. Filmed in 1976, this short movie follows the Canadian ski team on a tight schedule in Chile and Argentina. With 2 ½ tons of equipment, speeds of up to 140 km/h, gruelling workouts and a dramatic theft, it's safe to say that downhill racing is not for the faint of heart.Year:
1976
Waiting for Fidel
This feature-length documentary from 1974 takes viewers inside Fidel Castro's Cuba. A movie-making threesome hope that Fidel himself will star in their film. The unusual crew consists of former Newfoundland premier Joseph Smallwood, radio and TV owner Geoff Stirling and NFB film director Michael Rubbo. What happens while the crew awaits its star shows a good deal of the new Cuba, and also of the three Canadians who chose to film the island. (NFB)Year:
1975
Descent
NFB short documentaryYear:
1975
Earthware
This short, impressionistic film takes us to Nigeria, Japan, Mexico and India, where craftsmen work clay to produce ritual vessels and everyday objects.Year:
1975
Thunderbirds in China
In this documentary, the members of the University of British Columbia's Thunderbirds hockey team travel to China to demonstrate their skills to the new teams in the East. While hockey there still has a long way to go, this film leaves no doubt that the Chinese players are up to the challenge. A film propelled by discoveries, it goes a long way to providing insight into the differences between East and West.Year:
1974
Action : The October Crisis of 1970
A long and thoughtful look at those desperate days of October 1970, when Montréal awaited the outcome of FLQ terrorist acts. This film puts the October Crisis in the long perspective of history. Compiled from news and other films, it shows independence movements past and present, and their leaders; it reflects the mingled relief, dismay, defiance, when the Canadian army came to Montréal; and it shows how political leaders viewed the intervention.Year:
1973
Coming Home
The film documents Bill Reid's own trip home to visit his parents in Sarnia, Ontario, and the family's conversations about the communication difficulties and generational differences in values that have complicated their familial relationship.Year:
1973
Tickets s.v.p
An incident from the early days of Québec's quiet revolution, tailor-made for the cartoonist. It is the story of a Montréal commuter train, a unilingual ticket collector and a bilingual passenger. The passenger appears on screen himself to describe his bid to have tickets requested in French as well as in English. What ensued, and how even the railway president became involved, is illustrated with wit and humor.Year:
1973
Cowboy and Indian
This film goes no farther west than Toronto. The Indian is Robert Markle, from a family of Mohawk steel workers. The cowboy is his longtime art associate, Gordon Rayner. Both are Toronto artists and art teachers, sharing also an interest in jazz: Rayner plays the drums, Markle the electric piano. This film is a study of their lifestyle, their mutual interests and their friendship.Year:
1972
Cold Pizza
An engaging story of young enterprise, pitfalls, and eventual success that all young viewers will enjoy. It is about two young Greek boys in Montréal who try to earn some extra money for a trip to their sunny homeland by delivering pizzas. The misadventures they encounter and how they surmount them make an amusing story, full of youthful initiative.Year:
1972
Pearly Yeats
A film in which the images of dreams are used with a narrative ballad song to describe the transition from innocence to experience in a modern family's soul.Year:
1971
Norman Jewison, Film Maker
Toronto-born Norman Jewison first gained prominence producing for Canadian television, then went on to greater success making Hollywood theatrical features. In this film he is seen directing a large international cast and crew in the film version of the musical hit 'Fiddler on the Roof'. Between scenes, Jewison talks freely about many aspects of the film industry and some of his experiences in it. A candid study of a director in action.Year:
1971
Once ... Agadir
This short-length documentary takes us to Agadir, a city in Morocco that was struck by an earthquake in 1960. The film, made by an expatriate Moroccan who lost family and friends in the disaster, is a memorial to that tragedy and to the past he left behind when he came to North America. Partly allegorical, it employs varying techniques to offset reality from fantasy sequences.Year:
1971
The Winds of Fogo
