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Research Prompt #4 - Resource Extraction

Kyla Rose Smith, Concordia University

This collection comprises films focused on Canada’s natural resources, including water and oil, infrastructures of extraction (oil wells, hydroelectric dams), and the documentation and public relations efforts related to the construction of these infrastructures. Using film, companies, government ministries, and news agencies explained and promoted the work of resource extraction taking place across the country. The films were likely screened in educational institutions, as part of company training exercises, at public meetings, and at libraries. The collection will be of interest for engineering historians, cultural geographers, and those with an interest in the history of large-scale public works projects in Canada.

Films focused on hydroelectric plants located along near Niagara Falls represent efforts, mainly by the Ontario Provincial Government, to educate the public about their function. The films promote the modern, clean energy produced by hydroelectric plants as improving the everyday life of its users. In addition, through impressive photography and enthusiastic voiceover narration, the films present hydroelectric projects as engineering marvels and a point of pride for Canadians. This is particularly interesting given their proximity to the Niagara Falls tourism area, internationally known as a natural wonder.

CESIF Films by Title

Canyon of Destiny

(1967, English, Sound, Colour, 16mm, 27 mins)
Accession Number: 1967.0013
Sponsor: British Colombia Hydro and Power Authority
Producer: Lew Parry Film Productions
Director: Lew Parry
Holding Institutions: Langara College, Vancouver (VHS); Library and Archives Canada (16mm)
Description: This film profiles the planning and construction of the W.A.C. Bennett Dam, a hydroelectric dam on the Peace River in Northern British Colombia. Construction began in 1963 and the dam was officially opened in 1968. This film was likely used as a public relations and educational tool for BC Hydro, the provincially owned company which undertook the project.
CESIF Link: Canyon of Destiny

Current Gossip

(1922, English, Silent, Black and White, 28mm, 15 mins)
Accession Number: 1922.0002
Sponsor: Ontario Motion Picture Bureau
Producer: Filmcraft Industries
Distributor: Ontario Motion Picture Bureau
Holding Institution: Library and Archives Canada (28mm, 35mm, VHS)
Description: This film explains the technological workings of lamps, meters and other electrical equipment in the laboratory of the Queenston-Chippawa Hydroelectricity Plant near Niagara Falls, Ontario. It is narrativized through dialogue between characters “Miss Electra” and “John Citizen” who discuss the equipment and its accuracy. It includes many shots of workers operating the machinery, including making measurements, switchboard-like panels with levers and wires, the testing of electrical insulating materials, and read-outs with oscillographs.
This film was likely produced to educate factory workers on the functions of the hydro plant. The film’s sponsor, the Ontario Motion Picture Bureau, was active in efforts to promote public works in the province, including the building of highways and other “modern” infrastructure.
CESIF Link: Current Gossip

The Fabulous Oil Sands

(1967, English, Sound, Colour, 16mm, 9 mins)
Accession Number: 1967.0071
Sponsors: Canadian Bechtel Ltd.; Bechtel Corporation
Producer: Richard S. Finnie
Director: Richard S. Finnie
Holding Institution: Library and Archives Canada (16mm)
Description: Film documents infrastructure development at the Athabasca Oil Sands in Northern Alberta and its contribution to the growth of nearby Fort McMurray, Alberta. The film’s main sponsor, Bechtel Corporation, was involved in the construction of infrastructure necessary to the extraction of the crude oil at the site. The film serves as a public relations outlet for the company and the oil sands themselves, especially in depicting nearby “boomtown” Fort McMurray.
Related Research Materials: Documentary filmmaker Richard S. Finnie worked for the Bechtel Corporation; an American engineering and project management company involved in the construction of oil pipeline infrastructure in Canada. The Richard S. Finnie archival collection is housed at Stanford University: library.stanford.edu/collections/richard-finnie-collection
CESIF Link: The Fabulous Oil Sands
Watch online: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXo5Te26_qU

Futures in Oil

(1956, English, Sound, Colour, 16mm, 22 mins)
Accession Number: 1956.0038
Sponsor: Canadian Petroleum Association
Producer: Lew Perry
Distributor: Canadian Petroleum Association
Director: Robert Anderson
Holding Institution: Library and Archives Canada (16mm)
Description: Educational film sponsored by the Canadian Petroleum Association demonstrating all processes in oil extraction. Details include examination of fossils in rock formations under microscope, engineers and oil riggers at a rig site, and scenes at oil industry research laboratories.
Bibliography:
Crawley Films, Free Films: Directory of Free 16mm Sponsored Films in Canada (Ottawa: Crawley Films, 1969)
CESIF Link: Futures in Oil

