A FILM POLICY FOR Movie QuiZ By JOHN GRIERSON

1. How many movie theatres are there in Canada? '-'~~

2. How much do Canadians spend in a year on admission to the ~ ~ movies? -, J_~, _ 3. Are any film s made in Canada? )~ 4. How many Canadian-born film stars can you name? 'tI't./II , I 5. How often do you think the average Canadian went to the movies, say in 1942? \ 6. Can you name five Canadian-made films. " \ 7. What agency produces most of the films made in Canada? r!-l 8. How many Hollywood films about Canada can you remember? ' J~/V/ 9. Are Canadian-made films shown in more theatres in Canada or in United States? Y

10. How much do you think it cost to produce the prize-winning Canadian film "Churchill's Island"--$5,000, $10,000, $50,000?

( An.rwer.r t(J Quiz. on page 10.) CANADIAN

OT"!'AWA :. BDMOND CLOUTIRIt. PRINTE R TO THE KINO'S MOST BXCBLLB"l'Io'T MAJBlTY AFFAIRS PR.INTED IN CANADA, 19U A story on what Canada is doing in the field of films told by the man who haS been in charge of the job. A Film Policy for Canada By JOHN GRIERSON

Canada and This Movie SAW a film program the other excltmg. For ten reels we exam I day. It had a short picture ined Ginger's dreams so that we describing the desolation of the could get to the bottom of that Business war, the despair of peoples' .lives sex life of hers and, of course, it Most of us wouldn't mind having a nickel for every hour we have in occupied Europe, the problems was an excuse for high jinks in spent at the movies-or even for every hour we've spent talking about we all have to face in re-establish­ every SOrt of emotional direction movies. Through them we get most of our entertainment and a good ing and reconstructing the world. and in technicolor tOO . deal of our news and education. It described an. issue as important I need not tell you that in high But as far as movies are concerned Canada up till now hasn't been as any on God 's green earth to­ COntrast with the realistic bit much more than a colony of Hollywood. That's why many Canadians day, involving the fate and future about occupied Europe, the boys have been asking the question: Will Canada ever amount to anything of. society and civilization. It and girls, especially the girls, ate in this movie game? was a two reeler. It was not this one up, and the picture can­ Why not a Canadian Hollywood? We have talent. We have a important from the point of view not fail to make from four to five good deal of technical skill. But are the stakes toO high? Could we of box office, because it did not million dollars 'domestic'. ever produce anything better than a cheap imitation of the American have a love story. product? Would it be worth the effort? On the same program was a Nowhere To Go On the next pages you will find the ideas of Mr. John Grierson, of dazzling epic. It had everything, I beg you to examine the the National Film Board of Canada, one of the most colorful men in including Ginger Rogers . Ginger presence of these two films in the the movingjicture industry. What he says will certainly start you thinking an will probably start an argument. was having a hell of a time too, just like the poor desolate dis­ His claims: rupted people of Europe. She also (1) There is a way in which Canada could playa part in the pro­ needed rehabilitation and recon­ duction of first-class feature pictures. struction. (2) There is what he calls a "non-theatrical" revolution in movies The poor darling was a big shot going on right now in Canada.. on a fashion magazine , rich and secure and nothing to prevent a (3) Canada is already becoming a world leader in the production good time being had by one and of a new kind of film-which can exist side by side with the Holly­ wood feature productions and which is playing a part on the job of all, except that she was all balled building a better Canada. up with her sex . It was very "e'l'erything including Ginger Rogers"