"Fogo is a windswept island off the coast of Newfoundland where the inhabitants for generations have lived by, on and from the sea. In this film William Wells, fisherman, and his two sons take a day off from the nets for a journey to the gannet colony on the Funk Islands, fifty miles farther out to sea. There are exceptional close-up views of enormous flocks of seabirds swarming on the cliffs and in the sky."Year:
1970
Espolio
A BAFTA award nominated animation based on a poem by Earle Birney and a painting by El Greco. The theme concerns the responsibility of the innovator for the thing he makes. In the film, a carpenter builds a cross but is reluctant to become involved in the right or wrong of situations that bring men to die on crosses. His interest is in his own craftsmanship. To illustrate this moral, the filmmaker used light-pen drawings, giving colour and emphasis through optical processes.Year:
1970
N-Zone
Arthur Lipsett’s N-Zone is the longest, loosest and last of the collage films he produced at Canada’s National Film Board (NFB). It marks the end-point of his trajectory from feted young genius to discarded problem child/eccentric within the NFB.Year:
1970
Kurelek
A documentary about the self-taught painter William Kurelek, told through his paintings. There are scenes of village life in the Ukraine and the early days of struggle on a prairie homestead and the growing comfort of family life. In Ontario, Kurelek paints the present life of Canada with the same pleasure he painted the old.Year:
1967
Kurelek
A documentary about the self-taught painter William Kurelek, told through his paintings. There are scenes of village life in the Ukraine and the early days of struggle on a prairie homestead and the growing comfort of family life. In Ontario, Kurelek paints the present life of Canada with the same pleasure he painted the old.Year:
1967
Poen
This short film features 4 readings of a prose poem from Leonard Cohen’s novel Beautiful Losers. Read by Cohen himself, the poem produces a distinct emotional effect every time it is read, following the poet’s rendition and accompanying visuals.Year:
1967
Antonio
The story of an Italian immigrant, a widower living alone with his memories, his Bible and Dante, which he learned to read in English. In this black-and-white film from 1966 he talks about his past, his children and of good times and bad. What he tells and what the camera shows of his life make a warm, human portrait of an aging man who chooses freedom and independence even though it sometimes means solitude.Year:
1966
Island Observed
A film record of M.E.T.E.I. (Medical Expedition to Easter Island), one of the most unusual scientific enquiries ever launched, headed by a McGill University research team. While the film is concerned mainly with the physical condition of Easter Islanders, it also provides glimpses of island activities, a village wedding, and the famous long-faced stone sculptures.Year:
1966
Helicopter Canada
A view from a helicopter of the ten Canadian provinces in 1966. The result is a big, beautiful and engrossing bird's-eye portrait of the country. Nothing here is quite the same as seen before, even Niagara Falls. Canadians will be thrilled by this panoramic view of familiar territory. Made for international distribution for the Canadian centennial.Year:
1966
Satan's Choice
A rare "inside" view of a motorcycle club in Toronto, one of the network of such fraternal groups in the large centers across North America. The names they adopt (Satan's Choice is only one) are as individual as their special ethics and views of life, all freely expressed in this film.Year:
1965
Country Auction
Household effects and farm implements under the hammer. Here is the auctioneer's cajoling patter, the jostling crowd, pungent observations from one or two old-timers and, over all, the kindly curiosity of folks who gather to see the end of a neighbour's life on the farm.Year:
1964
The Hutterites
A look at the Hutterites, an Anabaptist religious community similar to the Amish or the Mennonites in rural Alberta.Year:
1964
Lonely Boy
This short film portrays the story of singer Paul Anka, who rose from obscurity to become the idol of millions of adolescent fans around the world. Taking a candid look at both sides of the footlights, this film examines the marketing machine behind a generation of pop singers. Interviews with Anka and his manager reveal their perspective on the industry.Year:
1962
The Joy of Winter
How Canadians adjust to their long, snowbound season. Filmed with humour, 'The Joy of Winter' shows people making the best of what they cannot change. From tiny tots to human polar bears the film leaves no doubt that, in the eyes of many Canadians, winter may offer more attractions than summer.Year:
