Motion Pictures Will Boost Canada (and a peek at Moving Picture World)

Lindsay Post, February 14, 1913.

A look at the early days of the Canadian film industry. The Battle of the Long Sault (1913) has an IMDB entry, though the only information it provides is a capsule description from Moving Picture World magazine.

Since the Internet Archive has posted back issues of Moving Picture World, let's take a look at what other movies were discussed in its April 26, 1913 edition.



The most historically important film listed was The Bangville Police, which was one of the first appearances of the Keystone Kops. "More laughable absurdities, in which Fred Mace appears as police captain in a home-made automobile. As a whole, this reel is very pleasing and full of laughs."

Which is a longer description than what was printed about Edison's The Rocky Mountains in Winter:  "Some good views of snowy hills and valleys." One can hear the copy writer straining for something nice to say. Not that MPW wasn't capable of being critical--the short comment about Pathe's The Happy Home calls it "A picture with an unusually poor scenario. The director couldn't save it."

An ad for upcoming films from Universal. Only a drama spotlighting one of the leaders of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution earns an adjective. At the time, Universal would have celebrated the first anniversary of its incorporation.