''Flight 6'' is a 1944 Canadian

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

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 ...

and directed and primarily photographed by

Sydney Newman Sydney Cecil Newman (April 1, 1917 – October 30, 1997) was a Canadian film and television producer, who played a pioneering role in British television drama from the late 1950s to the late 1960s. After his return to Canada in 1970, Newman w ...

. The film is part of the ''

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 ...

'' series, which ran from 1940 to 1959. Newman was also the

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

for the series.Vahimagi, Tise
"Newman, Sydney (1917–1997)."
''

Screenonline Screenonline is a website about the history of British film, television and social history as documented by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute and funded by a £1.2 million grant from the National Lot ...

, ''. Retrieved: January 9, 2016. Many of the documentaries were created as morale boosting

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 ...

s during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

.Galloway, Bill
"Canadian Second World War propaganda films."
'' CBC'', 2015 (originally broadcast on March 31, 1979). Retrieved: January 9, 2016.

Synopsis

In 1944, Flight 6, a

Trans-Canada Air Lines Trans-Canada Air Lines (also known as TCA in English, and Trans-Canada in French) was a Canadian airline that operated as the country's flag carrier, with corporate headquarters in Montreal, Quebec. Its first president was Gordon Roy McGrego ...

Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra The Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra was an American civil passenger and cargo aircraft built by the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation during the late 1930s. An outgrowth of the earlier Model 10 Electra, the Model 14 was also developed into larger, ...

airliner, while on its landing approach, nearly crashed at

Dorval Airport Dorval () is an on-island suburban city on the island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. In 2016, the Canadian Census indicated that the population increased by 4.2% to 18,980. Although the city has the largest surface area in Montré ...

in Montréal, Quebec, when an

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) a ...

training aircraft wandered into its path. Flight 6 crossed Canada from Montréal to Vancouver and back, carrying a load of blue and yellow air mail bags. One of the vital pieces of mail, which started out at the Burrard Shipyard in Vancouver, is a container carrying the microfilmed blueprints of an elevator that would be incorporated in a naval vessel. Destined for approval at the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

in England, it was one of countless items shipped three times a week across to war-torn London, Moscow, Lisbon, Paris and

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...

. Just as important was a letter signifying acceptance of a wedding proposal that was to end up with a soldier on patrol in Germany with

The Calgary Highlanders The Calgary Highlanders is a Canadian Army Primary Reserve infantry regiment, headquartered at Mewata Armouries in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The regiment is a part-time reserve unit, under the command of 41 Canadian Brigade Group, itself part of 3 ...

. After making their way, sometimes as far as 5,000 miles (8,000 km), the hundreds of individual

air mail Airmail (or air mail) is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of at least one leg of its journey being by air. Airmail items typically arrive more quickly than surface mail, and usually cost more to send. Airmail may be the ...

were transferred to an

Avro Lancastrian The Avro 691 Lancastrian was a Canadian and British passenger and mail transport aircraft of the 1940s and 1950s developed from the Avro Lancaster heavy bomber. The Lancaster was named after Lancaster, Lancashire; a Lancastrian is an inhabit ...

and flown on a 12-hour flight to

Prestwick Prestwick ( gd, Preastabhaig) is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, an ...

, Scotland. The letters and parcels eventually made their way to recipients overseas, all for the cost of a nine- or 10-cent stamp.

Production

Along with ''Salute to Victory'', ''Atlantic Patrol'', ''Battle of Europe'' and ''Battle for Oil'', ''Flight 6'' made during the Second World War "... might be called soft-sell propaganda." Typical of the NFB's ''Canada Carries On'' series of documentary short films, ''Flight 6'' told a simple but direct story about Canada's role in wartime, especially focusing on the advances made in aviation, one of the main themes of the series. The narrator was

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 ...

, known for his work on both radio broadcasts as a news announcer at '' CBC'', as well as narrating many of the ''Canada Carries On'' series. His sonorous recitation led to his nickname, "the Voice of Canada", and when reading grim battle statistics, "the Voice of Doom"."Bonanza's Canadian Lorne Greene."
''Bite Size Canada''. Retrieved: January 9, 2016.

Reception

As part of the ''Canada Carries On'' series, ''Flight 6'' was produced in 35 mm for the theatrical market. Each film 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, 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 ...

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

.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".
''National Film Board of Canada'', July 13, 2009. Retrieved: January 9, 2016.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* 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. . * Lerner, Loren. ''Canadian Film and Video: A Bibliography and Guide to the Literature''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997. .

External links

* * {{IMDb title, id=0225754, title=Flight 6 1944 films 1944 short films 1944 documentary films Black-and-white documentary films Canadian aviation films Canadian short documentary films Aerial photography Canadian Centennial Documentary films about aviation accidents or incidents Documentary films about Canada English-language Canadian films Films shot in Canada National Film Board of Canada documentaries Canada Carries On Quebec films Columbia Pictures short films Films directed by Sydney Newman 1940s Canadian films 1940s short documentary films