''Quebec – Path of Conquest'' is an 11-minute 1942 Canadian

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

, made by the

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 ...

as part of the wartime ''

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. The film was directed by Radford Crawley and produced by Raymond Spottiswoode. ''Quebec – Path of Conquest'' describes the importance of the province of Quebec to Canada and the Allied war effort during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The film's

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

version title is ''Québec, tremplin stratégique''.

Synopsis

In 1934,

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

had identified the resources of Eastern Canada, the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

and the

St. Lawrence Seaway The St. Lawrence Seaway () is a system of rivers, locks, canals and channels in Eastern Canada and Northern United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North America, as far inland ...

as prime targets in a future global "blueprint for conquest". An

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

attack on North America and Canada would be aimed at this region, and its resources. From rich timberlands in the hinterlands to the mines of the

Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield ( ), also called the Laurentian Shield or the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), th ...

, the bountiful resources of

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

have been harnessed for a new purpose. Many of the mineral products of the province, such as chrome, asbestos, mica, gypsum, magnesium and copper are important to the war effort. The population of Quebec, totalling more than three million residents and countless others living abroad have become a new front in the war. Farmers, factory workers and the ordinary citizen in Quebec have thrown themselves into the war effort. The workers who have a rich heritage of Québécois crafts and hand-made products have been turned into a modern industrial workforce able to handle the most complex and sophisticated machinery. One of the other significant contributions from Quebec are the weapons of war produced by the province's industry, mainly concentrated in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

where munitions factories and aircraft manufacturing plants are built and are running at full capacity. From the airfields along the eastern seaboard come the bombers that are built in North America, as they are ferried across the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. The seaports that also are found in this region provide not only the warships but also the merchant shipping from countless nations setting out in convoys to supply Great Britain and other Allies across the Atlantic. The importance of Quebec cannot be underestimated, nors is the resolve of its people to fight against Axis aggression.

Production

''Quebec – Path of Conquest'' was the part of the wartime ''Canada Carries On''

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

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 ...

series, produced with financial backing from the

Wartime Information Board The Wartime Information Board was a Canadian government agency established on 9 September 1942, succeeding the Bureau of Public Information, to coordinate the existing public information service of the government, supervise the release from govern ...

for the Director of Public Information, Herbert Lash."Recognize leadership of Winnipeg women."
'The Winnipeg Tribune'', April 18, 1941. Retrieved: March 29, 2016. Like '' Un du 22e'', the first NFB film produced by the French-language division about the Royal 22^e Régiment, ''Quebec – Path of Conquest'' was aimed specifically at encouraging young

French-Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the prov ...

men to support the war and enlist. The images of a mythic Quebec, complete with homespun community events was used to create the impression of a populace united in facing a common enemy, a complete departure from the actual resistance to the war that was occurring among the Québécois. Typical of the NFB's series of morale-boosting films, ''Quebec – Path of Conquest'' used the format of a

compilation documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill N ...

, relying heavily on

newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news, news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a Movie theater, cinema, newsreels were a source of cu ...

material in order to provide the background to the dialogue.Morris, Peter
"Film Reference Library: Canada Carries On."
''Canadian Film Encyclopedia''. Retrieved: March 29, 2016. Original footage was shot at Montreal's docks and factories, notably the Montreal factories where munitions and aircraft were manufactured. Ship and rail yards were also prominently featured. The deep baritone voice of stage actor

Lorne Greene Lorne Hyman Greene (born Lyon Himan Green; February 12, 1915 – September 11, 1987) was a Canadian actor, singer, and radio personality. His notable television roles include Ben Cartwright on the Western ''Bonanza'' and Commander Adama in ...

was featured in the uncredited narration of ''Quebec – Path of Conquest''. Greene's participation as a narrator was particularly useful in a

propaganda film A propaganda film is a film that involves some form of propaganda. Propaganda films spread and promote certain ideas that are usually religious, political, or cultural in nature. A propaganda film is made with the intent that the viewer will ad ...

, as he was well known for his work on both radio broadcasts as a news announcer at ''

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

''. In narrating many of the ''Canada Carries On'' series, his sonorous recitation led to nickname, "The Voice of Canada", and the "Voice-of-God".Rist 2001, p. 84. When reading grim battle statistics or narrating a particularly serious topic such as Quebec's role in the war effort, he was known as "The Voice of Doom"."Bonanza's Canadian Lorne Greene."
''Bite Size Canada''. Retrieved: March 29, 2016.

Reception

''Quebec – Path of Conquest'' was produced in 35 mm for the theatrical market. Each film in both the NFB ''

The World in Action ''The World in Action'' (aka ''World in Action'') was a monthly series of propaganda films from the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), created to boost morale and show the Allied war effort during the Second World War. The series was inspired ...

'' and ''Canada Carries On'' series was shown over a six-month period as part of the shorts or newsreel segments in approximately 800 theatres across Canada. The NFB had an arrangement with

Famous Players theatres Famous Players Limited Partnership was a Canadian-based subsidiary of Cineplex Entertainment. As an independent company, it existed as a film exhibitor and cable television service provider. Famous Players operated numerous movie theatre locati ...

to ensure that Canadians from coast-to-coast could see them, with further distribution by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

.Ellis and McLane 2005, p. 122. After the six-month theatrical tour ended, individual films were made available on 16 mm to schools, libraries, churches and factories, extending the life of these films for another year or two. They were also made available to film libraries operated by university and provincial authorities.Ohayon, Albert
"Propaganda Cinema at the NFB – The World in Action."
''National Film Board of Canada'', September 30, 2009. Retrieved: March 29, 2016.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Alemany-Galway, Mary. ''A Postmodern Cinema: The Voice of the Other in Canadian Film''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2001. . * Bennett, Linda Greene. ''My Father's Voice: The Biography of Lorne Greene''. Bloomington, Indiana: iUniverse, Inc., 2004. . * Ellis, Jack C. and Betsy A. McLane. ''New History of Documentary Film''. London: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2005. . * Khouri, Malek. ''Filming Politics: Communism and the Portrayal of the Working Class at the National Film Board of Canada, 1939-46.'' Calgary, Alberta, Canada: University of Calgary Press, 2007. . * Lerner, Loren. ''Canadian Film and Video: A Bibliography and Guide to the Literature''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997. . * Nohlen, Dieter, ed. ''Elections in the Americas: A Data Handbook, Volume I, North America, Central America and the Caribbean''. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. . * Rist, Peter. ''Guide to the Cinema(s) of Canada''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001. .

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Quebec - Path of Conquest 1942 films Canadian black-and-white films Canadian aviation films Canadian short documentary films Columbia Pictures short films Canadian World War II propaganda films National Film Board of Canada documentaries 1942 short documentary films Black-and-white documentary films Films scored by Lucio Agostini Documentary films about Montreal Canada Carries On Quebec films 1940s English-language films 1940s Canadian films English-language short documentary films English-language Canadian films English-language war films