Harnessing the South Saskatchewan

(1963, English, Sound, Colour, 27 mins)
Accession Number: 1963.0012
Sponsor: South Saskatchewan River Development Commission
Producers: Cherry Film Productions; Evelyn Cherry
Distributor: National Film Board of Canada
Directors: Evelyn Cherry; Lawrence W. Cherry
Holding Institution: Library and Archives Canada (16mm, VHS)
Description: Film depicts construction of the Gardiner and Qu’Appelle River Dams on the South Saskatchewan River. The construction was undertaken to create a lake reservoir that would irrigate drought-plagued areas of prairie and for hydro power generation. The film was sponsored by the South Saskatchewan River Development Commission and was likely designed as a public relations tool.
CESIF Link: Harnessing the South Saskatchewan

Hydroelectric Power on the Farm

(1923, English, Silent, Black and White, 28mm, 15 mins)
Hydroelectric Power on the Farm, 1923  

Accession Number: 1923.0021
Sponsor: Ontario Motion Picture Bureau
Producer: Filmcraft Industries
Holding Institution: Library and Archives Canada (28mm, 35mm, Digibeta, VHS)
Alternate Title: Hydro Power on the Farm
Description: Film produced to inform public of the merits of new technologies and advancements in hydroelectric power. In its educational aim, the film follows a familiar didactic strategy. In the first scenes, emphasis is placed on demystifying electricity transmission towers and power lines, with shots depicting this modern infrastructure, originating at power generation stations at Niagara Falls and Kitchener, and stretching across pastoral landscapes and along country lanes. The next section shows domestic scenes of an electrified kitchen in a farm house, where a woman demonstrates an electric cream separator and a washing machine. A family sits down to breakfast with their electric amenities including a coffee percolator and a toaster. A sequence of shots showing women doing household work with an electric iron and a vacuum cleaner is intercut with titles that emphasize electricity’s benefits as giving freedom from household drudgery. In the final section, electrified farming tools are shown, including a cow milking device and grain threshing tools. Thanks to modern electric appliances, the film promises that more efficient work time equals more leisure time. On the final title card, the film announces the government mandate to improve the living conditions and production on Ontario farms with a simple motto: “Co-operation Means Success.”
This is one of a number of films produced during the 1920s and sponsored by the Ontario government to publicize the province’s industrial and agricultural endeavours, including the recent construction of the Queenston-Chippawa Hydroelectricity Plant, a publicly owned generating station near Niagara Falls, Ontario.
CESIF Link: Hydroelectric Power on the Farm
Watch online: www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdgWKs8UH10

Hydro Development on the Severn River

(1920-1922, English, Silent, Black and White, 28mm, 6 mins)
Accession Number: 1920.0017
Sponsors: Ontario Motion Picture Bureau; Ontario Hydroelectric Commission
Producer: Filmcraft Industries
Alternate Title: Power Development on the Severn River
Description: Film documents the Big Chute Hydro Plant and Marine Railway on the Severn River in Central Ontario. A marine car is shown in operation, lowering a small motorboat down the chute. This machinery operates in place of a more conventional lock system. Other scenes focus on the hydro generation plant, including interior shots of the station showing transformers and other hydro electrical equipment.
CESIF Link: Hydro Development on the Severn River

Le Coeur du réseau

(French, English, Sound, Colour, 16mm, 21 mins)
Le Coeur du réseau, 1950

Accession Number: 1950.0029
Sponsor: Hydro-Québec
Producer: Associated Screen News
Distributor: Service de ciné-photographie de la province de Québec
Director: John E. R. McDougall
Holding Institutions: Library and Archives Canada (35mm, 16mm); Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Centre d’archives de Québec, QC (16mm)
Related Title:The Heart of the System (English Version)
Description: A film about how hydroelectric power is harnessed, transformed, and distributed by Hydro Quebec. Includes shots of transmission towers dotting the countryside and men working on the construction of the towers. The film focuses mainly on the sub-stations in Montréal and the communities they serve. The narrator explains how high voltage hydropower is split by transformers at sub-stations, then split again by transformers along city streets, and made safe and usable for consumers. An animated sequence demonstrates how the transformer works. More scenes at the sub-station showing control panels and various power metres. Since, as the narrator explains, demand for electricity is increasing, new sub-stations are being built. Scenes show construction of one sub-station. Finally, the last sequence of the film depicts the emergency response when inclement weather disrupts power lines.
The film shows how hydroelectric power benefits modern life, as it has become “vital to the well-being of modern Canadians” (13:00). The film aims to breakdown the mysteries of hydroelectrical generation and transmission through simple explanations. The narrative enforces the typical ideological message of other educational hydro films of this era, asserting that man has triumphed over nature and harnessed its power for his own needs. The film contends that the sub-station is “the symbol of man’s real victory” over nature.
Note: There are minor narrative differences between the English and French versions of this film.
CESIF Link:Le Coeur du réseau
Watch online:www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlPn9bS7Mho
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOGXIqnEFtI [English]

