''Newfoundland Scene: A Tale of Outport Adventure'' is a 1951 Canadian documentary film, directed by F. R. Crawley. The film, which was sponsored by

Imperial Oil Imperial Oil Limited () is a Canadian petroleum company. It is Canada's second-largest integrated oil company. It is majority-owned by American oil company ExxonMobil, with a 69.6% ownership stake in the company. It is a producer of crude oil, ...

, was shot in 1949 to mark the admission of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation () was the process by which three British North American provinces—the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—were united into one federation, called the Name of Canada#Adoption of Dominion, Dominion of Ca ...

and depicted various scenes of life throughout Canada's newest province. It highlights Newfoundland's natural resources, with a focus on cod fishing,

seal hunting Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of Pinniped, seals. Seal hunting is currently practiced in nine countries: Canada, Denmark (in self-governing Greenland only), Russia, the United States (above the Arctic Circle ...

, and

whaling Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...

. Also looked at is transportation by

dog sled A dog sled or dog sleigh is a sled pulled by one or more sled dogs used to travel over ice and through snow, a practice known as mushing. Numerous types of sleds are used, depending on their function. They can be used for Sled dog racing, dog sl ...

; included is a scene where a team of

Malemute Malemute is the designation of an American sounding rocket family. The original Malemute had a maximum flight altitude of 165 km, a liftoff thrust of 57.00 kN, a total mass of 100 kg, a diameter of 0.41 m and a total length of 2.40 ...

s rebels against its leader, causing injury. It won the

Canadian Film Award The Canadian Film Awards were the leading Canadian cinema awards from 1949 until 1978. These honours were conducted annually, except in 1974 when a number of Quebec directors withdrew their participation and prompted a cancellation. In the 1970s ...

for Film of the Year at the 1952 Canadian Film Awards. It was reissued in the 1970s, with rerecorded narration by

Gordon Pinsent Gordon Edward Pinsent (July 12, 1930 – February 25, 2023) was a Canadian actor, writer, director, and singer. He was known for his roles in numerous productions, including ''Away from Her'', ''The Rowdyman'', ''John and the Missus'', ''A Gift ...

and some potentially controversial hunting scenes removed.Darrell Varga, ''Shooting from the East: Filmmaking on the Canadian Atlantic''. McGill-Queen's University Press, 2015. . p. 229.

References

External links

* 1951 short documentary films Canadian short documentary films Best Picture Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian black-and-white films 1950s English-language films 1950s Canadian films English-language short documentary films Films shot in Newfoundland and Labrador Films about seal hunting {{1950s-documentary-film-stub