2 3 same program. The first about epics, some great biographies, No Quick Answers toevski said, without passing Europe was a deep and serious some dramas that deal with real This is the first problem in film through Sodom and Gomorrah, thing, simple, straight-forward, people and real issues of life do criticism and no one should jump I mention this to emphasize informative. The second ·was this. Some stars, by the quality to fast conclusions as to what is that there are no quick answers as about a rich dame who didn't of their personality, have this what. Some over-righteous cri­ to what is good and bad in the need a thing in the world but a · effect too. They deepen the au­ tics don't know vitality from a movies. It is sometimes a salutary good sound thrashing and a sense dience's sense of itself. They tend hole in the ground and think business to play ducks and drakes of purpose. to pull back the drooping should­ everything is vulgar which is wi th the accepted conventions of The movies- of America 1Q ers of Joe Doakes; they add spring not respectable and sedate. You behavior, and the accepted digni­ particular - sometimes reflect a to the instep of his faded Missus. will find a dash of bawdiness and ties and pretensions of our leaders silly inconsequential outlook on They give a mite more courage, coarseness in the greatest art. If and masters. Perhaps they are life. Often they do not reflect more appreciation of being alive, you deal with life honestly, you not as solid as they appear to be. a purposeful society but rather a to the millions of ordinary people deal with complex relationships Who knows until they have been neurotic, meaningless society who tend to bog down in the hum­ of cause and effect. You do not kicked about a bit whether or not which is all dressed up and has drum of routine. That is the good arrive at the Virgin Mary, Dos- they are phonies? nowhere to go. That is the really side of movies, with infinite pos­ bad thing about the movies. sibilities. The bad side one has also to In Business for Your Health? expect in this world. When you To some, movies are the 'film are looking for an escape from the GOOD OR BAD, business', which is to say a busi­ drag, who is to say where inspira­ ness like any other, making pro­ tion stops and cheese cake begins, WE fits. Profits depend on the box where vitality stops and vul­ office and a carefully calculated garity begins, where enjoyment IMPORT THEM estimate of what people in the becomes foolish and only success­ theatre are hungry for-sex and ful in depressing vi tali ty? heroism, comedy and adventure, day dreams and romance. When it comes to movies, good confusion of thought and purpose, The movie takes people out of or bad, Canada is a dependency the United States is a great and themselves in different ways; of the United States. By far the wonderful centre of human energy. sometimes healthy, sometimes un­ greatest part of the film product The technical skill of its films is healthy, sometimes in a time­ comes from Hollywood . The astounding, and the creative in­ killing way that makes no dif­ biggest chain of theatres is under genuity behind them is enormous . ference one way or another. It is the suzerainty of New York. The But it is well to face the fact healthy when it quickens or tones newsreels are made up in New that the skill and ingenuity, the the nerves. A lot of comedy does York images, the characters, the stories, this. It is healthy when it sets a I do not mean to say this is a the themes, are defined by others. high example and inspires. Some "pull back drooping shoulder$" bad thing, because with all its The evaluation of what is good or

4 5 ioned nationalistic nonsense? Is American Products But charge for war advertising, they it not the curse of the nations that Canadian Loyalties do not charge for screen space. everyone of them should be so We shall have to be practical, Until the war began, there was insistent on its own unique and and there are some practical things very little Canadian film they special virtues? to consider before you decide the could show. The government Isn't there another world of answer. Let me say first of all, made a few films of an industrial loyalty, faith and pride in which the Canadian movie distributors or scenic type and so did Associa­ -----, '-­.;) national barriers do not mean a and theatre operators, sometimes ted Screen News, Montreal. But thing? I mean the world in which referred to as our film industry, there was in no sense a 'flow' of "",hat i, the Jjfference?" all men need identically the same are a loyal group of men. They production. things-houses and families and a depend for their living on Amer­ The situation has changed bad, right or wrong, beautiful or creative job in the world to do­ ican production; many of them during the war because the gov­ ugly, is done by others. and what is the difference between are directly dependent on Amer­ ernment has taken a vigorous We can shout as we like about the Joe Doakes of this world ican contracts and American con­ hand in the matter. Canada to­ this new nation we are building; whether they corne black, white, trols; so far as their work is con­ day turns out short films for the we can be proud as we please or yellow? What is the difference cerned, they live and breath in theatres in a regular f1ow-short about the Canadian 'thing'; but whether a film comes from Holly­ American terms, but none the two-reel informative films about when it comes to the movies, we wood or Timbuktu or Saskatoon less they are Canadian ci tizens and Canada and about world affairs have no emotional presentation so long as it is about the life of within the limitations of their that affect Canada. By and large, of our own. It is another nation's man as it is lived and dreamed in trade, are anxious to serve their the showmen are supporting them effort and pride we see on our common everywhere? country. Since the war broke out, with a true appreciation of the screen, not our own. We are on they have given their theatres and fact that the Canadian film indus­ the outside looking in. their screens generousl y to the war try cannot continue to Ii ve exclu­ THE AUTHOR effort. Unlike newspapers which sively on foreign materials. Does It Mattf!r? John Grierson came to Canada in 1938 on the invitation of the gov. Here indeed is another problein ernment to make a survey of film you can argue among yourselves. possibilities and is now government Film Commissioner, executive head $ Is it good or bad that this should of the National Film Board. For a be so? Is it necessary for a nation vear he was as well the General to have its own popular expression Manager of Wareime Information Articles which appear in Canadian Affairs should be regarded aJ expreuing th. viewJ Board. Born and educated in of the individual CanadianJ who write them. These are not neCluarity th. viewJ of th. of its own loyalties, its own , he served in the Royal Defenet Departments, the Wartime Information Board, or any other Government Authority. faith, its own pride? As we be­ Navy in the last war from 1915-19. Indeed, occ/:lJwns witt arise when in order to complete the picture of Jome aspect of wartime He spent several years in the Uni ted life an iuue witt present opposing viewJ of different authorJ on one Jubjm. come more and more an im portant States and then went back to Eng­ land where he made the first British nation in the world, must we "Drifters". From build our own film industry as an 1930 to 1938 he was responsible for CANADIAN AFFAIRS invites constructive CrltlClsm. Your expression of our own life and a the production of a long list of comments will not be for publication. We want your sugges­ documentaries on social problems tions so we can do a better job. Write directly to: The Editor, safeguard of our own national in Britain and the Commonwealth. CANADIAN AFFAIRS, Wartime Information Board, Ottawa. identity? Or is this just old-fash­

