You are here

The Royal Tour of Canada

Accession number: 
1939.0040

Producers:

Directors:

Scriptwriters:

Narrators:

Music:

Sound:

Editors:

Production Years: 
1939

Languages:

  • English
Film Properties: 
  • 35mm
  • Black and White
  • Sound
Length (feet): 
5000 (35mm)
Length (minutes): 
53

Subjects:

Holding Institutions: 

Library and Archives Canada: 35mm, Digibeta.
"Documentary about the 1939 Royal Tour. It shows: the arrival of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in Quebec and ceremonies there; actuality of speech in French by Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis; actuality of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King proposing a toast and making a speech at a state dinner; actuality of speech by King George VI at state dinner; visit to Montreal; ceremonies at Ottawa, including actuality of speech by the Queen at the site of the new Supreme Court building and by the King at the National War Memorial; arrival and ceremonies in Toronto, including the King's Plate horse race; actuality of speech by Manitoba Premier, John Bracken, in Winnipeg and coverage of other ceremonies in Winnipeg; highlights of the visit to Regina, including actuality of a speech by a member of the Saskatchewan legislature and a visit to RCMP headquarters; visit to Banff, Alberta, including a shot of the King and Queen with Mackenzie King; visit to Vancouver; visit to Victoria; actuality speech by Premier Thomas Dufferin Pattullo; actuality of speech by the King; visit to Edmonton; actuality of speech by Alberta Premier William Aberhart; scenes of visits to unnamed places on the Prairies, Sudbury, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Halifax; and the ship leaving Canada at the end of the visit."

Comments: 
"This excerpt, taken from a documentary about the visit of King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth to Canada in 1939, shows William Lyon Mackenzie King hosting a banquet for them in Toronto. Note the difference between the clarity of the voice-over narration and the muffled sound of the Prime Minister's toast. Newsreels tended to favour voice-over narration because recording sound on location was often difficult. Associated Screen News reused this sequence in its Mackenzie King biography "Highlights from the Parliamentary Life of the Right Honourable William Lyon Mackenzie King" (Library and Archives Canada).