1962
Runner
Young long-distance runner Bruce Kidd practices and competes.Year:
1962
Very Nice, Very Nice
Arthur Lipsett's first film is an avant-garde blend of photography and sound. It looks behind the business-as-usual face we put on life and shows anxieties we want to forget. It is made of dozens of pictures that seem familiar, with fragments of speech heard in passing and, between times, a voice saying, "Very nice, very nice." The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.Year:
1961
City Out of Time
This Colin Low documentary from 1959 depicts Venice in all its splendor. In the tradition of Venetian painter Canaletto, the film captures the great Italian city’s elusive beauty and fabled landscapes, where spired churches and turreted palaces soar into a blue Mediterranean sky. Narration by William Shatner.Year:
1959
The Back-breaking Leaf
Here is a graphic picture of the tobacco harvest in southwestern Ontario. At the end of July, transient field workers move in for a brief bonanza when the plant is ripe. The tobacco harvesters call it "the back-breaking leaf."Year:
1959
Glenn Gould: Off the Record
Canadian concert pianist Glenn Gould enjoys a respite at his lakeside cottage. It is an aspect of Gould previously known only to the collie pacing beside him through the woods, the fishermen resting their oars to hear his piano, and fellow musicians like Franz Kraemer, with whom Gould talks of composition. (First of two parts.)Year:
1959
A is for Architecture
This short documentary offers a panorama of ancient cities, palaces and temples whose splendor has awed mankind. The film moves from one tradition to another, illustrating how each reflects the sentiments and values of its time, from the massive temples of the pharaohs to the soaring skyscrapers of today.Year:
1959
A Foreign Language
This film observes, in a Montréal public school, the teaching of English to immigrant children. To thousands of children arriving in Canada from Greece, Italy, France, Germany or Japan, English is "a foreign language." Under able coaching they begin to understand and even enjoy the vagaries of the English language.Year:
1958
Blood and Fire
The Salvation Army in action. Band rehearsals, personal reminiscences of an Army officer, and an unrehearsed "coming to Christ" in the Army Citadel make for a revealing film study of men and women dedicated to a life of service to humanity.Year:
1958
Railroaders
A film about winter railroading in the Canadian Rockies and the men who keep the lines clear. The stretch between Revelstoke and Field, British Columbia, is a snow-choked threat to communications. The film shows the work of section hands, maintenance men, train crews and telegraph operators.Year:
1958
Police
The misbehaving public performs for the camera in a half-hour miscellany of misdeeds. In a behind-the-scenes look at the hour-by-hour operation of a large metropolitan police force, this film presents a fair sampling of what keeps Toronto's police officers busy twenty-four hours a day.Year:
1958
Memory of Summer
An attempt to recapture the magic of childhood as the cameras follow children at play.Year:
1958
Trans Canada Summer
The camera traces the Trans-Canada Highway, unveiling Canada's people, resources, and diverse geography from east to west. It showcases remarkable engineering accomplishments integral to constructing the highway.Year:
1958
Pilgrimage
St. Joseph's Oratory, a picturesque shrine silhouetted against Mount Royal, draws pilgrims by the thousands every year. They come from California by Greyhound bus, from Vancouver by plane, and on foot from many parishes surrounding Montréal. What is the fame of this shrine, that it attracts the devout and the curious alike? The story is told by Brother Placide Vermandère of the Order of the Holy Cross, who was personally acquainted with Brother André, after whom the shrine's famous temple is named. Cameras follow a procession of the League of the Sacred Heart through the streets of the city to the famous sanctuary and show many of the religious observances conducted in the church, including Mass attended by invalids who come in the hope of being healed of various afflictions.Year:
1958
Corral
Corral is a 1954 National Film Board of Canada documentary by Colin Low, partly shot in the Cochrane Ranch in what is now Cochrane, Alberta. In the film, a cowboy rounds up wild horses, lassoing one of the high-spirited animals in the corral, then going on a ride across the Rocky Mountain Foothills of Alberta.Year:
1954
Paul Tomkowicz: Street Railway Switchman