6 7 sufficient people be drawn into appreciate its internarional obliga­ the industry? And even if they tions and give a quid pro quo for were, what is to prevent them the benefits it receives abroad. It OUR OWN from going to the greener pastures takes nine million dollars a year of the south as soon as rhey have from the Canadian market and HOLLYWOOD? made their names? Whar accom­ what does it do in return? It modation would Canadian pro­ provides profitable entertainment, ductions get in the United States yes, but what besides? market? In a tough world you can't say, " Stand back, we are More For Oltr Money The question most often asked can't possibly be got back in a going out on our own," and in the International business has to me is why Canada does not make home market of a thousand the­ same breath say, "Stand in, we become progressively an inter­ her own feature pictures. An atres. Only a very great market need your hel p' , . national co-operative business, not just a question of markets ex­ attache in the Soviet Embassy like the American can keep a More Way.r Than One put it to me the other day. He home film industry_going. All ploited but of peoples' interest wondered why we allowed our the others, England included, Are there not other possibilities consulted and served . The Amer­ feature artists like Deanna Durbin, depend on freedom of access to for the development of Canadian ican film business has been one of Walter Pidgeon, Mary Pickford, foreign theatres, especially free­ film production? I think there the last of the great international Norma Shearer, Hume Cronyn, dom of access to American the­ are, and far more practical and concerns to learn this, but it is Alexander Knox, Ned Sparks­ atres which are the Golconda of possible than this dream of a learning. Direct pressure upon all of them Canadians origin all y the film business. Canadian Hollywood. Hollywood is developing from -to work for the benefit of an­ It is not an easy matter to con­ One way is for Canada to make the various governments who other country. jure a film industry out of the its feature films in New York or want Hollywood to give them a local sky. It involves a host of Hollywood . We might build up return for the money it draws Attractive But Tough highly specialized technicians, of in either centre a company for from their national markets. It is an attractive notion, this writers , actors, directors, of spe­ the making of Canadian films with What can be asked of Holly­ building up one's own local Hol­ cialists in a thousand and one an associate producership in one wood, and is increasingly being lywood , but how difficult it would fields of mass showmanshi p. It of the big international companies. be to execute. takes a generation to build a Given a Canadian producer of If films are to compete success­ mature tradition of skill like that the standing of say Hal Wallis fully in the home market, they of Hollywood. or David Selznick, there would be have to be big enough and bright nothing to prevent a program of Stop, Look and Listen four to six Canadian films a year, IE enough to compete in the inter­ national market. This costs a This is not to prevent a brave nor the building up around him great deal-anything from half country from embarking on so of a team of actors and wri ters a million dollars up for a single large an adventure, but here are drawn largely from Canada. production, and distribution and some questions. Is it worth­ Simpler still is the notion that promotional expense besides. It while for Canada to do so? Would the United States must increasingly Hproyides profitable entertainment"

