# Eye Witness (Canadian film series)

Eye Witness was a current events film series, produced by the National Film Board of Canada, which ran from 1947 to 1958. It ran concurrently in Quebec as Coup d'oeil.
In 1940, the National Film Board (NFB) created the morale-boosting propaganda series Canada Carries On, which was funded by the Wartime Information Board. When the war ended in 1945, the series lost its funding from that source, but the NFB continued with it until 1959.
At the time, Canada had a huge theatre-going public, and one theatre show would normally be a cartoon, a sponsored, promotional or informational film, and then the main feature. Canada Carries On was supplied for inclusion in the shows of all Famous Players theatres. In the mid-1940s, with heavy investment from The Rank Organisation of Britain, Odeon Cinemas came into being. It also needed content and, in 1947, the NFB answered with Eye Witness.
Eye Witness was less about propaganda and more about the NFB's mandate to show Canada to Canadians, and foster a greater sense of unity. It was also distributed by Columbia Pictures, which included Eye Witness in its international offerings. The show was issued monthly, with each reel lasting from nine to twelve minutes and, for the most part, containing three distinct stories. They were vignettes covering various aspects of Canadian life, and/or issues that Canadians cared about, and could take place anywhere in the country.
The show's first producer was Don Mulholland, who managed its difficult logistics by dispatching cameramen, rather than entire teams, to film stories. As time went on, and budgets were increased, production could include an entire crew. Until 1952, Lorne Greene was the narrator; from then on, narration was handled, mainly, by Budd Knapp, Fred Davis, Elwood Glover and Geoffrey Hogwood.
By 1958, an ever-increasing number of Canadians had televisions in their homes and theatres were running features. The NFB commissioner Guy Roberge cancelled Eye Witness and replaced it with the short-lived series Candid Eye.

## Episodes
### 1947

| Number | Title | Director/Camera | Producer | Length |
| 0 | Shipping Milk to Europe, Tuna Fishing, Shipping Grain to Britain, Garden Seed Industry | | Don Mulholland | 11 min. |
| 1 | Chalk River, Industrialization in South Africa | | Don Mulholland | 11 min. |

### 1948

| Number | Title | Producer | Length |
| 2 | Canada at the U.N. Security Council, Harvesting Hemlock in B.C. | Don Mulholland | 10 min. |
| 3 | European Immigrants Arrive in Halifax, Population Explosion in Yellowknife | Don Mulholland | 11 min. |
| 4 | Commercial Ice Fishing in Manitoba, Indian Health Service Doctor, Banff Winter Carnival, Barbara Ann Scott | Don Mulholland | 13 min. |
| 5 | Mass Housing Construction in Ottawa, Logs Head to Pulp Mills | Don Mulholland | 11 min. |
| 6 | Liberal Convention, Valleyfield Regatta | Don Mulholland | 11 min. |
| 7 | Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, Antgonish Highland Festival | Don Mulholland | 9 min. |
| 8 | Progressive Conservative Convention, Bird Dog Trials | Don Mulholland | 11 min. |
| 9 | Mackenzie King Retires, Crossroads for Ducks, Whaling Begins Again on the British Columbia Coast, Pennies from Canada | Don Mulholland | 15 min. |
| 10 | Gréber Plan, Terrace Bay, Floating Village | Don Mulholland | 10 min. |

### 1949

| Number | Title | Director/Camera | Producer | Length |
| 11 | Classroom on Rails, Disabled Civilians Workshop | | Don Mulholland | 11 min. |
| 12 | The Opening of Canada's Parliament | | Don Mulholland | 20 min. |
| 13 | Lumber Tugs Buck Flood-Swollen Fraser, Spring Round-up in B.C. | | Don Mulholland | 10 min. |
| 14 | Man-Made Desert, Police Boys' Club | | Don Mulholland | 11 min. |
| 15 | Man-Made Niagara, Irrigation Revitalizes Dust Bowl, Underwater Harvest | | Don Mulholland | 11 min. |
| 16 | Art in the Park, Billions in Black Oil, The Friendly Tides of Fundy | Nathan Clavier, Gordon Burwash | Don Mulholland | 11 min. |

