New Canadian Film Industry

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 79, 27 December 1940, Page 10

New Canadian Film Industry

Ambitious Feature Being ANADA hopes to build up a film -producing industry. Canadians in all parts of the Dominion are taking part in “The 49th Parallel,” a full-length feature, starring Elizabeth Bergner, Leslie Howard and Raymond Massey.

r J''HE film is being produced by Ortus Films of London, with Michael Powell as director. He is best known for two pictures shown earlier this year, “The Lion Has Wings'’ and "UBoat 29.’’ The Canadian production is being made in agreement with the British Ministry of Information, and stresses Canadian-United States friendship, writes a correspondent.' Interior shots have been made at the Denham studios, England, but the outdoor scenes are being filmed in Canada.

This picture is one of a number of films now in production in Canada. The Dominion has a small movingpicture industry, mainly for the production of commercial, travel, and Government documentary films. Various attempts have been made to start

a motion-picture industry to produce feature films, but they have not been encouraging. Currently the main motion-picture producers are the Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau, Ottawa, and Associated Screen News, Limited, Montreal. These two organizations work closely together, and have been busy since the beginning of the war in producing films showing various aspects of Canada’s war effort, as well as travelogues. Now Canada hopes to supply a number of full-length features.

“The 49th Parallel” is the first feature to take in all parts of Canada in one film. Many Hollywood pictures in past years have contained sequences taken in Canada, but this production shows Canada in 1940, a nation at war.