Favourite Documentaries: 1896-1959
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- DirectorAuguste LumièreLouis LumièreStarsMadeleine KoehlerMarcel KoehlerMrs. Auguste LumiereA train arrives at La Ciotat station.
- DirectorWallace A. CarlsonStarsJohn Randolph BrayWallace A. CarlsonWallace Carlson walks viewers through the production of an animated short at Bray Studios.
- DirectorBenjamin ChristensenStarsBenjamin ChristensenElisabeth ChristensenMaren PedersenFictionalized documentary showing the evolution of witchcraft, from its pagan roots to its confusion with hysteria in Eastern Europe.
- DirectorWalter RuttmannStarsPaul von HindenburgThis movie shows us one day in Berlin, the rhythm of that time, starting at the earliest morning and ends in the deepest night.
- DirectorDziga VertovStarsMikhail KaufmanElizaveta SvilovaA man travels around a city with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling invention.
- DirectorSergei EisensteinFootage of the aftermath of the January 14 1931 Earthquake in Oaxaca, Mexico.
- DirectorHugo LundStarsPete SmithA look at insect life through the lens of a microscope.
- StarsGayne WhitmanA look at the everyay life of Tahitian natives.
- DirectorHarry WattBasil WrightStarsArthur ClarkJohn GriersonStuart LeggShows the special train on which mail is sorted, dropped and collected on the run, and delivered in Scotland overnight.
- DirectorStuart LeggStarsLorne GreeneGérard ArthurWinston ChurchillThe people of Britain resist the German air force and navy with help from North America.
- DirectorFrank CapraAnthony VeillerStarsDouglas BaderArno BrekerWinston ChurchillThe official World War II US government account of Great Britain's stand against the Nazi war machine after the Dunkirk evacuation.
- DirectorGjon MiliStarsLester YoungGeorge 'Red' CallenderHarry EdisonCreated under the guidance of jazz impresario and Verve Records founder Norman Granz, this short captures the spontaneity of a jam session and is one of few film records of black jazzers of the day including tenor sax legend Lester Young.
- DirectorAlexander HammidMaya DerenTwo cats have a litter of 5 kittens and then nurse, teach and play with them.
- DirectorVan Campen HeilnerStarsKnox ManningBill McCormickGeorge PhillipsThis short documentary tells the story of Ontario, Canada's forest rangers who, with the aide of bush pilots, keep watch over the forests. Viewers see them fight a large forest fire that threatens the small village of Gogama.
- DirectorArthur BurrowsJean PalardyStarsRoger BauluJanette BertrandJuliette BéliveauA look at Montreal (in Canada), the world's largest French-speaking city after Paris, on a summer's night.
- DirectorPierre PetelStarsTherese CadoretteLucille CousineauGeorges Groulx-Documentary on Lafontaine Park in Montreal (Canada). There are black bears, foxes, wild cats, birds of prey; there are always children having fun under the watchful eye of parents, lovers and walkers. We meet people of all ages, all types, all genres, because every day all Montreal has appointment around the water of Lafontaine Park.
- DirectorJames H. SmithStarsJames A. FitzPatrickThis episode of Traveltalks visits the State of Virginia. In 1947, agriculture was the mainstay of economy. Tobacco, molasses from cane, and peanuts were the agricultural mainstays. The state capitol, Richmond, can boast the oldest legislature in the Western Hemisphere. There are many attractions including old caverns with beautiful rock displays.
- DirectorLeo HurwitzStarsAlfred DrakeMuriel SmithGary Merrill"Strange Victory" is about racial bias in post World War II America. Folowing "Native Land" in Leo Hurwitz' filmography, it uses some of the same techniques: dramatized scenes interspersed with scenes of compilation news reel footage, and scenes of evocative imagery. An epilogue about the civil rights movement, added in 1964 makes the arc of the film more complete.
- DirectorJacques Bobet
- DirectorDouglas Wilkinson
- DirectorThor HeyerdahlStarsThor HeyerdahlHerman WatzingerErik HesselbergA documentary about the Kon-Tiki expedition of the Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsDouglas EdwardsNat FleischerWalter CartierAfter a short study of boxing's history, narrated by newscaster Douglas Edwards, we follow a day in the life of a middleweight Irish boxer named Walter Cartier.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsFred StadtmuellerBob HitePedroTwo days in the life of priest Father Fred Stadtmuller whose New Mexico parish is so large he can only spread goodness and light among his flock with the aid of a monoplane. The priestly pilot is seen dashing from one province to the next at the helm of his trusty Piper Cub administering guidance (his plane, the Flying Padre) to unruly children, sermonizing at funerals and flying a sickly child and its mother to a hospital.
- StarsJames A. FitzPatrickA Traveltalks entry visiting Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada. After checking into Jasper Park Lodge on the shore of Beauvert Lake, scenic areas are explored such as Mount Edith Cavell, Athabasca River and Glacier, and Maligne Lake.
- DirectorLeslie McFarlaneStarsJean BéliveauGordie HoweMaurice RichardThis film short from the NFB looks at Canada's national sport - hockey - and include footage from a game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings.