Northern Getaway : Film, Tourism, and the Canadian Vacation

How Canada used film to stimulate tourism. __Northern Getaway__ investigates the connections between film and tourism of the 1890s through the 1950s. Using evidence from archival sources and current scholarship in film history and tourism studies, Dominique Brégent-Heald demonstrates that Canada was an innovator in employing film to project a recognizable destination brand. "For more than a century, posters, advertisements, and brochures have characterized Canada as a desirable tourist destination offering spectacular scenery, wild animals, outdoor recreation, and state-of-the-art accommodations. However, these explicitly commercial displays are not the only marketing tools at the country’s disposal; beginning in the 1890s, film also played a role in selling Canada. In Northern Getaway Dominique Brégent-Heald investigates the connections between film and tourism during the first half of the twentieth century, exploring the economic, pedagogical, geopolitical, and socio-cultural contexts and aspirations of tourism films. From the first moving images of the 1890s through the end of the 1950s, a complex web of public and private stakeholders in Canadian tourism experimented, sometimes in collaboration with Hollywood, with a variety of film forms – 16 mm/35 mm, feature films/short subjects, fiction/nonfiction, professional/amateur filmmakers – to promote Canada. Spectators, particularly Americans, saw Canada as a tourism destination in front of screens in motion picture theatres, schools, and fairgrounds. Rooted in settler colonial representations that celebrate the nation’s unspoiled but welcoming wilderness landscapes, these films also characterize Canada as a technologically and industrially advanced settler country. Using evidence from a wide range of archival sources and drawing from current scholarship in film history and tourism studies, Northern Getaway demonstrates that Canada was an innovator in using film to shape and project a recognizable destination brand."-- Provided by publisher For more than a century, posters, advertisements, and brochures have characterized Canada as a desirable tourist destination offering spectacular scenery, wild animals, outdoor recreation, and state-of-the-art accommodations. However, these explicitly commercial displays are not the only marketing tools at the country's disposal; beginning in the 1890s, film also played a role in selling Canada. In Northern Getaway Dominique Brégent-Heald investigates the connections between film and tourism during the first half of the twentieth century, exploring the economic, pedagogical, geopolitical, and socio-cultural contexts and aspirations of tourism films. From the first moving images of the 1890s through the end of the 1950s, a complex web of public and private stakeholders in Canadian tourism experimented, sometimes in collaboration with Hollywood, with a variety of film forms – 16 mm or 35 mm, feature or short films, fiction or nonfiction, professional or amateur filmmakers – to promote Canada. Spectators, particularly Americans, saw Canada as a tourist destination on screens in motion picture theatres, schools, and fairgrounds. Rooted in settler colonial representations that celebrate the nation's unspoiled but welcoming wilderness landscapes, these films also characterize Canada as a technologically and industrially advanced settler country. Using evidence from a wide range of archival sources and drawing from current scholarship in film history and tourism studies, Northern Getaway demonstrates how Canada was an innovator in using film to shape and project a recognizable destination brand. Cover 1 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Figures 8 Acknowledgments 12 Introduction 16 1 The Wonders of Canada 33 2 Through the “Eye Gate” 68 3 Settler-Colonial Tourism Films 105 4 The Canadian Travel Bureau, Talking Colourful Travelogues, and 16-mm 129 5 Documentarians, Amateurs, and Diplomacy 153 6 From Victory Vacations to the Canadian Cooperation Project 184 Conclusion Did the Tourism Film Pay Off? 230 Notes 240 Bibliography 306 Index 352 McGill-Queen’s,University,Press,2022,ISBN,978-0-2280-1392-1,(cloth),ISBN,978-0-2280-1393-8,(paper),ISBN,978-0-2280-1486-7,(ePDF),ISBN,978-0-2280-1487-4,(ePUB) McGill-Queen’s University Press 2022,ISBN 978-0-2280-1392-1 (cloth),ISBN 978-0-2280-1393-8 (paper),ISBN 978-0-2280-1486-7 (ePDF),ISBN 978-0-2280-1487-4 (ePUB)