In this film, Paul Tomkowicz, Polish-born Canadian, talks about his job and his life in Canada. He compares his new life in the city of Winnipeg to the life he knew in Poland, marvelling at the freedom Canadians enjoy. In winter the rail-switches on streetcar tracks in Winnipeg froze and jammed with freezing mud and snow. Keeping them clean, whatever the weather, was the job of the switchman.Year:
1953
Poison Ivy Picnic
This animated film shows what happens to two picnickers who had never heard the warning 'Leaflets three--let it be.' Colour photographs of the various types of poison ivy will help others avoid their plight.Year:
1953
Age of the Beaver
This film provides a brief history of the fur trade in Canada, showing its effects on exploration and settlement. Engravings and paintings from the periods represented convey the romance, the adventures and the hardships of traders, Indigenous People and coureurs des bois. Animated maps indicate the old fur trade routes.Year:
1952
Folksong Fantasy
This short puppet animation gives life to 3 traditional folk songs: The Riddle Song, Who Killed Cock Robin? and The Cooper of Fife.Year:
1951
The Longhouse People
Get an up-close look at daily life among the Longhouse People with this short documentary from 1951. It depicts the rites and rituals of this Indigenous community, including a rain dance, a healing ceremony, and the celebration of a newly chosen chief.Year:
1951
Family Tree
The story of the settlement of Canada, illustrated with cheerful animated cartoons. The arrival of Jacques Cartier, the fishing and fur trades which followed, and the rival colonization by the French and British, climaxed by the battle of the Plains of Abraham, are depicted. The coming of the United Empire Loyalists is seen; then the west-coast gold rush and the completion of the transcontinental railway. New branches were added to the family tree when many European settlers came to fill the great spaces of the Prairies. Finally, we see the whole country matured into a nation, its traditions enriched by those of many peoples.Year:
1950
Ordeal by Ice
This short documentary is part of the Canada Carries On series. The secret winter manoeuvres of the British Army's Lovat Scouts took place in the Canadian Rockies during the winters of 1944 and 1945. In combined operations with the Canadian Army, these elite mountain commandos tested themselves and their equipment in temperatures of -50°F.Year:
1945
I Am an Old Tree
A picture of life in Cuba by a filmmaker who believes in getting into people's lives and letting ideas seep out of what he finds. Among the people shown are a doctor who came back to Cuba, a high-school student whose school-based radio-assembly work and classes last until 10:00 p.m., and a tobacco farmer who now owns his land. For all of them the new Cuba has done much and promises more.Year:
-
Standing Alone
Pete Standing Alone is a Blood Indian who, as a young man, was more at home in the White man's culture than his own. Confronted with the realization that his children knew very little about their origins, he became determined to pass down to them the customs and traditions of his ancestors. This film is the powerful biographical study of a 25-year span in Pete's life, from his early days as an oil-rig roughneck, rodeo rider and cowboy, to the present as an Indian concerned with preserving his tribe's spiritual heritage in the face of an energy-oriented industrial age.Year:
1982
Travel Log
This short, experimental road movie is a study in mystery and atmosphere. Juxtaposing photographs on the screen with a woman's words, the film tells the story of a couple who drifts apart, of a journey with no return. Introspective and haunting, this mood piece is a travel album about intimacy and dispossession.Year:
1978
I'll Go Again
This documentary by director Paul Cowan is about four athletes and a team that competed in the 1976 Olympics. They had trained courageously to be among those who would mount the podium to receive a medal. None of them did, but was it worth the effort? I'll Go Again answers the question.Year:
1977
The Sword of the Lord
This documentary records the extraordinary determination of Jungle Jim Hunter to be the best ski racer in the world. We witness his grueling exercise routines, pre-race tensions, trials and deep religious faith of this dedicated athlete.Year:
1976
Blackwood
This short film studies the works of one of Canada's greatest contemporary etchers - Newfoundland-born David Blackwood. The artist himself guides viewers through a step-by-step explanation of the etching process. Scenes of his hometown, examples of his own work and vivid tales of an old mariner recall the tragic seal hunts and a way of life that has now vanished.Year:
