City of Gold (1957)
This classic short film depicts the Klondike gold rush at its peak, when would-be prospectors struggled through harsh conditions to reach the fabled gold fields over 3000 km north of civilization. Using a collection of still photographs, the film juxtaposes the Dawson City at the height of the gold rush with its bustling taverns and dance halls with the more tranquil Dawson City of the present.
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Memorable, crazy movie
This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film
This Canadian two-reel documentary was an Oscar nominee (albeit in the Live Action Short Subject category) and is even favourably reviewed in the "Leslie Halliwell Film Guide". While opening in a contemporary setting, we are eventually taken back by narrator Pierre Berton to the days of his father as a prospector in the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush. Interestingly, while the modern footage is captured by a moving camera, the past is effectively represented via a succession of stills – relating the trials and tribulations of the people who came from afar to make a fortune but who, we are told, sometimes lost it after a while or even lost interest in pursuing it further once they settled in a community that would soon thrive and become an established city! All in all, the film makes for a vivid and nicely-detailed look at the pioneering spirit. Incidentally, co-director Koenig was featured as an actor in Norman McLaren's Oscar-winning short NEIGHBOURS (1952), which I watched a day prior to this one.
The National Film Board of Canada produced this 32 minute 1957 film that was nominated for an Academy Award for Live Action Short, one of two shorts produced by the National Film Board of Canada in this category. Using shots of still photographs and a voice-over narration, it tells the story of Dawson City, a mining town during the Klondike Gold Rush. It's a fascinating look back at an era long gone and little remembered. Well worth tracking down. It was the first film to use an animation stand to concentrate on details of still images and move around within the frame for dramatic effect. It is the direct ancestor of Ken Burns documentaries. Turner Classic Movies ran this once as part of a celebration of the NBC's 60th anniversary a few years back.
This short was nominated for an Academy Award for Live Action Short, one of two shorts produced by the National Film Board of Canada in the category. Using largely shots of still photography and a voice-over narration, it tells the story of Dawson City, a mining town during the Klondike Gold Rush. It's a fascinating look back at an era long gone and little remembered. Well worth tracking down. Turner Classic Movies ran this once as part of a celebration of the NFBC's 60th anniversary a few years back. Recommended.