8 9 asked, is that it should, as a mat­ ment and the Canadian film ind us­ ter of policy, spread its net wider try in the production of war loan in the search for its themes. Hol­ appeals. It is sending its stars lywood, on the whole, is glad to north to focus attention on war NON-THEATRICALD respond if it sees a way to do so loan drives, much as though without prejudice to the essen­ Canada were already part of its ((REVOLUTION" tially commercial nature of its American obligation. A larger enterprise. collaboration in Canada's na­ Canada has done fairly well, tional interest is bound to follow. but not well enough, in recent I myself expect that before very years in the allotment of Canadian long the big American companies That is the Canadian film PIC­ higher price radio bracket, around subjects. Hollywood has given it trading in Canada will see to it ture in the 'big feature' field, but $150. Any group will be able to films like "Corvette," "Royal that one or two films are devoted do not believe for a moment that afford one. Northwest Mounted Police" and to Canada. it is the whole story. It is only When you think of the nation's "Captains of the Clouds" . If Paramount has made a start. half the story and, according to organizations, you will readily Canada is sufficiently imaginative The Paramount newsreel which people like myself, not the more see how big this new 16mm au­ in the ideas it presents to Holly­ runs in Canada is made in New important half. dience can be. Ie includes educa­ wood; if it develops a more in­ York, but it becomes more and Has it ever occurred to you that tional classes in schools and uni­ timate system of contact between more a true Canadian newsreel. there is more seating capacity out­ versities, industrial workers in fac­ the film industry in Toronto and The next step, I expect, will be side the theatres than there is tones and trade union halls, Hollywood producers, the record for Paramount to set aside a pro­ inside of them? There are the farmers' groups, women's groups, must grow. duction unit in Hollywood for schools and the village halls, the Rotary clubs, Chambers of Com­ the production of Canadian fea­ church halls and the community merce, and so on . Wherever I nternationa I Co-operation ture films . Its holdings-that is centres . people are gathered tOgether in Hollywood is presently co-opera­ to say its responsibilities-in Can­ Today 16mm projectOrs can go the name of a specialized pro­ ting with the Canadian govern­ ada might justify such a step. anywhere. They cost $350 at fessional or social or civic or edu­ present, but when the war is over cational interest, there you have they will probably be in the a ready-made audience for films which are devoted to their needs ~ and interests. Peo,tJle Want to Know Answers to Quiz This non-theatrical audience IS 1. 1,251. 2. $58 million in 1942. 3. Ycs-hundreds of shorrs but no featurc films except today being organized on a vast 2 or 3 produced by British or American units in Canada. 4. Sec the arricie Page 8. 5. 37'2 million Canadians go each week. The population is 11 ,000,000. Work it out. 6. Sce scale in all progressive countries. the list on Page 16. 7. National Film Board. 8. See the arricie on Page 10. There arc Ie represents a revolution in both others. 9. Over 6,500 theatres in United Statcs-about 800 in Canada. 10. $5,000­ "more seating capacity outside the the film industry and in education. actual figure $4,990.15. theatres" It demands films concerned with

