This film observes, in a Montréal public school, the teaching of English to immigrant children. To thousands of children arriving in Canada from Greece, Italy, France, Germany or Japan, English is "a foreign language." Under able coaching they begin to understand and even enjoy the vagaries of the English language.
The Salvation Army in action. Band rehearsals, personal reminiscences of an Army officer, and an unrehearsed "coming to Christ" in the Army Citadel make for a revealing film study of men and women dedicated to a life of service to humanity.
Smokers say it's relaxing, but tobacco harvesters call it "the back-breaking leaf." Here is a graphic picture of the tobacco harvest in southwestern Ontario, presented from the points of view of the transient field workers who move in for a brief bonanza when the leaves are ripe, and of the farmers who depend solely on this crop. A 1959 black and white production.
St. Joseph's Oratory, a picturesque shrine silhouetted against Mount Royal, draws pilgrims by the thousands every year. They come from California by Greyhound bus, from Vancouver by plane, and on foot from many parishes surrounding Montréal. What is the fame of this shrine, that it attracts the devout and the curious alike? The story is told by Brother Placide Vermandère of the Order of the Holy Cross, who was personally acquainted with Brother André, after whom the shrine's famous temple is named. Cameras follow a procession of the League of the Sacred Heart through the streets of the city to the famous sanctuary and show many of the religious observances conducted in the church, including Mass attended by invalids who come in the hope of being healed of various afflictions.
An attempt to recapture the magic of childhood as the cameras follow children at play.
The misbehaving public performs for the camera in a half-hour miscellany of misdeeds. In a behind-the-scenes look at the hour-by-hour operation of a large metropolitan police force, this film presents a fair sampling of what keeps Toronto's police officers busy twenty-four hours a day.
Montréal readies itself for Christmas, its usual quick tempo accelerated into one last spurt of spending, rehearsing, preparation and merrymaking. The milling crowds, the store Santa Clauses, Brink's messengers, the kindergarten angels, and the boisterous nightclubs--all make a potpourri of Christmas.
