''Corral'' is a 1954

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

(NFB)

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

documentary about the life of a cowboy, directed by Colin Low and produced by Tom Daly. It featured cinematography by

Wolf Koenig Wolf Koenig (October 17, 1927 – June 26, 2014) was a Canadian film director, producer, animator, cinematographer, and a pioneer in Direct Cinema at the National Film Board of Canada. Early life Born in Dresden, Germany, Koenig emigrated to C ...

and a musical score by

Eldon Rathburn Eldon Davis Rathburn (21 April 1916 – 31 August 2008) was a Canadian film composer who scored over 250 films during his thirty-year tenure as a staff composer at the National Film Board of Canada. Known as "the dean of Canadian film composers",< ...

, and was produced as part of the NFB's postwar ''

Canada Carries On ''Canada Carries On'' () was a series of short films by the National Film Board of Canada which ran from 1940 to 1959. The series was created as morale-boosting propaganda films during the Second World War. With the end of the war, the series los ...

'' series.

Synopsis

With the aid of a trained dog, a

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

(Wallace Jensen) in southwestern

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, has located and rounded up a large herd of

wild horse The wild horse (''Equus ferus'') is a species of the genus Equus (genus), ''Equus'', which includes as subspecies the modern domestication of the horse, domesticated horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') as well as the Endangered species, endangered ...

s. Driving the

mustang The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish conquistadors. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once-domesticate ...

s into a corral at the Cochrane Ranch, he begins the process of "breaking" each horse. The process is a familiar one for cowboys that requires years of experience and a knowledge of handling horses. Selecting one wild horse that is marked with a white streak on its face, the cowboy

lasso A lasso or lazo ( or ), also called reata or la reata in Mexico, and in the United States riata or lariat (from Mexican Spanish lasso for roping cattle), is a loop of rope designed as a restraint to be thrown around a target and tightened when ...

es the horse and cinches the rope to a large stump, gradually pulling the animal closer to him. Once the wild horse gets used to his hands near the head, ears and neck, the cowboy ties a rope

halter A halter or headcollar is headgear placed on animals used to lead or tie up livestock and, occasionally, other animals; it fits behind the ears (behind the poll), and around the muzzle. To handle the animal, usually a lead rope is attached. ...

on its head. The next step is to introduce a loose halter, fitted without a bridle and bit and finally, a blanket and saddle on the half-broken steed. The cowboy mounts the rearing, high-spirited mustang, and driving through the open corral, rides rapidly at break-neck speed across the Alberta

Rocky Mountain Foothills The Rocky Mountain Foothills are an upland area flanking the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, extending from the Liard River in British Columbia southward into Alberta. Bordering the Interior Plains system, they are part of the Rocky Mountai ...

, until his mount is finally able to get used to his rider. The cowboy reins in the charging steed, slowing the gait to a trot, finally heading back to the ranch.

Production

Filmmaker Colin Low got the idea for the film after attending a cattle auction in 1952 with his father, who had worked as a foreman at the Cochrane Ranch, in what is now

Cochrane, Alberta Cochrane ( ) is a town in the Calgary Metropolitan Region of Alberta, Canada. The town is located west of the Calgary city limits along Alberta Highway 1A, Highway 1A. Cochrane is one of the fastest-growing communities in Canada, and with a pop ...

. The following summer, Low asked NFB colleague Wolf Koenig, an ex-farm boy, if he would like to come to Alberta to make a film about a cowboy. Koenig was in the NFB Animation Department, with film becoming his first live-action production using a new

Arriflex Arri Group () (stylized as "ARRI") is a German manufacturer of motion picture film equipment. Based in Munich, the company was founded in 1917. It produces professional motion picture cameras, lenses, lighting and post-production equipment. It ...

cinema camera fitted with a gyro stabilizer. ''Corral'' has no

narration Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

, although Low had been initially worried that he would need extensive narration to explain the process of horse breaking. The film represents a break in tradition for the NFB, which had until that time, relied heavily on narration in its documentaries. Low had left the narration for colleague

Stanley Jackson Stanley Jackson may refer to: * Stanley Jackson (cricketer) (1870–1947), English cricketer and politician * Stanley Jackson (gridiron football) (born 1975), quarterback * Stan Jackson (quarterback), quarterback for Cal Poly Pomona, set college fo ...

to write over the weekend. When Low and producer Daly arrived on Monday to see the finished film Jackson had said, "it's done." However, when they gathered around the

moviola A Moviola () is a device that allows a Film editing, film editor to view a film while editing. It was the first machine for motion picture editing when it was invented by Iwan Serrurier in 1924. History Iwan Serrurier's original 1917 concept f ...

to watch the film, the visual were accompanied only by Rathburn's musical score. "Where's the commentary?" someone reportedly asked. Jackson replied, "What would a commentary do for that?" The gentle guitar score and use of handheld camera also breaks with

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

's traditionally epic portal of the cowboy.Ris
2001, pp. 41–42.
/ref> ''Corral'' was shot in 1953 at the Cochrane Ranch. Low's father provided the horses and his top hand, "Wally" Jensen. Low had written a script but Jensen re-wrote it as they filmed. Film producer Tom Daly edited the film with Eldon Rathburn writing the score for two jazz guitarists, based on well-known cowboy songs.

Reception

In April 1954, ''Corral'' would play theatrically across Canada and in some American cities, including Washington, D.C. Individual films in the ''Canada Carries On'' series were further distributed worldwide by the NFB and were also made available to film libraries operated by university and provincial authorities. A total of 199 films in the ''Canada Carries On'' series were produced before the series was canceled in 1959.Ohayon, Albert
"Propaganda cinema at the NFB".
''National Film Board of Canada'', July 13, 2009. Retrieved: February 26, 2016.

Awards

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, Italy: First Prize, Documentary Films, 1954 *

Durban International Film Festival The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. It was founded in 1979 by Teddy Sarkin and Ros Sarkin. Presented by Centre for Creative Arts at the Univ ...

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

, South Africa: Second Prize/Bronze Medal, Documentary 1954 *

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), established in 1947, is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all titles are World, international, European or UK Premieres), in al ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland: Diploma of Merit, Arts, 1954 * Golden Reel International Film Festival, Film Council of America, New York: Recognition of Merit, 1955 * 7th Canadian Film Awards,

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

: Special Mention, Non-Theatrical Short 1955

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Evans, Gary. ''In the National Interest: A Chronicle of the National Film Board of Canada from 1949 to 1989''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2001. . * Rist, Peter Harry. ''Guide to the Cinema(s) of Canada''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001. .

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Corral (Film) Films directed by Colin Low (filmmaker) 1954 short documentary films National Film Board of Canada documentaries Canadian short documentary films Cowboy culture Black-and-white documentary films Documentary films about Alberta Films scored by Eldon Rathburn Films produced by Tom Daly Films about horses Canada Carries On Films about animals 1950s English-language films Canadian black-and-white films 1950s Canadian films English-language short documentary films