Short films in Canada

Abstract

(1) SPEAKING OF MOVIESDirector: Michael Ostroff. Narrator: Laurie Lapierre. Canada 1994, 24 min. Pioneer filmmaker Gordon Sparling speaks out the title -- he was over 90 then and, like much of Canadian film history, long forgotten. This little documentary gives a brief glimpse of Sparling's talents, and whets the appetite for more of the lively and punchy "shorts" he made as head of production at Associated Screen News in Montréal from 1930-1954. These ten-minute theatrical entertainments were shot inexpensively and covered many subjects, with music, drama and humour abounding, and in the 1930's were being produced at the rate of one a month. Among the tiny excerpts in this film, Rhapsody in Two Languages was perhaps the most well-known, but it's fascinating to see "Music from the Stars" presenting a young Horace Lapp and his orchestra. Horace also lived to a ripe old age, and for many...