10 11 terests are much the same all over Canada Off to a Good Start dian culture and Canadian life. the world. There are no boun­ In Canada we are well ahead in daries when it comes to what this new film development, out The Job of the Film Board people are basically interested in. among the leaders. The develop­ The instrument by which this They are interested in jobs and ment has been sponsored by the plan is being executed is called wages, houses and homes, the federal government but it has the the National Film Board. It is a bread they will eat and the wel­ support of all political parties. department of the government but fare of their children. It has besides, the co-operation operates somewhat like the CBC. Seen in this light,. there is no ..internationale 0/ people intere5ted of the provincial governments, It has a national commission and in medicine" great mystery about the public the trade unions, the co-opera­ is free from the dictates and pres­ and its requirements. They want tives, and national associations sures of party platform and party education of every kind, profes­ to know what they can do to help throughout the country. In Can­ viewpoints. It was created in sional and civic. It needs films their future along and they want ada today we may not make many 1939 when all the film responsi­ concerned with the real interests to know what their leaders are feature story films, bur every year bilities of the government were of people and the provision of doing about it. we make hundreds of short films put in its charge. It became a materials which make for a more Films for Resolution which describe the life of the really active concern in 1941 when creative citizenship. Its poten­ natlOn. it took over the old Motion tial development is enormous. We have our moods of resolution They describe Canada's place in Picture Bureau in Ottawa and The demand of this audience is but also our moods of relaxation. the world and its contribution to started training technicians to for particular films rather than The movies until now have con­ the on every front carry out a long-term plan of film those designed for the "general centrated on the moods of relaxa­ of human endeavor. They de­ production. public" . Tn a way there is no such tion .. They have provided the scribe Canada's achievements in In three years its staff has thing as the so-called general romance and the escape and have industry and agriculture. They grown from forty to more than public, whether you are speaking taken us off the earth when we go into the various problems of five hundred. It produces be­ nationally or internationally. If gOt bored and wanted a let-up. finance and housing and labor and tween three and four hundred I talk on films or education, 1 We have made a big business nutrition and child welfare. films a year-training films for can meet my kind in every coun­ our of our moods of relaxation; They progressively cover the the services, newsreel items and try from China to Peru and not we have not concentrated nearly whole field of civic interest-what short, 5ubjects for the theatres, feel an alien anywhere. There is so much on our moods of resolu­ Canadians need to know and and a large number of films di­ an Iflternationale of people in­ tion. Yet, on the face of it, it is think about if they are going to rected to the specialized audiences terested in medicine, in wheat in Our moods of resolution that do their best by Canada and by . of the country. growing, in town planning, in we maybe expected to build the themselves. Nor do they forget Successful Series child welfare. There is for that future. These moods are worth the cultural aspects of Canadian matter, an internationale of stamp organizing, just as deliberately as life. There are films too of Cana­ One particular success of the collectors. People everywhere the movies, the newspapers and dian achievements in painting Film Board is the two series for divide themselves off into or­ the show business generally, have and .craftsmanship, .of Canadian the theatres - "Canada Carries ganizations and groups of special­ been organizing our moods of folk songs, of the contribution of On" and "World in Action". ized interests; and specialized in- relaxation. the various race groups to Cana- They are twO reelers and come out 12 13 country which has suddenly come The new departments of Recon­ out of the north to be one of the struction, Rehabilitation and greatest producers and powers Social Welfare may be expected and, after the Big Four. the most to make great contributions to important of the "middle" na­ the nation-wide discussion of tions. plans for the future. Mobilizing Imagination for Can Lead the Field Canada's Future That is the other half of the "describe the country they come from" The main thing is to see this Canadian film story. I know that "going places and knows it" National Film Board plan as a Canada cannot hope to , com pete once a month. That is to say, service to the Canadian public, with Hollywood, but in this every fortnight in Canada's thea­ as an attempt to create a better bright new field of national in­ a new burst of imagination and tres there is a Canadian docu­ understanding of Canada's present formation and civic interest there effort and an increasing number of mentary film. One describes Cana­ and as an aid to the people in is no reason ''''hy Canada should skills on every level from labor dian affairs, the other 'world mobilizing their imagination and not lead the world, I am inclined to the laboratory. With this affairs . They are, incidentally, not energy in the creation of Canada's to bet that if it maintains the need must go better and brighter hand-outs by the government as future. speed of the last three years, i£1 educational plans than we have are the government films in other The National Film Board is five more years it will be out in ever had before, plans which take countries. They go out commer­ using films to do this, using them front. When it come~ to educa­ account not only of techniques but cially and that IS a good test of as they have never been used tion- 'and I mean education in of human welfare. their standing in the theatre before in a planned and scientific the live and real sense which I A country is only as vital as its world. way to provide what might be have described- our country can processes of self-education are The international series, "World described as a supplementary sys­ be as fervent and imaginative as vital. In a hundred fields Canada in Action," has had especial suc­ tem of national education. any other. Perhaps a young coun­ is preparing herself for a great cess in the United States where Today almost every department try which is going places and drive forward in the next genera­ it plays every month to some of government is working with knows it, is apt to be more im­ tion-in finance and economic 6,500 theatres, just like "March the National Film Board in this aginative than most. management, in industrial and of Time" and other films devoted activity. Labor is describing new agricultural improvement, in the to world circulation. Like many viewpJints on labor management For a Great Drive Forward development of the procedures of other Canadian films, it is trans­ relationship. Agricultural inter­ Canada must inevitably grow government itself. The film, like lated into several languages and ests are developing a s'ystem of greater as it occupies and de­ the radio, has a contribution to goes all over the world. Such rural education covering not only velops the vast territory and re­ make to the active imagination films help our ambassadors de­ the technology of the land but its sources which are in its keeping. of the people of Canada, It is of scribe the country they came from. sociology also. Finance is inter­ It has half a century of five year the first importance, It is not They help to meet the demand in ested in popular economic educa­ plans ahead of it. They will need being forgotten. educational institutions every­ tion and Mines and Resources in where for more knowledge of this the country's new possibilities.