Le Harnachement d’un rapide

(1940, French, English, Silent, Black and White, 35mm, 30 mins)
Accession Number: 1940.0013
Sponsor: St. Maurice Power Co.
Producer: Associated Screen News
Holding Institutions: Library and Archives Canada (35mm, VHS, Betacam); Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Centre d’archives de Québec, QC (16mm)
Related Title: Rapids to Electricity (English Title)
Description: A film which details the design, development, and construction of the St. Maurice hydroelectric power station near La Tuque, Québec. Sponsored by the St. Maurice Power Company, this film likely served as a promotional tool.
CESIF Link: Le Harnachement d’un rapide

A Mile Below the Wheat

(English, French, Sound, Colour, 16mm, 17 mins)
A Mile Below the Wheat, 1950  

Accession Number: 1950.0004
Sponsor: Imperial Oil
Producer: Crawley Films
Distributors: National Film Board of Canada; Service de ciné-photographie de la province de Québec
Holding Institutions: Concordia University, Montréal (16mm); Library and Archives Canada (16mm); University of Alberta, Edmonton (16mm)
Related Title: Un mille sous le blés (French Version)
Description: Film covers the discovery and development of the Leduc Oil Field in Alberta. The film begins showing prairie fields and farming activity in the “little market town” of Leduc. The voice-over narration is from the point of view of a Leduc farmer. Although oil prospecting may have disrupted the farming way of life in the region, the farmer explains, this “different harvest [was] one we needed.” Then, the narration switches to the point of view of the Imperial Oil company. Cut to a sequence showing the construction of piping and new oil derricks, as the farmer explains how the landscape changed dramatically, but always insisting the changes were for the benefit to Leduc and Canada more generally. Dramatic and triumphant music accompanies an animated sequence demonstrating drilling techniques. The “business man” narrator explains that each farmer received compensation for allowing oil pipelines to be built on their land. The oil fields are touted for their contribution to Canadian economic prosperity and sovereignty: “money which would have gone to buy American oil was kept in Canada.” A final sequence explains the benefits the oil industry has brought to the once sleepy town of Leduc.
The film was sponsored by Imperial Oil, whose exploratory oil drilling in Alberta resulted in the discovery of crude oil at the Leduc No. 1 oil well in February 1947.
CESIF Link: A Mile Below the Wheat
Watch online: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph0be0OIhCE

Mining Front

(c. 1939-1940, English)
Accession Number: 1938.0029
Producer: National Film Board of Canada.
Description: One of a series of films produced during World War II to show how Canada’s economic and social life were progressing during the war effort. Along with the companion film Timber Front, this film aimed to draw public attention to the importance of Canada’s natural resources. Likely shown to non-theatrical audiences and adult education groups.
Bibliography:
“Dominion,” Film News (July 1940): 5.
CESIF Link: Mining Front

Pipe Line Patrol

(1964, English, French, Sound)
Accession Number: 1964.0089
Sponsor: Trans-Canada Air Lines
Producers: Crawley Films; Louis Lemkow
Director: Louis Lemkow
Holding Institution: Library and Archives Canada
Related Title: La patrouille du pipeline (French version)
Description: This film tells the story of the design and construction of the TransCanada Pipeline. It also covers developments and industries which have stemmed from the pipeline and Canada-wide access to natural gas resources in the west. The film’s sponsor, Trans-Canada Air Lines, was created by the Canadian National Railway in 1937 as passenger air travel became more common. The film may have been produced to highlight the air carrier’s country-wide flight routes, similar to the pipeline’s extensive coverage.
CESIF Link: Pipe Line Patrol

