''Eye Witness'' was a current events film series, produced by the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

, which ran from 1947 to 1958. It ran concurrently in Quebec as ''Coup d'oeil''. In 1940, the National Film Board (NFB) created the morale-boosting propaganda series ''

Canada Carries On ''Canada Carries On'' (French: ''En avant Canada'') was a series of short films by the National Film Board of Canada which ran from 1940 to 1959. The series was initially created as morale-boosting propaganda films during the Second World War. Wit ...

'', which was funded by 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 governm ...

. When the war ended in 1945, the series lost its funding from that source, but the NFB continued with it until 1959. At the time, Canada had a huge theatre-going public, and one theatre show would normally be a cartoon, a sponsored, promotional or informational film, and then the main feature. ''Canada Carries On'' was supplied for inclusion in the shows of all

Famous Players Famous Players Limited Partnership, DBA Famous Players, is 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 m ...

theatres. In the mid-1940s, with heavy investment from

The Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribut ...

of Britain,

Odeon Cinemas Odeon, stylised as ODEON, is a cinema brand name operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Norway, which along with UCI Cinemas and Nordic Cinema Group is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group subsidiary of AMC Theatres. It uses the famous name of ...

came into being. It also needed content and, in 1947, the NFB answered with ''Eye Witness''. ''Eye Witness'' was less about propaganda and more about the NFB's mandate to show Canada to Canadians, and foster a greater sense of unity. It was also distributed by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

, which included Eye Witness in its international offerings. The show was issued monthly, with each reel lasting from nine to twelve minutes and, for the most part, containing three distinct stories. They were vignettes covering various aspects of Canadian life, and/or issues that Canadians cared about, and could take place anywhere in the country. The show's first producer was Don Mulholland, who managed its difficult logistics by dispatching cameramen, rather than entire teams, to film stories. As time went on, and budgets were increased, production could include an entire crew. Until 1952,

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

was the narrator; from then on, narration was handled, mainly, by Budd Knapp, Fred Davis,

Elwood Glover William Elwood Glover (11 May 1915 - 14 November 1990) was a Canadian radio and television broadcaster who was best known as host of ''Elwood Glover's Luncheon Date''. Born in Carmel, Saskatchewan on 11 May 1915, Glover began his 46-year broadcas ...

and Geoffrey Hogwood. By 1958, an ever-increasing number of Canadians had televisions in their homes and theatres were running features. The NFB commissioner

Guy Roberge Guy Roberge (January 26, 1915 – June 21, 1991) was a Canadian journalist, lawyer, politician and civil servant. He also served as Canada's Government Film Commissioner during the 1950s and 60s, in which capacity he ran the National Film Board o ...

cancelled ''Eye Witness'' and replaced it with the short-lived series ''Candid Eye''.

Episodes

1947

1948

1949

1950

1951

1952

1953

1954

1955

1956

1957

1958

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eye Witness Film series introduced in 1947 Newsreels National Film Board of Canada documentary series Columbia Pictures film serials Lists of Canadian films Short film series 1940s Canadian films 1950s Canadian films