14 15 Some Film Board Productions More on You may wonder what John Grierson has in mind when he talks about a new kind of movie produced in Canada. We list below a few representativ:e titles. We suggest;. you watch out for them and other Rehabilitation Canadian-made films. WAR FOR MEN'S MINDS A vivid picture of the clash between Nazi and the democratic idea. A You will remember that in our Future for Fighters article we prom­ good example of how a vital contemporary issue can be effectively presented on the screen. ised to keep you up to date on rehabilitation developments. Well, here are the latest changes as announced by the Minister of Pensions and SMOKE AND STEEL National Health on' May 16th, 1944. The story of how industrial Canada is producing the materials of war. (1) New living allowance rates: PEOPLES OF CANADA The allowances payable to discharged members of the Armed Forces This film reminds us that our Canadian population is a blend of many racial strains. while continuing their education or taking vocational training will The picture helps Canadians to understand and appreciate their racial heritage; it also . prOVIdes audiences outside Canada with an introduction to the people of this Dominion. henceforth be at the rate of $60 monthly for a single man and $80 monthly for a man and his wife. (Remember, that the government THOUGHT FOR FOOD also pays your fees at vocational or technical training school or at A guide to what we ought to eat in wartime and why,-with an account of the basic University.) principles of Canada's wartime food production program. The new living allowance will be $50 monthly for a single man and $70 mOJ?-thly for a man and his wife for ex-servicemen in the following BEFORE THEY ARE SIX categones :­ A film to show mothers exactly how day nurseries can be organized. (a) farmers waiting for returns from their crops. CANADIAN LANDSCAPE (b) men and women who are starting in business for themselves A color film which takes us with the artist, A. Y. Jackson, as he goes about creating (until they get on their feet)' his pa.intings of the scenery of northern Ontario and of the St. Lawrence valley. (c) those fit and available for work for whom no suitable employ­ ment can be found . OUR NORTHERN NEIGHBOUR (d) those who can't take a job at once because they are temporarily This "World in Action" subject takes the U.S.S.R. as its theme. The global relations of Canada and the Soviet Union are emphasized. inca paci ta ted. In addition, in aU cases allowances will be paid for dependent MORE PIGS children and parents on approximately the same basis as paid while in A lively instructional cartoon showing farmers the best methods of housing and the service. Prior to this new announcement, rates in all categories feeding hogs. were $44.20 monthly for a single man and $62.40 monthly for a man and his wife plus aUowances for dependent children. A MAN AND HIS JOB This film explains to Canadian wage earners the exact meaning and operation of the (2) Special grants to pensioners: Unemployment Insurance Act. It also gives [he typical story of a Canadian worker, how he lived through varied years of depression and good times from the twenties until If a veteran receiving a war disability pension takes vocational now. training or continues his education he will receive a special training grant, based on his pension rate, in addition to his regular pension and FIRST AID IN THE FIELD aUowances. Made for use in military training, this film shows in detail the first aid treatment that to should be given to various types of battle wounds. It is in color and has animated dia· (If you want review the whole rehabilitation program we sug­ grams as well as simulated barrie scenes. gest you refer back to Future for Fighters)'

16 17 1. Are You Satisfied With Hollywood Featllre Films or Do YOII Watlt To See Others? Guide for NOTB: Most Canadians prefer Holly­ U.S.S.R. The real argument is whether wood films_ In 1942, of the 795 feature it is good for us to remain dependent upon films shown in Canada, 734 came from American films, whether we should try Hollywood, 42 from Great Britain, and the to make some of our own feature films to be Discussion remainder were chiefly French or from the produced in a Canadian Hollywood.

