''Whistling Smith'' is a 1975
short
Short may refer to:
Places
* Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon
* Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community
* Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place
People
* Short (surname)
* List of people known as ...
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 ...
directed by Marrin Canell and
Michael J. F. Scott for 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 ...
. It was produced for the NFB's ''
Pacificanada'' series, which aired on
CBC-TV
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...
in early 1975.
The film is a revealing portrait of a tough cop with a big heart.
Vancouver Police Department
The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) (french: Service de police de Vancouver) is the police force for the City of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several police departments within the Metro Vancouver Area and is the second ...
Sergeant Bernie "Whistling" Smith walks the beat on the city's
Downtown Eastside
The Downtown Eastside (DTES) is a neighbourhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. One of the city's oldest neighbourhoods, the DTES is the site of a complex set of social issues including disproportionately high levels of drug use, homeles ...
, the hang-out of petty criminals and down-and-outers. His policing style is unorthodox; to many drug users and prostitutes, he's more than a cop—he's a counsellor and a friend. In the year that he's been in charge of this beat, crime has dropped by over forty per cent.
Accolades
''Whistling Smith'' was nominated for an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for
Best Documentary Short at the
48th Academy Awards
The 48th Academy Awards were presented Monday, March 29, 1976, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. The ceremonies were presided over by Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, George Segal, Goldie Hawn, and Gene Kelly. This year ...
.
The End of the Game Wins Documentary Short: 1976 Oscars
/ref> It also won the Canadian Film Award
The Canadian Film Awards were the leading Canadian cinema awards from 1949 until 1978. These honours were conducted annually, except in 1974 when a number of Quebec directors withdrew their participation and prompted a cancellation. In the 1970s ...
for Sound Re-Recording.
References
External links
*
Watch ''Whistling Smith'' at NFB Web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whistling Smith
1975 films
1975 documentary films
1975 short films
Canadian short documentary films
Documentary films about law enforcement in Canada
English-language Canadian films
Documentary films about Vancouver
National Film Board of Canada documentaries
National Film Board of Canada short films
1970s short documentary films
1970s English-language films
1970s Canadian films
English-language documentary films