Bernard Devlin

On the Spot was the first television series made specifically for TV by the National Film Board of Canada, and aired on CBC Television from 1953 to 1955. Each episode reported on a different aspect of life in Canada and was introduced with the line "The National Film Board’s up-to-the-minute report of what’s happening somewhere in Canada”. The series was originated by Bernard Devlin, with Robert Anderson as executive producer.

This short documentary features a portrait of Ottawa in the mid-20th century, as the nascent Canadian capital grew with force but without direction. Street congestion, air pollution, and rail traffic were all the negative results of a city that had grown without being properly planned. French architect and urban designer Jacques Gréber stepped in to create a far-sighted plan for the future development of Ottawa. With tracks moved, factories relocated, and neighbourhoods redesigned as separate communities, Ottawa became the capital city of true beauty and dignity we know today.

The story of union branch no. 100. The dismissal of a worker in a factory shows his colleagues the instability of their situation. From the discussion that followed this event germinated the idea of ​​a union. A national union is consulted, which appoints a representative to explain the advantages and operation of a workers' union. Branch No. 100 is created and immediately becomes a trading agency; subsequently, it obtains better working conditions for the workers. The spirit that presides over all the meetings demonstrates the democratic strength of a union.

This short film is a series of vignettes of life in Saint-Henri, a Montreal working-class district, on the first day of school. From dawn to midnight, we take in the neighbourhood’s pulse: a mother fussing over children, a father's enforced idleness, teenage boys clowning, young lovers dallying - the unposed quality of daily life.

This short film recreates the story of David Thompson – a man who, over the course of his lifetime, mapped a-million-and-a-half square miles of uncharted territory. His achievement remains unsurpassed.

This is a story of men against the sea. On the edge of the great sea lanes in the Gulf of St. Lawrence lies a tiny archipelago which is gradually shrinking from the ceaseless nibbling of the tides. Here, on the Magdalen Islands, live 10 000 sturdy fisherfolk, descended from fifteen Acadian families who, two hundred years ago, fled the threat of deportation. The film portrays the frugal but independent existence of these people and their relentless struggle to wrest a livelihood from a sea which reaches almost to their doors.

A short comedy about a group of skiers who end up spending their skiing weekend in the Gatineaus enjoying themselves despite their mishaps--but never making it onto the hill.

In a city the size of Montreal with thousands and thousands of motorized vehicles, traffic problems are difficult to solve. Here is a panorama of such problems. This film includes an interview with Mayor Jean Drapeau, when Montreal was still the metropolis of Canada.

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This short film explores the effect the war of 1812 had on pioneer settlements of the Upper St. Lawrence and Niagara regions. When Britain and the United States were at war, the feud spilled over into Canada, and farmers who had worked together to clear their land had to decide on which side their allegiance lay. When many took up arms to defend their new land against the "Yankee" marauders, a feeling of Canadian identity began to emerge.

In this documentary short, a superintendent at Vancouver's Stanley Park Zoo discusses issues related to feeding and acclimatization of birds and animals from other zones.

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This short film offers a glimpse into the life of Louis Hippolyte Lafontaine, the Chief Justice who died prematurely but left French Canada a legacy of political freedom. Shot entirely in Montreal, the film begins on the day of his death, and flashes back to tense moments throughout his life. French with English subtitles.

A demonstration of the basic skills required to ski.

Les Brûlés is a Canadian historical drama television miniseries by the National Film Board of Canada. It was first broadcast in 1957 on Radio-Canada, then dubbed into English and adapted for broadcast by CBC Television as a four-part series in 1962.

Staged in old Québec City, this film is about a rebel against the time-clock, whose hobby was snaring birds but whose dream was to escape the bonds of domesticity. A kindly satire of the dreamer in every man, the film is also a memorable portrait of Québec, the "Grande Dame" of Canadian cities.

Pioneers struggle to establish a town in the harsh unsettled wilderness of northern Quebec during the depression.

A glimpse behind the curtains of a puppet theatre is presented, showing the making of the marionettes and how they come to life in the hands of the puppeteer.

No description available.

A health problem causes a business leader to think about what will happen to his company after his death.