1976
Lumsden
Lumsden, Saskatchewan is a town of 850 citizens on a river called the Qu'Appelle. In the spring of 1974, the river doubled its volume and threatened to flood the town. The townspeople organized themselves and the whole province stood behind them. Lumsden is the story of an incredible battle against impossible odds.Year:
1975
Musicanada
With no commentary other than the music and words of the performers themselves, this fast-moving film presents the grandest Canadian concert of them all. Here, the performers include both the great and the unknown from across the country, the musical styles span the centuries, and the artists are involved in all stages of musicianship: learning, teaching, conducting, recording, performing. Among the film's many stars are Edith Butler, Beau Dommage, Maureen Forrester, Glenn Gould, Paul Horn, the Huggett Family, and Gilles Vigneault.Year:
1975
Alberta Girls
This is a short film about the Alberta All Girls Band Spectacular. The Edmonton-based band was invited to open the 1974 World Cup Soccer Championship at the Munich Olympic Stadium. They performed before a combined live and television audience of over half a billion people. The precise marching formations and fine musicianship are impressive.Year:
1975
In Praise of Hands
This short documentary pays tribute to the craftsmen everywhere whose work adds color and richness to life. Filmed in the Canadian Arctic, Finland, India, Nigeria, Japan, Mexico, and Poland, it shows the special skills of artisans working at their crafts - stone sculpture, pottery, ceramics, weaving, dyeing, puppet making, embroidery. Each indigenous skill is a reflection of the culture of the country.Year:
1974
Reaction: A Portrait of a Society in Crisis
This feature documentary gives voice to various English-speaking groups in Montréal and other places in Québec as they react to the October Crisis of 1970, when Québec nationalism took a violent turn. A British diplomat had been kidnapped, a Québec cabinet minister murdered. The troops were brought in as a safeguard. This film is a vigorous reflection of the discussions and analyses of the situation that went on wherever people gathered, voicing attitudes and fears, sympathies and concerns.Year:
1973
Accident
A surrealistic look at life through the eyes of a man returning to life from the edge of death, after surviving an airplane crash. He discusses his feelings and what it's like to come back to life.Year:
1973
Downhill
Actor Michael Kane stars in this brief winter romance filmed partly in the dazzling outdoor splendor of a Laurentian ski resort and partly in the cardiac wing of a city hospital. It is the story of a man's second youth, the time in his middle years when he overstrains his passion for life and love. A stolen weekend, and the inevitable reckoning; between these two, the hills themselves serve the drama like members of the cast.Year:
1973
Mirage
An intriguing inside-out view of moving figures and images, made by using a color negative print. Figures and faces appear in a shimmering haze. These are shades of people and of movements, appearing, retreating, as in a mirage.Year:
1972
Anger After Death
A film mingling documentary and dramatic elements to portray the effects of the threat of chemical and biological warfare on the contemporary mentality. The chemist who manufactures the secret weapons, the scientist who comments on them with complete detachment, the soldier of the First World War, killed by poison gas, who returns to life to discover the manner of his dying--all make their claims on the audience in an arresting, provocative way.Year:
1971
Wet Earth and Warm People
This documentary by Michael Rubbo (Waiting for Fidel) offers candid glimpses of Indonesia and its people. Filming in and around the capital of Jakarta, the cameras follow where chance leads, capturing the flavour of life in this fertile crescent of tropical islands. Throughout the film, the focus is on a society caught between the past and the conflicting options for the future - to change or not to change from long-established patterns of life to ones more influenced by western technology.Year:
1971
Pandora
Experimental filmmaker and color cameraman here collaborate in a surrealistic retelling of the old myth. But this is a dream fantasy with no real parallel to Pandora, replete with striking symbols where everything is larger than life--the silhouetted image of a mother and an infant, the profiled view of two sculptured heads spouting smoke and fire.Year:
1971
Un pays sans bon sens!