2. From Which Do YOII Learn More, A Lectllre or An Edllcatiollal Film? Movies provide us with one of which is largely true to life . Both contain our major topics for easy conversa­ elements of the other and the successful NOTE: Most people enjoy a film more people can discuss movies, has had a big informational film must be good entertain­ than a lecture, especially if it is discussed growth with the rural circuits of the tion . 'How often, parked beside ment. after the showing. But do they learn National Film Board and has spread to a new acquaintance, we chop a more? It has been claimed that training oth~r groups as being an essentially demo­ (Note that Grierson contrasts " Lad y in the cratic use of films. hole in the ice with a reference to Dark " and " UNRRA;" you can pick tWO films cut teaining time by 30 per cent. This war has seen a wide use of such films in In this connection, the discussion leader the weather and then launch an recent films sh own locally.) the armed services and in war industry_ might show a training film prepared for ice-breaker with the line "Did ( 2) Movies for relaxation may be good or The use ofsuch films is spreading in schools, another branch of the service or for a non­ you see Rita Hayworth in 'Cover bad, bue beware of snap judgments. factories, trade unions, rural communities, service group and quiz the group on how Girl' ," or whatever the latest ( 3) The movies we see, especially the and civic groups. The film forum, where much the" remember from one showing. release on our minds happened to feature pictures, come almost entirely from American studios, and deal in the main be. with American to pics. (Refer to CA NA ­ 3. Are NatifJ1lal Film Board Movies]list "More Propaganda"? When it comes to a discussion DI AN AFFAIRS PlCTORI.\L No.5.) NOTE: In popular usage the word they a,.~ not propaganda-( l) The National of movies at the level set by John' ( 4) There are various means by which we "propaganda" has come to have a bad Film Board seeks discussion df its films Grierson, the verbal gates may might obtain more fearure films with meaning. When we think of propaganda and in hundreds of rural and ind ustrial not swing open quite so easily but Canadian stories- Grierson suggests three. we think of hi$h - pressured methods of showings each month obtains the opinions they won't need much prying. (5) The films produced in Can ada today foisting the opimons of one part), or group of the ~ople "arguing back" With the are truc to life shorts of educational value. upon the public with little regard for the film. (2) The commentator is trying to If you start wi rh the familiar truth or for honest discussion of the interpret in simple and dramatic terms the critical comments on some cur­ Under the National Film Board , great strides have been made during the war in opinions. In short, the word propaganda meaning of Canadian and world events. rent films, before leading on into th is fi el d of production. (See CANA DIAN makes us think of Goebbds and hiS outfit. You do not have to agree. (3) The policy­ the more novel subject of a film AFFA IRS P!CTORI ,\L No. S.) Some of the movies turned OUt by the making body of the Film Board consists of policy for Canada, you should be National Film Board are propaganda in the eight members appointed by the Governor (6) The development of educational technical sense_ They spread the ideas of in Council, i.e.· by the Cabinet, any may able to ease your group into a movies has great possi bilities for the pro­ the United Nations and departments of the be removed if there is cause to do so. The discussion of princi pIes. gress of Canada. (Groups overseas who Canadian government throughout Canada chairman of the Board is a memher of the recei ve Canada DigeJt might make use at and the world. To the extent which they Cabinet. The manager of the enterprise, Aim to develop by discussion a this poiIlt of the story by Anne Fromer, broader understanding of the role are the vigorous expression of our demo­ known as Film Commissioner, is respon­ "Rural Movies Building Citizenship" , cratic faith they are good as far as we are sible to the Board. (4) Only twO of the of movies in education, the kind which is condensed in theJune, 1944, issue. ) concerned. bad as far as the Axis is con­ members of the Board can be members of of films being produced in Canada, The rime to use rhe Quiz on cerned. the party in power. Of the remaining six and the possibili ries of the future . ,The following .arguments have been ex­ members, three are dvil servants, three are page 20 is at the beginning of the pressed at one time or another: (A) That outside the civil service . . (5) The Ameri­ Boil It Down discussion period after your talk. tlxy art propa&an'da-{) You do not set can publicatfon, "Business Filin," wrote Make your talk brief, jusr raising any chance to argue back with a film. (2) in 1942: "In few other countries has any For a talk based on the article, rhe main points of the article. The commentator pushes the ideas of the department of government permitted itself the following may be useful as an Then fill in wi rh detailed informa­ script writer into your ears with undue to view facts so realistically or to hammer outline: force. (3) We have no control over the them home so hard. .. Ids this actuality tion during the quiz. Film Board. (4) They express the opin­ approach . . . that has endowed Canadian ( 1) The contrast between the film for Then go on from there with the ions o( the party in power, or could be documentaries with their tough core of "laxation, which is largely fictional and used {or that purpose. (5) It·s govern­ realism, their refusal to treat with any often a fantasy, and the informational film following questions . ment stuff and therefore suspect. (B) That emotion less comforting than the· truth.

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