Canadian Film Weekly (Dec 20, 1944)

@ a THE DOCUMENTARY OPE the war’s end oH won't stop the pro duction of documen taries,” Walter Winchell wrote recently. ‘Those short films pack more of a wallop than most million-dollar epics. The post-war world will contain many vital problems that documentaries can enlighten.” Winchell's observation reflects the fear of many that the most potent medium of instruction and inspiration in the world, motion pictures, will, with the return to what is regarded as normalcy lapse once again into plush doldrums, Will the screen continue to serve and broaden the public conscience, so developed by the extraordinary events of these times, or will it reduce the present intellectual vitality by an almost complete return to escapist romances and artificial adventures? Such a course would be a national tragedy. Among the things which must not be allowed to happen again is the creation of an apathy towards great national and international problems. Because of this apathy bewilderment rules in times of stress and the public imagination, not having been exposed to reality during periods of prosperity, is fair game for organized antisocial forces, It falls suddenly to the defenders of democracy to guard that public imagination from seizure by scoundrels and also to shape it to serve the ends of justice. The public imagination should be so conditioned at all times that all it should require for awakening to urgency is inspiration instead of frantic flogging. If public imagination is to be once again slowly drugged by a constant succession of dramatic and literary material that has no relationship to reality, the same lack of mental preparation will become as apparent in the crises of the future as in those of-the past. That is not an unlikely prospect. The war has not been brought home to the people on this continent on the same scale as those on other continents— and among the people of this continent are those who made and still make the films for most of the world, They will continue to make those films when the war is over and they will evolved a set of ideas which represent a common point of view life and it is quite possible to sell on many things. theatre tickets by answering incorporation of these them in interesting fashion in the so-called entertainthe screen. Attempts to do that ment film on one hand and the won little encouragement before eontinuance of the documentary the war. on the other will be an intellectInstead of trading on ual safeguard for the world. honest curiosity the makers The What is the National Film Board Designed to Do? From the National Film Board Act of May 2, 1939 “The commissioner in carrying out the duties imposed upon him by this act shall at all times be under and subject to the directions of the board and shall (a) advise upon the making and distribution of national films designed to help Canadians im ill parts of Canada to understand the ways of living and the problems of Canadians in ether parts; (b) coordinate national and departmental film activities in consultation with the board and the several departments and branches of government work; (c) advise as to methods of securing quality, economy, efficiency and effective cooperation in the production, distribution and exhibition of government films; (d) advise upon and approve production, distribution and exhibition contracts and agreements in connection with film activities of the several depertments of the government and, in respect of these, act as intermediary between such departments and the bureau and between such departments and commercial films; (e) advise upon all departmental expenditures in the production, distribution and exhibition of films; (f) represent the board in its relations with commercial newsreel and non-commercial film organizations; (g) advise as to the distribution of government films in other countries; (h) cocrdinate and develop information services in connection with government film activities.” The Industry's Reaction . . We have from the first sought the co-operation of the Film Industry in Canada. I may say that, at the outset of the war, the Industry, like any good citizen, informed the Government that its power and strength were fully at the disposition of the State. That offer Was made unanimously; and I know that offer was made earnestly and with a full sense of responsibility. We replied in effect: We thank you very much and there is a good deal of specific co-operation which the Film Industry can give. It will be sought in specific terms. But we also let it be understood that we did not wish to disturb the essential workings of the Industry as an instrument of entertainment.” “e John Grierson before a meeting of The National Board of Review in New York City feed the rest of the world ideas ity seemed to have been pushed on an even greater scale than aside to make way for artifibefore. No doubt Russia and _ cially-conceived suspense as Britain will compete with them. fered in fictional reels of celluRussian films, of course, have a _ loid. The most prominent quesgreater degree of realism than tions in both the juvenile any other. But the men who sit motion pictures, acting on the IS a peculiarity of the preassumption that the work “ war state of the motion picture that healthy, natural curios adult mind are “How is it done?” to establish the future and “What is it all about?” of the world will have ‘Those questions are applied constantly to the everyday things of ideas of the world are drab subjects, have turned out millions of feet of stuff which is as quickly forgotten as seen. This indifference to the factual film is evidence that motion picture craftsmen, until recent years, had forgotten one of the prime truths of their craft—that man’s chief concern is with his neighbor, his work, his life, his ideas. The first films turned out by both Lumiere and Edison were short scenes dealing with people and events, a sort of mixture of newsreels and documentaries, and it was these that created the first public interest in motion pictures. This type of film occupied major interest for the first decade of motion picture. Lumiere, in 1896, sent a cameraman around the world filming events for showings everywhere. Early Edison films were factual accounts of various activities. The first films made in Canada were scenics of the Rocky Mountains made under the sponsorship of the CPR. Proof of this early supremacy of the documentary film is found in the list of titles of a typical film show in 1906—that of L. Ernest Ouimet’s Ouimetoscope, a Montreal movie theatre. According to the program, some of the titles were “Washerwoman and Chimney Sweep,” “Niagara Falls in Winter,” “Golden Gate Panorama,” “Bath of the Sacred Elephant,” “From Socialism to Nihilism,” ‘The Czar,” “Wolf Trap” and “Frog Fishing.” Today there are several fields of the factual film. We have newsreels and instructional films. That leaves certain specific tasks to the documentary—that of presenting events in the light of their relationship to the national interest and their bearing on the international scene. And that is one of the most vital tasks in the history of the world, (THAT Canada today leads the world in the use of the documentary film is due to John Grierson, a man who never forgot the place of the factual film in the early history of the medium Grierson spent four years of the last war doing mine-sweeping chores and when the conflict was over went through Glasgow University on scholarships he (Continued on Page 24)