This film is part of Free
More Canadians Coming!
Welcome help from the Empire! And Pathé's newsreel cameraman is on the spot.
Overview
A newsreel report on The Duke of Connaught inspecting Canadian draftees. Connaught was the King’s uncle, a son of Queen Victoria, and Canada’s Governor General. As a dominion, Canada was automatically entered into the war, which exacerbated divisions between Canada’s English- and French-speaking communities. Though this item, served up for British cinemagoers, declines to allude to such matters...
This was one of three WWI-themed stories issued as Pathe's Animated Gazette No. 323b. The men on screen are volunteers: conscription came the following year, partly because recruitment in Quebec, where this film was shot, was fairly unsuccessful. Though filmed in the predominantly French Catholic city of Montreal, it’s likely that most of the men filling the screen here are Protestant English speakers. The final shot of pipers emphasises Canada’s ancestral connections to Scotland - and, by extension, its loyalty to Britain.
Related
The Somme The Somme
Drama-documentary 1927 109 mins Silent Location: Hounslow
Dramatic reconstruction of the Somme
Hedd Wyn Hedd Wyn
Historical drama 1992 115 mins Location: Trawsfynydd
The stirring story of poet Ellis Evans-Hedd Wyn, the Welsh poet posthumously awarded the Eisteddfod chair at Birkenhead in 1917 after failing to return from 1st World War trenches.
From Trinidad to Serve the Empire From Trinidad to Serve the Empire
Non-Fiction 1916 1 mins Silent Location: London
Colonial recruits from Trinidad meet the Lord Mayor of London during WWI
Anti-German War Cartoons Anti-German War Cartoons
Trick film 1915 5 mins Silent
Follow the lightning-quick hand of the artist behind a series of comic cartoon sketches poking fun at the enemy during WWI.
Nurse and Martyr Nurse and Martyr
Biopic 1915 11 mins Silent
The moving true story of wartime heroine Nurse Edith Cavell, recreated in the aftermath of her execution.
Lt Pimple and the Stolen Submarine Lt Pimple and the Stolen Submarine
Comedy 1914 14 mins Silent Location: Twickenham
The intrepid Lieutenant Pimple thwarts foreign enemies in an action-packed wartime spy spoof.
China O'Brien: The Reunion China O'Brien: The Reunion
Documentary 2024 60 mins
Cynthia Rothrock, Richard Norton and Keith Cooke reunite three decades on from the groundbreaking martial arts classic.
Women in Action Panel Discussion Women in Action Panel Discussion
Inside Film 2024 28 mins
Action Xtreme - the UK's leading action film studio - hosts this panel discussion with four leading women in action cinema - Soo Cole, Jo Rolison, Jadey Duffield and Ioanna Karavela.
Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 24 mins
Daniel Kokotajlo talks to Nia Childs about Starve Acre, his folk horror about a couple digging deep into grief in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.
Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 30 mins
Sky Peals director Moin Hussain and lead actor Faraz Ayub talk to Tomisin Adepeju about their magic realist drama.
Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell
Documentary 2024 42 mins
Documentary exploring the BFI National Archive’s role in rediscovering and remastering the early films of Michael Powell.
Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels
Short documentary 2024 12 mins
Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the BFI national archive, explores the origins of a series of comic travelogues, and Michael Powell's involvement in making them.