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Radio Broadcasting (11)
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Canada CallingDavid A. Smith 1949 18 minThis short documentary from 1949 looks at the state of radio in Canada. Focusing on the CBC, it illustrates the variety of radio fare available at the time by featuring snatches of favourite programs, including Trio Lyrique, Mart Kenney, the Toronto Symphony, the Happy Gang, forums, religious programs, drama and old-time music. Several key people involved in the business of broadcasting are introduced, as is the CBC International Service. -
CBQMDennis Allen 2009 1 h 6 minThis feature-length documentary pays tribute to CBQM, the radio station that operates out of Fort McPherson, a small town about 150 km north of the Arctic Circle in the Canadian Northwest Territories. Through storytelling and old-time country music, filmmaker and long-time listener Dennis Allen crafts a nuanced portrait of the "Moccasin Telegraph," the radio station that is a pillar of local identity and pride in this lively northern Teetl'it Gwich'in community of 800 souls.
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Canadians AbroadDon Haldane 1956 30 minThis short documentary from 1956 catches up with several talented Canadians who have found a home in the entertainment or arts scenes of London and Paris. Among them are Toronto-born Beverley Baxter, a baronet and MP who claims that London has a history of being invaded (first the Romans, now the Canadians), and then-aspiring novelist Mordecai Richler, who feels he has a better chance of making a living in England than he does back home.
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Family: A Loving Look at CBC RadioDonald Brittain & Robert Duncan 1991 49 minFamily offers a candid look at CBC Radio in action and the unique cast of characters who make up Canada's coast-to-coast radio family. The film brings home the enormous complexity of producing across six time zones, with the mandate to deliver quality programs, often live, throughout the country. Accomplished filmmaker Donald Brittain was able to capture critical moments of live radio in progress and documents the history and development of CBC Radio.
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The Great Electrical RevolutionLarry Bauman 1990 23 minThe Great Electrical Revolution is a charming story about a family that almost suceeds in toppling the powers that be. Grandad had left Ireland in the twenties, dreaming of a country estate in a land untouched by politics. Instead, he ended up in Moose Jaw, "a crazy town full of rum runners and trainmen." Set in depression-era Saskatchewan, the film recreates a time when families took refuge in the magic world of radio. When Grandad's old Marconi is short-circuited by the stingy power company, so begins "the great electrical revolution," and a good-natured comedy that pits the working class against the capitalists.
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My RadioKarine Godin 2013 19 minAcadians have been enamoured of their community radio station, CJSE, for 16 years now. The station is well rooted in the community and has become a unique observer of its day-to-day reality, evolution, culture and struggles, providing listeners with an image that corresponds to their ever-changing identity. This documentary was made as part of the 2012 Tremplin competition and produced with the collaboration of Radio-Canada. In French with English subtitles.
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Max in the MorningDavid Bairstow 1965 27 minThis short documentary joins radio satirist Max Ferguson at the microphone as he creates his weekday-morning program for the CBC. Shot inside his broadcasting booth, the film watches and records as Max ad-libs his way through zany interpretations of news events, with only the morning paper and his wit to guide him.
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The PerformerDonald Ginsberg 1959 58 minThis 1959 feature documentary is a foray into Canada’s art milieu. What is it like to be a Canadian artist? Answering this central question are Teresa Stratas, winner of Metropolitan Opera auditions; acclaimed lyric tenor Léopold Simoneau and his talented wife, soprano Pierrette Alarie; the National Ballet Company of Canada’s artistic director, Celia Franca and leading male dancer, David Adams; as well as jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, whom we visit at 3 o'clock in the morning at Boston's Storyville Club. The film also includes interviews with radio and television actor John Drainie, Christopher Plummer and Jean Gascon, director of Montreal's Théâtre du Nouveau Monde.
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TrafficopterBarrie Howells 1972 10 minThis short film is a portrait of Montreal as seen from a local radio station's traffic helicopter. Freeways, interchanges, bridges and downtown arteries are laid out in miniature. A seething, teeming spectacle, this film presents a unique view of the city with comments by the traffic guide, Len Rowcliffe.
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Voice of Canada1946 10 minThis is a lively account of the many-sided contribution of engineers, planners, producers, actors, musicians and technicians to the pleasure of Canada's radio listeners. Excerpts from popular programs like Stage '47, The Happy Gang, Prairie Schooner, and The Trio Lyrique are heard. The film ends with an indication of the activities of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's International Service.
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Wits EndRoger Blais & Douglas Tunstell 1952 10 minJane Mallet appears in Nature Woman as a physical fitness enthusiast interviewed by Peter Mews. The Commodores sing Ilklay Moor, and then Peter Mews returns in the comedy skit Ten Minutes with Marg Margetson, in which a woman radio personality answers listeners' problems.
