Gordon Sparling

Filmes

The Queen in Canada, 1964
Director
This short documentary follows Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh as they visit Canada to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Confederation. A hundred years earlier, the Fathers of Confederation had gathered in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, to discuss the idea of a united Canada. At a time when Canadians are once again reassessing the nature and role of the diverse communities within Canada, the Queen’s arrival unites onlookers in the idea of Canada as one great nation.
The Water Dwellers
Director
This short documentary introduces us to a town where no one pays rent: Simoom Sound in central British Columbia, where loggers live on sturdy river craft. Every week there are visitors: the general storekeeper, the flying postman and most importantly, the forest ranger, who is ever alert to the threat of fire.
The Fletcher Affair
Production Assistant
Circus on Ice
Director
Based on the 40th Annual Carnival of the Toronto Skating Club.
The Roaring Game
Director
Documentary about curling in Canada. It shows: slow motion shot of sweepers clearing the path of the rock; Ken Watson, head of a Canadian championship curling team, demonstrating curling shots; taking care of the curling rink; scenes from Scotland, where granite is made into curling stones); women curling; rules of the game; overhead shot of children curling with homemade cement stones in the jam tin league in Regina (named for the jam tins filled with cement to make stones); high school curling leagues in Western Canada; highlights of a game between two teams skipped by Ken Watson and Jimmy Welsh; outdoor march by curlers and kilted marching band; and scenes of Canadian Curlers.
Ski in the Sky
Director
Documentary about skiing in the Rockies. It shows: skiers coming out of a lodge; attaching seal fur skins to skis to give traction for climbing; protecting eyes with sunglasses and skin with face cream; skiers with their guide; two skiers risking their safety by skiing without a guide; the guide racing to stop the two skiers from skiing over a precipice; the two skiers joining the group; and the skiers arriving at a cabin for a rest.
Canadian Headlines of 1947
Director
A compilation of Canadian news stories from 1947 including: long skirts, a new look in women's fashion; scenes of a record snow storm; a representative group of Canadians receive the first Canadian citizenship certificates at the Supreme Court of Canada; 18-year-old Barbara Ann Scott in Ottawa after winning the amateur European and World figure skating championships and being presented the trophy by Governor General Viscount Alexander for defending her North American title; postage stamps that commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dr. Alexander Graham Bell including shots of his home in Brantford, Ontario; the Dominion Ski Championships at Mont Ste-Anne, Quebec with twins Rhoda and Rhona Wurtele of Montreal and Tom Mobraaten of Vancouver.
The Thousand Days
Director
Associated Screen Studios' 'The Thousand Days' is a dramatic, impressionistic review of an historic one thousand days--since September 1939. You see Winston Churchill speaking to the Canadian Parliament, you see activities in the largest machine gun factory in the world (Canadian), factories producing shells, tanks, army vehicles.
Did You Know That? #6
Director
Royal Banners Over Ottawa
Director
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (later Queen Mother) in the royal carriage.
Ballet of the Mermaids
Director
A fairy watches mermaids (humans) swim
Return of the Buffalo
Director
A 1938 NFB short. Part of a series called 'Canada Cameos' that traces the history of buffalo in Alberta, it's threat of extinction and the efforts to protect it as an endangered species. Narrated by Lorne Greene. (black and white)
Did You Know That? Third Edition
Director
This documentary is a compilation of unusual facts about Canada. It includes trains which travel in air, eels which swim to the market, and a ship that keeps afloat with its bottom and sides full of holes. Narrator Corey Thomson gives explanations in this educational short.
Crystal Ballet
Director
Music from the Stars
Director
Picking Locks
Director
Canadian non-fiction film depicting the operation and purposes of five canals.
Kingdom for a Horse
Director
Old Dobbin talks about his flashy relatives, race horses, jumpers, fire horses, cavalry mounts.
Rhapsody in Two Languages
Editor
Rhapsody in Two Languages is a city symphony film reminiscent of the work of Walter Ruttmann and Dziga Vertov, a paean to '30s Montreal that contrasts old and new: horse-drawn carts, flashy new automobiles, busy streets, jaywalking monks, and wild nightlife, with overlaps and spinning images that suggest just how out of control things could get when the sun went down.
Rhapsody in Two Languages
Producer
Rhapsody in Two Languages is a city symphony film reminiscent of the work of Walter Ruttmann and Dziga Vertov, a paean to '30s Montreal that contrasts old and new: horse-drawn carts, flashy new automobiles, busy streets, jaywalking monks, and wild nightlife, with overlaps and spinning images that suggest just how out of control things could get when the sun went down.
Rhapsody in Two Languages
Writer
Rhapsody in Two Languages is a city symphony film reminiscent of the work of Walter Ruttmann and Dziga Vertov, a paean to '30s Montreal that contrasts old and new: horse-drawn carts, flashy new automobiles, busy streets, jaywalking monks, and wild nightlife, with overlaps and spinning images that suggest just how out of control things could get when the sun went down.
Rhapsody in Two Languages
Director
Rhapsody in Two Languages is a city symphony film reminiscent of the work of Walter Ruttmann and Dziga Vertov, a paean to '30s Montreal that contrasts old and new: horse-drawn carts, flashy new automobiles, busy streets, jaywalking monks, and wild nightlife, with overlaps and spinning images that suggest just how out of control things could get when the sun went down.
Grey Owl's Strange Guests
Director
A canadian cameo production with Grey Owl produced by special arrangement with the national parks of canada.
Hockey Champions
Director
The fourth and final game in the 1933 playoffs for the Stanley Cup played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. The match, between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New York Rangers, is described by the well-known sports commentator Foster Hewitt. Hewitt also interviews the players and coaches of both teams in their respective dressing rooms. Scoreless at the end of regulation time, the game goes into overtime: now the first goal scored will decide the game. The Rangers score to take the Cup.
Grey Owl's Little Brother
Director
The story of the friendship between Grey Owl and a beaver. Sheltered and fed by Grey Owl through babyhood, the little beaver is reluctant to return to his own people. But when he does, Grey Owl (Archie Belaney) is adopted by the entire beaver tribe. The film shows Grey Owl playing with his beaver friends and re-enacting the finding of the baby beaver.
Carry on, Sergeant!
Assistant Director
A group of workers decide to join the army in the Great War. The indulge themselves in the side benefits to being soldiers, and one of them marries a French waitress.