### 1950

| Number | Title | Director/Camera | Producer | Length |
| 17 | Modern Magic with Liquid Air, Canada's Biggest Bird House, City Mobilizes for Crippled Children | | Don Mulholland | 11 min. |
| 18 | Salt Water Farmers Grow Fancy Crops, Regina Rainmaker, Springtime in the Sugar Bush | | Don Mulholland | 11 min. |
| 19 | Flying Farmers, Miser Makes Money for Others, Toronto Curbs Jay-Walkers feat. Edward Everett Horton, Landlubbers Become Salty Sailors | | Don Mulholland | 11 min. |
| 20 | Hunting the Rare Snow Goose, Slum Dwellers Get New Homes for Old, Mighty Men Match Muscle Magic | | Don Mulholland | 10 min. |
| 21 | B.C.'s Lady Legislator, Researchers Pave Skyways for Canada's Plane Makers, Cow Collects Currency, Then Caches Cash, Skiers Travel 5000 Miles to Challenge Famous Hill | | Don Mulholland | 11 min. |
| 22 | Alberta's Blood Indians, Music Master, Sky Sentries | | Don Mulholland | 11 min. |
| 23 | The Magic Isle in Toronto Bay, Nature Conscripted in War on Worms, Students Learn Lessons in the Sky | Grant McLean, Hector Lemieux, Maurice Constant | Don Mulholland | 11 min. |
| 24 | The Fine Art of Making Money, Sable Island: Graveyard of the Atlantic, B.C. Develops Schoolboy Rangers | John Foster | Don Mulholland | 11 min. |
| 25 | New Methods Feed the North, A Brain, a Voice - and Courage, From Ivy Walls to Sea and Squalls | Hector Lemieux, John Foster, Osmond Borradaile | Don Mulholland | 11 min. |

### 1951

| Number | Title | Director/Camera | Producer | Length |
| 26 | Their Hobby Is Saving Lives, Diana Discovers the Drama, Man-Made Hades - The Steel Mill | Hector Lemieux, Lorne C. Batchelor | Gordon Burwash | 10 min. |
| 27 | Halifax's Junior Bengal Lancers, Where the Big Ones Grow Bigger and Bigger, From Jobs and Schools to Swimming Pools, Alberta Blitzes Prairie Killers | Jean-Marie Couture, John Foster | Gordon Burwash | 11 min. |
| 28 | New Look on Rails, Dedication to the Dance, Fun in Fur Land | Ron Weyman, Allen Stark, Gordon Burwash | Gordon Burwash | 11 min. |
| 29 | Pied Piper of the Three R's, Radio Runs Water War, Church of the Open Road, Down-Under with Toronto's Subway Builders | Osmond Borradaile, Robert Humble, Lorne C. Batchelor, Jean-Marie Couture | Gordon Burwash | 9 min. |
| 30 | Still Gold in Them Thar Hills, Canada's New State Residence, Sister Pelagie, Trapping the Sea Lamprey, Flying Fashions | Julien St-Georges, Lorne C. Batchelor, Jean Roy, Hector Lemieux | Gordon Burwash | 11 min. |
| 31 | unknown | | | |
| 32 | Show World's Show Place, Nipissing's Net Prophet, Sarnia Unlimited | Hector Lemieux, Thomas Farley, Gordon Burwash | Gordon Burwash | 11 min. |
| 33 | The Ship that Never Sails, Freedom Jamboree, A Metal Mountain | John Foster, Walter A. Sutton, Walford Hewitson | Gordon Burwash | 11 min. |
| 34 | The Fireman Is a Grocer, Artistry in Clay and Cloth, Winter Morning | Grant McLean, Walford Hewitson, Hector Lemieux, Lorne C. Batchelor | Gordon Burwash | 11 min. |
| 35 | The Lonely Age: Sixty, Operation Niagara, Weekend in Herring Neck | | Gordon Burwash | 11 min. |

