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Great Depression (7)
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Atlantic CrossroadsTom Daly 1945 10 minThis short documentary focuses on Newfoundland's role in WWII. Due to its geographical position, Newfoundland became a central point of activity during the war, housing military air bases and becoming the link between the Allied forces and Europe. In stark contrast with the Depression in the 1930s, this film highlights Newfoundland's opportunities for economic growth during, and after, the war. Part of the Canada Carries On series. -
Canada Between Two World Wars1963 21 minA vivid review of life in Canada between the end of WW I and the beginning of WW II. Students of Canadian history will gain a new awareness of the people and events that made these 20 years such an important part of the growth of the country. Here were years of prosperity followed by the years of the Great Depression, as Canada went through a severe maturing process.
While political, economic and social changes are emphasized, they are viewed against the total life of the Canadian people. For those who lived during this era, the film is full of nostalgia and reminiscence; for younger Canadians, however, it offers an eye-opening glimpse of Canada's past. (Abridged version of Between Two Wars series.) -
DrylandersDon Haldane 1963 1 h 9 minThis epic drama looks at the opening of the Canadian West and the drought that led to the Depression in the Thirties. It is the saga of a family who left Eastern Canada to stake their future in the Prairies. Principle roles are played by Frances Hyland and James Douglas.
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Gopher BrokePeter Thurling 1979 24 minThe Depression era. A small town in Saskatchewan, Dominion Day, 1935. A Royal Canadian Mounted Police sergeant runs up against a group of desperate people who plan to join the Trekkers on their march to Ottawa in protest against the daily wage of twenty cents a day paid by the government to the unemployed in federal labour camps. Kid, the hero, has wrangled a truck and is planning to transport people and food to the Regina meeting place. Because of its illegal nature, their mission is thwarted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. But only briefly. Humour, suspense and music enliven this short historical drama.
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MacPhersonMartine Chartrand 2012 10 minThis animated film by Martine Chartrand (Black Soul) recounts the friendship between a young Félix Leclerc and Frank Randolph Macpherson, a Jamaican chemical engineer and university graduate who worked for a pulp and paper company. An inveterate jazz fan, Macpherson inspired Leclerc, who wrote a song about the log drives and entitled it “MacPherson” in honour of his friend. Paint-on-glass animation shot with a 35mm camera.
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Sunshine and Eclipse (1927-1934)1960 28 minThis short documentary is an overview of the events that marked Canada between 1927 and 1934. It shows a confident and prosperous Canada expanding in all directions until the stock market crash of 1929. Despite it all, Canada maintains an optimistic outlook. The period is witness to bargains by mail order, extremes in women's fashions, political seesawing, hockey broadcasts by a very youthful Foster Hewitt, and the word "quintuplets" in every headline.
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Twilight of an Era (1934-1939)1960 29 minThis documentary examines some of the important events in Canada during the Depression years: the Moose River mine disaster, the great drought on the prairies and the introduction of a transatlantic air service between Canada and Europe. The film also looks at the major world events that influenced Canada: the abdication of the king of England; civil war in Spain; Hitler's rise to power and Canada's declaration of war on Germany. Part of the Between Two Wars series.