Essay-film on a crucial issue: the notion of belonging to a country. Lingered sentimentalism or deep psychological reality if one believes it is rooted in the heart of man? The action here takes place in the context of a nation that seeks: the French Canadians, and other people without a country: the Indians of Quebec, the Bretons of France. And here is the fundamental question posed: what are the "viable" peoples whose "maturity" allows them to "give" the autonomy and territory? And what is the environment that people can call "their country"?Year:
1970
Prologue
This film tells the story of a young Montrealer who edits an underground newspaper with help from his female friend and a draft dodger from the United States. Two rival philosophies of dissenting youth become evident in the choices they make: militant protest vs. communal retreat. Including some seminal archival footage of a speech by legendary anti-war activist Abbie Hoffman and bloody rioting during the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago.Year:
1970
Untouched and Pure
This is a very unusual and original film, breaking new ground in filmmaking methods as well as in ways of viewing things. All the usual facts about Sweden have been given a hundred times over, and often in better forms than film can offer, but in this film the director has launched into a form of cinematic observation and commentary that offers an entirely new experience of things Swedish.Year:
1970
The Wish
This documentary short introduces us to 8-year-old identical twins as they explore their family background. Filmed by the twins' father at their grandparents' lakeside cottage, The Wish is a lyrical study of childhood and family roots.Year:
1970
Sad Song of Yellow Skin
A film about the people of Saigon told through the experiences of three young American journalists who, in 1970, explored the consequences of war and of the American presence in Vietnam. It is not a film about the Vietnam War, but about the people who lived on the fringe of battle. The views of the city are arresting, but away from the shrines and the open-air markets lies another city, swollen with refugees and war orphans, where every inch of habitable space is coveted. (NFB)Year:
1970
Christopher's Movie Matinee
When a camera crew are sent to document hippie protests in Yorkville, Canada's counter-culture capital, they are charmed by a group of misunderstood kids with their own ideas about what kind of movie to make.Year:
1968
Sir! Sir!
Here is what happened in a Toronto classroom when teachers occupied the children's desks and children became the teachers. The film grew out of another, Mrs. Ryan's Drama Class, where young children found their way into creative drama. There is food for thought in this impromptu reversal of roles.Year:
1968
Nobody Waved Goodbye
A teenage boy rebels against parental authority and must face a harsh reality when he tries to live on his own.Year:
1964
Free Fall
An experimental film from Arthur Lipsett, Free Fall is an assortment of film trimmings assembled to make a wry comment on humankind in today’s world. It evokes a surrealist dream of our fall from grace into banality. (NFB.ca)Year:
1964
Eskimo Artist: Kenojuak
This documentary shows how an Inuit artist's drawings are transferred to stone, printed and sold. Kenojuak Ashevak became the first woman involved with the printmaking co-operative in Cape Dorset. This film was nominated for the 1963 Documentary Short Subject Oscar.Year:
1964
Kindergarten
This short documentary focuses on one day in a kindergarten classroom. We watch the teacher encouraging children to turn their curiosity into questions and organizing group activities and play periods. Filmed at Van Horne Public School in Montreal.Year:
1963
21-87
This short film from Arthur Lipsett is an abstract collage of snippets from discarded footage found by Lipsett in the editing room of the National Film Board (where he worked as an animator), combined with his own black and white 16mm footage shot on the streets of Montreal and New York City, among other locations. A commentary on a machine-dominated society, it is often cited as an influence on George Lucas's Star Wars and his conceptualization of "The Force."Year:
1963
Toronto Jazz