### 1952

| Number | Title | Director/Camera | Producer | Length |
| 36 | Cosmic Clock, Downtown Mountain, Grand Champs | Gordon Burwash, John Foster, Hector Lemieux, Gil LaRoche, Roger Racine | Gordon Burwash | 11 min. |
| 37 | Queer Careers, Defeating Delinquency, Tomorrow's Favourites | | Don Mulholland | 11 min. |
| 38 | Sea-Coast Service, White Water Highways, Fun and Fine Arts | Hector Lemieux, Walford Hewitson, E. Wilson | Gordon Burwash | 11 min. |
| 39 | Riches to Burn, Old Art--New Mould, Arctic Lifeline | Walford Hewitson, Don Peters, John Spotton, Douglas Wilkinson Jean Roy | Gordon Burwash | 11 min. |
| 40 | The Port of Flowing Grain, Modern Miracle: Surgery Is Safe, Home-Made Community | Walford Hewitson, Robert Humble | Gordon Burwash | 11 min. |
| 41 | Sabres at the Ready, Midnight Sculptors, Crime Detection at the Double | Thomas Farley, Walford Hewitson | David Bairstow | 11 min. |
| 42 | 27th Canadian Infantry Brigade at Hanover | Grant McLean | David Bairstow | 11 min. |
| 43 | Traffic Cops in Jumpers and Jeans, Gill Netters by the Dozen, A 'Canadien' in Paris | Walford Hewitson, Stanley Clinton, Jack Long, Grant McLean | David Bairstow | 11 min. |
| 44 | Whittlers' Village, Flying Farmer, The Children's Own Hospital | Gil LaRoche, John Foster, Thomas Farley, Walter A. Sutton, John Spotton | David Bairstow | 11 min. |
| 45 | Laval Keeps Up with the Times, Luxury Crop from Northern Lakes, Allied Airmen Train in Canada | Roger Blais, Lorne C. Batchelor, Walford Hewitson, Thomas Farley, Walter A. Sutton | David Bairstow | 10 min. |
| 46 | Gadget Ship Aids Mariners, Canadian Soldiers See Normandy Today, Maple Leaf Gardens Merry-Go-Round | Thomas Farley, Walter Sutton, Grant McLean, Gordon Burwash, John Foster | David Bairstow | 11 min. |
| 47 | Their Clinic's the World, Home on the Campus, The Plane that Beats the Bush | Grant McLean, Gordon Burwash, Walford Hewitson | David Bairstow | 11 min. |

### 1953

| Number | Title | Director/Camera | Producer | Length |
| 48 | Modes by Mail, Sentinel in the Gulf, School for Test Pilots | Grant McLean, Gordon Burwash, Jean Roy, Jacques Giraldeau, John Foster | David Bairstow | 10 min. |
| 49 | Backstage Artists, Bird Man of Grand Manan, The Looms That Crossed the Sea | Walford Hewitson, Lorne C. Batchelor, Thomas Farley, Walter A. Sutton, Gil LaRoche, John Spotton | David Bairstow | 11 min. |
| 50 | The Glass Makers, Return of the Beaver, Uranium City | John Spotton, Stephen Greenlees, Gil LaRoche, Lorne C. Batchelor | David Bairstow | 11 min. |
| 51 | Royal Ontario Museum Is a Popular Classroom, R.C.A.F. Teaches Wilderness Survival, Getting Together with Overseas Friends | | David Bairstow | 11 min. |
| 52 | Next Year's Newsprint on Its Way, Moppet Models | Jean Palardy, Hector Lemieux | David Bairstow | 9 min. |
| 53 | Immigrants from Holland | Grant McLean | David Bairstow | 11 min. |
| 54 | Ball Stars Start Young, An Auto a Minute, A Railroad Goes to Sea | Daryl Duke, Felix Lazarus, Jack Long | David Bairstow | 11 min. |
| 55 | Indian Canoe Experts Shoot White Water, Low-Cost College Stresses Books, Not Buildings, Canada's First Five-Pin 'Grey Cup' | Stephen Greenlees, John Foster, Gordon Burwash | David Bairstow | 11 min. |
| 56 | Scottish Shepherd Tries New Pastures, Outdoor Classrooms Help Children Catch Up, Canadian Experts Help Arab Farmers | Hector Lemieux, Ron Weyman, Grant McLean | David Bairstow | 11 min. |
| 57 | Light Plane Armada Makes Friendly Invasion, Canada's Vegetable Garden Beats the Season, Canadian Experts Help Arab Farmers | Julian Biggs, Grant McLean | David Bairstow | 11 min. |
| 58 | Canadian Works with U.N.'s Problem Refugees, Tractor Train Pushes Through Northern Wilderness | Ron Weyman, Grant McLean | David Bairstow | 11 min. |
| 59 | Bridging the Gap, Ancient Art, Modern Sport, V.O.N.: Everybody's Nurse | David Bairstow | David Bairstow | 11 min. |
| 60 | Tomorrow's Officers, This Unseen World, Scientists Uncover Prehistoric Alberta | Raymond Garceau, Lorne C. Batchelor, Maurice Constant, Jack Long | David Bairstow | 11 min. |