Pipeline for Progress

(1955, English, Sound, Colour, 16mm, 22 mins)
Accession Number: 1955.0008
Sponsor: Bechtel-Mannix-Hester
Producers: Richard S. Finnie; Bechtel Corporation
Director: Richard S. Finnie
Holding Institution: Library and Archives Canada (16mm, VHS, 1”)
Description: Film made to explain or demystify the construction progress of the TransCanada pipeline in the Niagara Region. The pipeline was the subject of fierce debate in parliament over ownership, as politicians clashed over whether the pipeline should be publicly or privately (majority American) owned. The film, described as a “colorful photo-story” by Canadian Business Magazine (June 1955, 94), was sponsored and produced by the major contractor for the construction work, the Bechtel Corporation. As such, it was likely conceived of as part of a public relations campaign to promote the pipeline. It was originally offered in both English and French versions.
Related Research Materials: Documentary filmmaker Richard S. Finnie worked for the Bechtel Corporation; an American engineering and project management company involved in the construction of oil pipeline infrastructure in Canada. The Richard S. Finnie archival collection is housed at Stanford University: library.stanford.edu/collections/richard-finnie-collection
CESIF Link: Pipeline for Progress

Power in Perpetuity

(1963, English, Sound, Colour, 16mm, 27 mins)
Accession Number: 1967.0038
Sponsor: Churchill Falls Corp.
Producers: Crawley Films; F.R. ‘Budge’ Crawley
Director: Sally MacDonald
Distributors: National Film Board of Canada; Modern Talking Picture Service
Holding Institution: Library and Archives Canada (16mm)
Description: Film covers the construction of the Churchill Falls hydroelectric generating plant on the Churchill River in Labrador, Canada. Includes footage of the construction of the power station. An animated sequence is used to explain how the generating station operates. Film also includes archival film and photographs of the falls.
Bibliography:
Crawley Films. Free Films: Sources of Free 16mm Sponsored Films in Canada (Ottawa: Crawley Films, 1969).
CESIF Link: Power in Perpetuity

The Powerful Horseshoe

(1954, English, Sound, Colour, 16mm, 22 mins)
Accession Number: 1954.0013
Sponsor: Ontario Hydro
Producer: Crawley Films
Holding Institutions: Library and Archives Canada (16mm, VHS)
Description: Promotional and educational film which profiles the newly constructed Sir Adam Beck II generating station on the Niagara River near Queenston, Ontario. The film includes an animated sequence which explains how water is diverted to the powerhouse to generate hydroelectricity. Similar to other films which focus on the hydro generating stations along the Niagara River, The Powerful Horseshoe evidences the Ontario provincial government’s concern with promoting hydroelectricity as an efficient and proudly “home-grown” natural resource.
CESIF Link: The Powerful Horseshoe

Saguenay

(1960, English, French, Sound, Colour, 16mm, 20 mins)
Accession Number: 1960.0043
Sponsor: Aluminium Limited of Canada
Producer: Crawley Films
Holding Institutions: Library and Archives Canada (16mm, VHS); Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Centre d’archives de Québec, Québec (16mm)
Description: Film focuses on the Saguenay River, located in Québec. Footage shows power dams and plants located along the river, including at Chute de Passes, Chute du Diable, Chute a la Savanne, Isle Maligne, Chute a Caron, and Shipsaw. The power harvested by this system is used to electrify aluminium smelters at Isle Maligne and Arvida. Sponsored by Alumnium Limited of Canada, this film likely served as a promotional tool for the company’s technical and engineering advancements. Rather than dwell on the manufacturing process of aluminium, the film “allows the viewer to sense the power and beauty of the region” (Alcan 16mm Film Catalogue, c. 1960).
Bibliography:
“Saguenay,” Alcan 16mm Film Catalogue (Montreal: Aluminum Company of Canada, Limited: c.1960), 20.
CESIF Link: Saguenay

Shawinigan Power

(1931, English, Silent, Black and White, 35mm, 19 mins)
Accession Number: 1931.0008
Sponsor: Shawinigan Water and Power Co.
Producer: Associated Screen News
Holding Institution: Library and Archives Canada (35mm, VHS)
Description: This film depicts activities of the Shawinigan Water and Power of Québec. Includes footage of several dams and power plants, including Laurentide, LaGabelle, St. Narcisse, Montmorency Falls, Natural Steps Falls, and Seven Falls. Also includes footage of substations at Victoriaville, Thetford Mines, and Trois Rivières. Scenes shot around the city of Shawinigan Falls show the positive impact an abundance of hydroelectricity has had on its prosperity. Numerous factories located there are pictured, including the Canada Carbide Company, Electro Products Company and the Wabasso Cotton Company. Finally, hydroelectricity’s benefits in the home are shown, demonstrated with a scene showing a family enjoying breakfast with the help of an electric toaster. Like other films sponsored by electrical companies, this one seeks to educate demystify the processes of collecting, generating, and transmitting hydroelectricity. Produced as it was in 1931, it additionally serves as advertising for the company’s product, and to persuade those without home electrification about the day-to-day advantages of this technological marvel.
Bibliography:
Motion Picture Distributors and Exhibitors of Canada, Canadian Motion Pictures 1914-1932 (June 1932), 6.
Gouvernement du Québec: Ministère des Communications, Direction Générale du cinema et de l’audiovisuel, Catalogue des films d’archives, volume 1 (Québec: Éditeur official du Québec, 1976), 28.
CESIF Link: Shawinigan Power