Toronto is regarded as the third largest jazz centre in North America. This film features a cross-section of jazz bands of that city: the Lenny Breau Trio, the Don Thompson Quintet and the Alf Jones Quartet. Their styles show creative self-expression, hard work, and improvisation.Year:
1963
Christmas Cracker
Three separate sequences related to Christmas, animated in different styles: cutout animation of children dancing in the snow to "Jingle Bells," stop-motion animation of toys come to life, and cel animation of a man who seeks the ideal star to top his Christmas tree.Year:
1963
The Persistent Seed
A film by Christopher Chapman, known for his lyrical films of countryside and wilderness. He turns his colour camera on the growing city and there finds cheering proof that despite concrete and bulldozer, the persistent seed prevails. The film is without commentary and the camera work is a constant delight, for Chapman has the gift of catching life smiling wherever he may look. Film without words.Year:
1963
My Financial Career
A neurotic man relates his unsuccessful attempt to open a simple savings account at a bank.Year:
1962
Circle of the Sun
A young man of the Kainai Nation (Blood tribe) shows us contemporary life of people as he attends a Sun Dance ceremony with the tribe.Year:
1961
Cattle Ranch
This short documentary offers a portrait of life on a cattle ranch, for both its human and animal inhabitants. Featuring sprightly music by folk singer Pete Seeger and narration by theatre actress Frances Hyland, the film is shot through the seasons on a large Canadian cattle ranch near Kamloops, British Columbia. With hundreds of cows and calves on the ranch, there’s no shortage of work to be done: soil cultivation and crop maintenance are taken care of by seasonal ranch hands while the resident cowboys—“anxious guardians”—brand and breed their bovine charges.Year:
1961
Festival in Puerto Rico
This short documentary features Canadian contralto Maureen Forrester as she sings at the Festival Casals, a musical event founded by the great Spanish cellist and conductor Pablo Casals and sponsored annually by the Puerto Rican government. Part concert film, part tourism film, Festival in Puerto Rico offers viewers candid glimpses of mid-20th century Puerto Rico intercut with performance footage of Forrester and her husband, violinist-conductor Eugene Kash.Year:
1961
The Days of Whisky Gap
Rousing tales of the North-West Mounted Police are brought to life through photos and artists' sketches. In 1873, the North-West Mounted Police were established to maintain law and order in the North-West Territories. They undertook a trek from Fort Dufferin, south of Winnipeg, to Fort Whoop-up, near present-day Lethbridge, Alberta. The force raised the flag and proclaimed the Queen's Law, ensuring that the Canadian West would not become a lawless, American-style frontier.Year:
1961
The Cars in Your Life
A light, humorous look at the motor car and the great North American itch for a place on the road. From the comparative peace of Honest Joe's used-car lot, this film hustles you onto our public speedways, where hot rubber erases any distance between all points. Slow-motion and pop-on-pop-off photography make this a provocative, revealing study of motormania unlimited. A 1960 black and white production. (Also released under the title 1/3 Down and 24 Months to Pay.)Year:
1960
Glenn Gould: On the Record
This short documentary (the second of two parts) follows Glenn Gould to New York City. There, we see the renowned Canadian concert pianist kidding the cab driver, bantering with sound engineers at Columbia Records, and then, alone with the piano, fastidiously recording Bach's Italian Concerto.Year:
1959
Emergency Ward
This 1959 documentary short is a frank portrait of the daily operations inside the Montreal General Hospital’s emergency ward.Year:
1959
The End of the Line
This documentary short offers a nostalgic look at the steam locomotive as it passes from reality to history. In its heyday, the big smoke-belching steam engine seemed immortal. Now, powerful and efficient diesels are pushing the old coal-burning locomotives to the sidelines, and the lonely echo of their whistles may soon be a thing of the past.Year:
1959