### 1954

| Number | Title | Director/s | Producer | Length |
| 61 | R.C.A.F. Keeps Watch on the Moselle, New NATO Brigade Takes Up Position | Robert Humble, David Bairstow | David Bairstow | 11 min. |
| 62 | All-Girl Chorus Makes Fine Music, First Cruise for a New Supply Ship | David Bairstow, Hector Lemieux | David Bairstow | 11 min. |
| 63 | Veteran Steamer Ends Record Service, Inside Story of a Lady's Mink Coat | Jack Long, Walford Hewitson | David Bairstow | 11 min. |
| 64 | A New Life for the Handicapped, Fishermen Hunt Battling Broadbills | Hector Lemieux, Walford Hewitson | Jack Olsen | 11 min. |
| 65 | Old Glory Weather Station, Easter in Jerusalem | Hector Lemieux, Ron Weyman | Jack Olsen | 11 min. |
| 66 | Canada Helps Pakistan Bridge the Gap of Centuries of Economic Adversity | Gordon Burwash | Jack Olsen | 11 min. |
| 67 | Apprentices Learn While Building School, Aerial Attack on Spruce Budworm | Fernand Ménard, Robert Anderson | Jack Olsen | 11 min. |
| 68 | Birth of a Book, Eskimos Work Arctic Coal Mine, Dispatch Riders Perform Cycle Capers | Walford Hewitson, Douglas Wilkinson, Peter Jones | Jack Olsen | 11 min. |

### 1955

| Number | Title | Director/s | Producer | Length |
| 69 | Spanish Decoys Curious Ducks, Snowmobile: Winter Transport, Maid of the Mist | Grant Crabtree, Hector Lemieux | Jack Olsen | 11 min. |
| 70 | Blessing of the Fleet, Canadian Singers Study Opera at La Scala | Allan Wargon, Ron Weyman | Jack Olsen | 10 min. |
| 71 | Connie MacFarlane: Seaweed Scientist, Capilano Western Railroad Appoints New President, Arctic Stone Carvers | Grant Crabtree, Hector Lemieux, Jean Palardy | Jack Olsen | 11 min. |
| 72 | The Salvation Army | William Davidson | Jack Olsen | 11 min. |
| 73 | Musical Holiday, Arctic Easter | Peter Jones, Douglas Wilkinson | Jack Olsen | 11 min. |
| 74 | Scientists of the Sea, Alcoholism: A New Approach | Jack Long, William Davidson | Jack Olsen | 11 min. |
| 75 | Army Trains Student Cooks, R.C.A.F. Re-supplies Arctic Weather Stations | Grant Crabtree, Wilfred Doucette | Jack Olsen | 11 min. |
| 76 | Valley of Contrasts, Noise! | Gordon Burwash, Peter Jones | Jack Olsen | 11 min. |
| 77 | Eating Is Their Business, Face-off for Future Hockey Stars, Boom Town Settles Down | Stephen Greenlees, Grant Crabtree, Hector Lemieux | Jack Olsen | 11 min. |
| 78 | Montrealers Take Molière to Paris, Sealing - Still a Dangerous Gamble | Bernard d'Aillencourt, Wilfred Doucette | Peter Jones | 11 min. |
| 79 | Ferries, Tankers, Frigates: Made in Canada, Caviar Comes from Canada's Queerest Fish, New Aircraft Joins Maritime Command | Walter A. Sutton, Grant Crabtree, Hector Lemieux | Peter Jones | 11 min. |
| 80 | Tired of Traffic? Try Motor Sport, John Furch: Glass Craftsman, Water Highway Supplies the North | Norman Klenman, Hector Lemieux | Peter Jones | 11 min. |
| 81 | New Life for Ghost Town Miners, School for Frogmen | Alvin Goldman, Hector Lemieux | Peter Jones | 11 min. |
| 82 | Canadian Artists In Paris, Dude Ranch Holiday | Felix Lazarus, Hector Lemieux | Peter Jones | 11 min. |

