"The Royal Tour of Canada," Toronto, 1939

This excerpt, taken from a documentary about the visit of King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth to Canada in 1939, shows William Lyon Mackenzie King hosting a banquet for them in Toronto. Note the difference between the clarity of the voice-over narration and the muffled sound of the Prime Minister's toast. Newsreels tended to favour voice-over narration because recording sound on location was often difficult. Associated Screen News reused this sequence in its Mackenzie King biography "Highlights from the Parliamentary Life of the Right Honourable William Lyon Mackenzie King." (1 minute, 8 seconds)

[RM 7,673 KB]

Source
IDCISN: 19749

"The Royal Tour of Canada," Banff, 1939

This excerpt, taken from a documentary about the visit of King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth to Canada in 1939, shows the King and Queen relaxing in Banff. During a photo opportunity, they motion to William Lyon Mackenzie King to join them in the shot and he does so, delightedly. (45 seconds)

[RM 5,203 KB]

Source
IDCISN: 19749

"Call to a Nation," 1940

This is an excerpt of a motion picture film produced to encourage Canadians to buy bonds to support Canada's first War Loan in January 1940. The loan campaign began with a flurry of newspaper and magazine advertisements, radio broadcasts and this film. Unusual is the film's use of a discussion staged for the cameras by William Lyon Mackenzie King, Minister of Justice Ernest Lapointe, Finance Minister J.L. Ralston and Minister of National Defence Norman Rogers. Lapointe inserts a few phrases in French. King was not French-speaking and Lapointe often did broadcasts of King's radio speeches in French. (2 minutes, 20 seconds)

[RM 17,749 KB]

Source
IDCISN: 18349

Mackenzie King home movie, ca. 1940

This rare colour footage of William Lyon Mackenzie King shows him walking in the gardens and among the ruins he added to his country retreat at Kingsmere, Quebec, in the Gatineau Hills. His much-loved dog Pat, age 16, trots behind him. (2 minutes, 3 seconds)

[RM 13,243 KB]

Source
IDCISN: 323670

"Canadian Premier Arrives in England," 1944

This newsreel excerpt shows William Lyon Mackenzie King making an impromptu statement for the newsreel cameras about Canada's support of the war effort. In his diary of April 27, 1944, he records his surprise at finding reporters, microphones and cameras waiting for him as he gets off the plane. (1 minute, 23 seconds)

[RM 9,257 KB]

Source
IDCISN: 33103

Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and William Lyon Mackenzie King at the second Quebec Conference, 1944

First part of a newsreel story about the arrival of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, American President Franklin D. Roosevelt and William Lyon Mackenzie King at the second Quebec Conference, held in Quebec City, in September 1944. The story is essentially an opportunity for the Press to photograph the group, with Churchill and King shown riding in an open car, as the voice-over narration explains the Conference agenda. The footage gives King a prominence he did not have at the Conference. Canada was the host, but not a participant in the Conference. (1 minute, 11 seconds)

[RM 8,288 KB]

Source
IDCISN: 33129

"Premier King Visits Armoured Troops," 1945

This is a typical newsreel report, showing William Lyon Mackenzie King reviewing Canadian troops overseas. The Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit filmed 106 Canadian Army Newsreels for diffusion only to Canadian forces serving overseas, in order to build morale. Wartime censorship removed details of locations and names of units. Of the 106 newsreels, only prints, not negatives, survived, and only the English language versions. This has hampered restoration efforts. However, the Canadian Army Newsreels are a rich and well-used source of Canadian newsreel images, because much of the surviving newsreel record of Canada exists only in the hands of commercial stock footage companies outside Canada. (1 minute, 30 seconds)

[RM 10,345 KB]

Source
IDCISN: 33105

"Highlights from the Parliamentary Life of the Right Honourable William Lyon Mackenzie King," 1948

This is a motion picture biography about William Lyon Mackenzie King's political life. Associated Screen News Limited (ASN), a Montreal-based film production company, compiled this film from its collection of newsreel footage, probably to be used as a tribute upon King's retirement. From the 1920s to 1957, ASN shot Canadian newsreel stories for use in newsreels shown in Canadian theatres and internationally. This rare and early example of documentary film made during a prime minister's lifetime has a laudatory tone. It excludes mention of any controversial events, such as the King-Byng incident of 1926, the Second World War conscription crisis or the Igor Gouzenko spy scandal. Presented here in four parts:

Video part I (2 minutes, 17 seconds) [RM 15,477 KB]
Video part II (1 minute, 33 seconds) [RM 18,173 KB]
Video part III (2 minutes, 45 seconds) [RM 10,253 KB]
Video part IV (4 minutes, 4 seconds) [RM 26,671 KB]

Source
IDCISN: 47014