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Trucks and men roll through historic For: St. Johui.

Documentary film tells story
of Peace River area's growth

pAaLy IN the operation of

creating a new program,
film, or series for — broad-
casting it is customary to give
the brain-child a name; long
before birth it is christened,
at least with a “working title”
—often less a mark of affec-
tion than a grim necessity, for
as soon as the decision has
been made to proceed, equip-
ment must be earmarked, costs
eoded and many other details
attended to.

The impermanent moniker
used to identify a program in
the formative stages usually
reflects more haste than poetic
inspiration, but this is not the
case with The Peace and
Plenty, a documentary film to
be seen in the CBC Folio series
on December 12.

J. Frank Willis, author and
narrator of the film, says the
title occured to him three full
years ago, and when he came
back recently from his latest
expedition to the Peace River
district he was convinced that
it was more apt than ever.

“Who can have seen the
mists of morning rising from
the mighty river, or looked up-
stream to where the Rocky
Mountains rear their . silent
bastions into the first light of
dawn, and not felt the ‘Peace’?
Who could travel the Alaska
Highway north between the
new - broken fields bearing
their fresh burden of waving
grain; or drive the tortuous
backroads to the oil-fields and
the gas-wells, or stand on the
brand new railway bridge
across the Peace and consider
the hydro-power potential in
the full, deep flood below, and
not be conscious that he was in
the midst of ’Plenty’?”

Willis first visited the Peace
River block of British Colum-
bia in the late fall of 1942 on
a CBC assignment to cover the
official opening of the Alaska
Highway at Burwash Landing,

Kluane Lake.

“On that occasion,” whe re-
calls, “it took nine days and
nights to travel from Fort St.
John to Whitehorse. The days
were spent in a sweat of
anxiety. Our driver, a reck-
less lad named Tex (oddly
enough, he hailed from Gal-
veston) had never seen snow
or ice before. The nights were
spent in the deep-freeze of un-
winterized tents. A couple of
mornings it warmed up all the
way to -30°. Since then,
though, I have revised my im-
pressions of the country a
number of times.”

In the summer of 1944 he
travelled again from Mile Zero
at Dawson Creek to White-

Recpocsevonenaoar oe

Mile Zero sign post stands
in middle of main intersec-
tion of Dawson Creek, and
marks beginning of the

1528-mile Alaska Highway.

horse, to cover the world
premiere of Irving Berlin’s
movie This Is the Army, the
first film to be’ shown in a
giant theatre constructed of
multiple aircraft hangars for
the use of U.S. troops and con-
struction workers at Lower
Post.

“Again,” says Willis, “you
couldn’t see the country for
the U.S. Corps of Engineers.
I never did get a good look at
it till I went back three years
ago with a tape-recorder and
an idea of telling the story of
the new north through the
voices of the men and women
who pioneered the air-routes,
opened the gas and oil fields,
or homesteaded in that rolling
countryside and who have
pushed the limits of cultivated
land a_ giant step further
north. :

“It occurred to me right at
the outset that this was a story
to be told with cameras. For
one thing, there are not enough
words in the book to describe
adequately the beauties of the
mighty Peace and the gran-

-deur of the mountain wilder-

ness that surrounds its head-
waters.” :

In the team that went to
the Peace with Willis last sum-
mer were director Gerry Rich-
ardson, and cameraman Wil-
liam Poulis, who got thousands
of feet of film, working” in
the wettest August and Sep-
tember on record in the dis-
trict.

“We might well have called
it Operation Gumbo,” Willis
says.

Willis’ parting: remark con-
tained a warning:

“While we only finished
shooting on September 7, the

economic expansion is so
rapid in that country, the
boom in gas and oil going

ahead at such a rate of speed,
that I only hope the film isn’t
out of date before you see it.”

OPEN FORUM

Jobless meeting

UNIONIST, Vancouver, B.C.:
The staging of a mass meeting
on unemployment by Vancou-
ver Labor Council marks a big
step forward, because it dem-
onstrates that employed and
unemployed will stick  to-
gether in the days ahead and
battle for jobs and decent
wages.

Having said that, I have a
few words of criticism. Why
did the VLC let the politicians
take over the meeting, and
spout their Tory, Liberal and
Socred theories for the better
part of the night?

Sitting in the audience, I
was glad to hear some of the
workers telling off Tory John
Taylor when he tried to make
a few amiable remarks about
the weather, the Grey Cup
game, how glad he was to be
back home in Vancouver, ete.

“Get to the point! Where do
you stand on work  afid
wages?” he was asked, and all
he could lamely say was that
while there are more jobless
today, there are also more men
working. Why shouldn’t there
be, in a growing country?

This Taylor is the lad who
is supposed to have thought up
that “Follow John” gag for
the last elections. Now I under-
stand that John is complain-
ing because so many unem-
ployed are following him
around.

The next time the VLC or-
ganizes a rally (and I guess,
with the way the economic
situation looks, there will be
several more meetings of this
character) it should be organ-
ized so that prominent labor
speakers have their say first,
then let the politicians do their
gassing.

Slav solidarity

CANADIAN SLAV COM-
MITTEE, Toronto: It has al-
ready become a tradition in
Canada that January is Slavic
Solidarity Month.

That is the month in which
Canadians of Slavic origin,
through their democratic or-
ganizations, organize joint af-
fairs, such as concerts, exhibi-
tions, banquets, meetings and
lectures, devoted to an exposi-
tion of Slavic culture history
and kinship both in _ their
homelands and in Canada. In
their press and in their regu-
lar activities the various
groups in that month stress
the theme of Slavic unity. Our
fellow-citizens of English and
other origins are invited to

‘Committee it should © oe

December 6, 1957 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE—**

learn more about our pedp
too at this time.

January, 1958, should s&
greater manifestation of
Slavic activitiy than we ™
had for many years. In
year that has passed the!
of Slavic friendship in
world have grown stroll
and the unfortunate breach?
etween our Yugoslav broil
and the other Slavic stat®)
now being healed. And lt)
cause for great rejoicing
pride to us that Slavs ™
opened a new era by the)
cessful Sov¥et launcl fing
the earth satellites into SP)
The steadfast stand of |
Slavic peoples of Europ?)
defence of peace has woll”
gratitude and admiratiot f
people over all the ©)
Slavic prestige has never "|
so high. :

In Canada, too, we wy
things to celebrate tose)
and other things we must)
over and plan joint a
about.

It is noteworthy thal)
many Canadian  univel* |
now Slavic languages ih
taught as part of the cull)
lum and that interest in 8
matters is growing. W®
glad to be able to well
here in friendly games
Soviet sportsmen and -
concert artists, to see a
beginnings of trade and ©
ist exchanges between C
and Slavic countries. Wé “ft
selves have some success
cultural activities here af if
need mutual aid to win %y
successes — to increase
contributions to televisio? y
radig programs, for ex#
to gain the right to have &
and artists from Salvic it
tries visit us in Canada, ©

ae

The growing economl® ¥
ficulties in Canada als0 ~ jj
it necessary for us aga t
seek each other’s help 4 sie
struggle for work and af
living conditions. And * yt
all, our joint effforts a
quired to strengthen thew ?
paign for halting tests Tal
clear weapons and dis?
ment.

|
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r

At least one modest I
should be organized © jj’
the Slavic Solidarity Mg)
every Canadian locality
Slavs live. Fi

Where there is a local Mr :
gether representatives ? Lh
ocratic Slavic groups “j
other places the differ? ah
ganizations should mak?
tact to do this) to plan fl
they will be able to 4 wel
January, even if it’s ee.
joint meeting or pandl