### 1956

| Number | Title | Director/s | Producer | Length |
| 83 | Vancouver Turns Out Expert and Responsible Motorists | Hector Lemieux | Peter Jones | 11 min. |
| 84 | Boy Pipers of the Black Watch, Consumers Unite to Solve Shopping Problems | Hector Lemieux, Tim Wilson | Peter Jones | 11 min. |
| 85 | Designer Captures Canada on Fabric, School for Sailors | Walter A. Sutton, Grant Crabtree | Peter Jones | 11 min. |
| 86 | Bar Mitzvah | Alvin Goldman | Peter Jones | 15 min. |
| 87 | Winter Dogs Days, Steelworkers Go To Press | Walter A. Sutton, Alvin Goldman | Peter Jones | 11 min. |
| 88 | The River Pilot - A Shepherd for Shipping, Featherland, Seminar on Skis | Grant Crabtree, Hector Lemieux | Peter Jones | 11 min. |

### 1957

| Number | Title | Director/s | Producer | Length |
| 89 | Star Gazers Explore the Heavens, Science Exploits the Woodlot, Adventure Aboard a Brigantine | Peter Jones | Peter Jones | 11 min. |
| 90 | Apple Garden of Québec, A Great Inventor Is Remembered | Maurice Blackburn, Grant Crabtree | Peter Jones | 11 min. |
| 91 | A Quarter Century of Cellophane, Eagle Evangelist | Maurice Blackburn, William H. Carrick | Peter Jones | 11 min. |
| 92 | Transport on Trial, Cape Breton's Contented Chairmaker | Hector Lemieux, Grant Crabtree | Peter Jones | 10 min. |
| 93 | Inside the Trucking Business | Hector Lemieux | Peter Jones | 11 min. |
| 94 | House of Straw, Acadian Artistry in Rugs, Gibraltar of America | Hector Lemieux, Grant Crabtree, Maurice Blackburn | Peter Jones | 10 min. |
| 95 | How to Retire and Start Living, The Story of a Stamp | Hector Lemieux, Grant Crabtree | Peter Jones | 11 min. |
| 96 | School Timetable Suits Rural Students, Where Old Dolls Never Die, Nothing Stops the Scoot | Tim Wilson, Hector Lemieux, Irving Dooh | Tim Wilson | 10 min. |
| 97 | The Making of an Airline Stewardess | Hector Lemieux | Tim Wilson | 10 min. |
| 98 | Beauty Makes Business, Meeting of Minds, McGill Winter Carnival | Hector Lemieux, Tim Wilson | Tim Wilson | 10 min. |

### 1958

| Number | Title | Director/s | Producer | Length |
| 99 | Canada's Caribbean Campus, Playhouse in the Park | Hector Lemieux, Pierre Patry | Tim Wilson | 10 min. |
| 100 | Water Safety with the R.C.M.P. | Irving Dooh | Tim Wilson | 10 min. |
| 101 | Learning the Textile Trade, Island Heritage | Michel Brault, Grant Crabtree | Tim Wilson | 10 min. |