Tapping Niagara’s Power Resources

(1922, English, Silent, Black and White, 28mm, 14 mins)
Accession Number: 1922.0026
Sponsor: Ontario Government Picture
Producer: Pathéscope of Canada
Holding Institution: Library and Archives Canada (16mm, 28mm, 35mm, VHS)
Description: Film focuses on the then recently opened Queenston-Chippawa Hydroelectricity Plant (now known as Adam Beck I Hydroelectric Generating Station) on the Niagara River. In the film’s impressive opening sequence, footage shot from an airplane and a boat on the river showcase the “majestic panorama” of the Niagara River rapids and waterfalls. The next sequence demonstrates how nature’s “wild and awful energy” is harnessed in the powerhouse. Scenes of the dam and forebay show how the water is diverted to power turbines inside the powerhouse, the energy collected, and then the water returned to the river below the falls. Then, scenes show how the energy is distributed to the electricity grid. Finally, power transmission lines and pylons are shown dotting the countryside, described in an intertitle as “vitalizing tentacles.”
Part public relations measure, part nation-building exercise, this and other “Ontario Government Films” were promoted to audiences with the promise to “open your eyes to the resources of your own country” and were promoted as educational supplements to book learning.
CESIF Link: Tapping Niagara’s Power Resources
Watch online: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrvVXNDEAn4

The Last Frontier

(1934, English, Silent, Black and White, 16mm, 58 mins)
Accession Number: 1934.0019
Producer: Richard S. Finnie
Director: Richard S. Finnie
Holding Institution: Library and Archives Canada (16mm, VHS)
Description: This film covers transportation and mining developments in the Mackenzie River District, a region in the Northwest Territories. The footage covers from Fort Smith northward to Great Bear Lake. The fur trade, dominated by the Hudson’s Bay Company, was active in this region. The film was used by filmmaker Richard Finnie as a lecture aide to introduce audiences to the north.
Related Research Materials: Documentary filmmaker Richard S. Finnie worked for the Bechtel Corporation; an American engineering and project management company involved in the construction of oil pipeline infrastructure in Canada. The Richard S. Finnie archival collection is housed at Stanford University: library.stanford.edu/collections/richard-finnie-collection
CESIF Link: The Last Frontier

Non-CESIF Films Relevant for Researchers: NFB

Related Published Works

Canjels, Rudmer. "Films from Beyond the Well: Documenting the World of Shell." In Films that Work: Industrial Film and the Productivity of Media, edited by Vinzenz Hediger, and Patrick Vonderau, 243-255. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2009.

Druick, Zoë. Projecting Canada: Government Policy and Documentary Film at the National Film Board. Montréal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2009.

Evenden, Matthew. Allied Power: Mobilizing Hydroelectricity During Canada’s Second World War. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015.

MacFarlane, Daniel. "Fluid Meanings: Hydro Tourism and the St. Lawrence and Niagara Megaprojects." Histoire sociale/Social history 49, no. 99 (Summer 2016): 327-346.

Ontario Hydro. Hydroelectric power in the Niagara district, province of Ontario, Canada. [Toronto?]: Hydroelectric Power Commission of Ontario. CIHM/ICMH microfiche series; no. 86137, 1920. www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.86137/1?r=0&s=1

Sandwell, R.W., ed. Powering Up Canada: A History of Power, Fuel, and Energy from 1600. Montréal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2016.

Webb Jekanowski, Rachel. "Fuelling the Nation: Imaginaries of Western Oil in Canadian Nontheatrical Film." Canadian Journal of Communication 43, no.1 (2018): 111–25.

Archival and Museum Collections of Interest

Canadian Energy Museum
50339 Hwy. 60 South, Leduc County, T9G 0B2
www.canadianenergymuseum.ca/

Ingenium Canada
Ottawa, Ontario
Extensive archival collections including photographs, documents, related to agriculture, aviation, space, and science and technology.
ingeniumcanada.org