The Living Stone
The Living Stone is a 1958 Canadian short documentary film directed by John Feeney about Inuit art. It shows the inspiration behind Inuit sculpture. The Inuit approach to the work is to release the image the artist sees imprisoned in the rough stone. The film centres on an old legend about the carving of the image of a sea spirit to bring food to a hungry camp. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.Year:
1958
The Days Before Christmas
This short documentary depicts Christmastime in Montreal. The milling crowds, department store Santas, Brink's messengers, kindergarten angels and boisterous nightclubs all combine to make a vivid portrait of the holidays.Year:
1958
City of Gold
This classic short film depicts the Klondike gold rush at its peak, when would-be prospectors struggled through harsh conditions to reach the fabled gold fields over 3000 km north of civilization. Using a collection of still photographs, the film juxtaposes the Dawson City at the height of the gold rush with its bustling taverns and dance halls with the more tranquil Dawson City of the present.Year:
1957
Profile of a Problem Drinker
This short film is a telling portrait of the discourse about and treatment of alcohol addiction in the middle of the 20th century. In a fictional setting, the film examines the insecurities and inner motivations that cause the protagonist to lean on alcohol. His job and home life are threatened by his addiction, and the doctor to whom he finally turns explains the medical and other resources available to him.Year:
1957
Gold
A description of placer gold mining in the Yukon. East of Dawson City giant dredges cut deep into the creek beds, leaving behind monstrous coils of waste as the gold-bearing gravel is washed. The film shows how gold is trapped and hand-sorted, finally to emerge as precious gold brick.Year:
1955
One Little Indian
This short puppet animation from the fifties tells the story of Magic Bow, a First Nations boy endowed with magic gifts. Magic Bow is in the big city for the first time, thrilling audiences with his tricks at the Wild West Rodeo. Outside the arena, cars, trucks and buses zip by at dizzying speeds. With the help of some savvy city dwellers, Magic Bow learns a few important traffic rules to help him navigate the streets safely.Year:
1954
Lismer
A short look at the world of artist Arthur Lismer.Year:
1952
F.R. Scott: Rhyme and Reason
This absorbing documentary looks at the multi-faceted career of F.R. Scott, a truly remarkable Canadian whose work and vision of social justice spanned and influenced an entire era as Canada evolved during the 20th century. The film looks at Scott's role in the founding of the CCF Party in the 1930s, his years as a teacher of constitutional law, as a modernist poet, and as a champion of civil liberties. Appearing also are eminent figures from the fields in which Scott excelled, among them David Lewis and Eugene Forsey. Highlights include Scott's courtroom challenges of the Duplessis regime in the 1950s, his controversial support of the War Measures Act during the 1970 October Crisis in Québec, and readings from his poetry.Year:
-
It's a Crime
A suave safecracker offers his reflections on wintertime unemployment in Canada.Year:
1957
The Jolifou Inn
This short film depicts Canada as it was a hundred years ago, as seen through the paintings of artist and adventurer Cornelius Krieghoff. The changing seasons, the Quebec countryside, village life — all were an unending inspiration to Krieghoff.Year:
1955
Varley
A short glimpse into the world of painter Frederick Varley.Year:
1953
The Romance of Transportation in Canada
A humorous survey of the history of the development of transportation technology in Canada.Year:
1952
On Stage!
A film aimed at helping amateur theatre groups stage plays. There are practical tips on casting, rehearsing, sets, and costumes.Year:
1950
Feelings of Depression
How and why feelings of depression carry over from childhood to overshadow adulthood are explained in the case of John Murray, an industrious and conscientious businessman. As his case history unfolds we see how persisting reactions to early emotional problems render him incapable of enjoying a happy, normal life.Year:
1950
