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On the Spot

Season 2

1954 · 40 episodes

  1. 1. School for Charm

    1954-01-01 · 30m

  2. 2. Dresden Story

    1954-01-01 · 30m

    The citizens of Dresden, Ontario, Canada speak their minds about racial problems in their community.

  3. 3. Story of a Newspaper

    1954-01-01 · 14m

  4. 4. Laurentian Skiing

    1954-01-01 · 15m

  5. 5. Test Pilot

    1954-01-01 · 15m

    In this short documentary, Fred Davis visits the De Havilland Aircraft factory in Toronto. He interviews two test pilots, talks to one of their wives, and goes for a ride in a new Beaver airplane.

  6. 6. The Strong Man

    1954-01-01 · 15m

  7. 7. Threshermen’s Reunion

    1954-01-01 · 30m

  8. 8. Survival in the Bush

    1954-01-01 · 30m

    The producer of "On the Spot", a cameraman, and skilled woodsman Angus Baptiste are left in the bush with nothing but an axe (plus a camera and a microphone).

  9. 9. The Traffic Cop

    1954-01-01 · 15m

  10. 10. Javanese Dancing

    1954-01-01 · 15m

  11. 11. On Leave in Tokyo

    1954-01-01 · 15m

  12. 12. Police Club for Boys

    1954-01-01 · 15m

  13. 13. Artist in Montreal

    1954-01-01 · 30m

    This short film introduces us to the "automatistes," followers of an abstract art form that developed in Montreal. The movement, initiated by Paul-Émile Borduas, is explained by the artists themselves when narrator Bruce Ruddick drops in at their cooperative studio. The film also captures painter Paterson Ewen at his home and joins the crowd at L'Échouerie, the artists' rendezvous spot. Dr. Robert Hubbard, chief curator of the National Gallery of Canada, comments on non-objective art in general and automatism in particular.

  14. 14. Hidden Power

    1954-01-01 · 30m

  15. 15. Movies in the Mill

    1954-01-01 · 15m

  16. 16. Judo - Jinks

    1954-01-01 · 15m

    How--and how not--to get thrown for a loop is demonstrated as Fred Davis visits the gymnasium of the Kano Judo Club in Hull, Québec. The story starts with a pretty girl in a park who proves that judo is not entirely a male preserve. Fred interviews Bernard Gauthier, judo instructor, and gets the history of judo as a sport and some demonstrations of the art.

  17. 17. Chinese Canadians

    1954-01-01 · 30m

  18. 18. Food and Drug Patrol

    1954-01-01 · 30m

    What is on the spot is the Food and Drug section of the Department of National Health and Welfare, a Canadian governmental agency. Ensuring the health and safety of Canadians, the Food and Drug section deals not only with those items listed in its name but also cosmetics. That work also includes efficacy in ensuring that any claims made by manufacturers is actually what a product does when used as directed. An actual case of a little girl ingesting a toxic amount of fluoride through a contaminated chocolate bar is dramatized, staff at the Food and Drug Directorate who have to go through the painstaking process of determining the cause of her illness, and locating its source so that it can be dealt with and that no one else gets sick from it. The work of the actual inspections unit of the Directorate is then presented. The consumer protection side of the coin concludes the presentation in discussing the work of the non-profit Canadian Association of Consumers.

  19. 19. Korea, After the War

    1954-01-01 · 15m

    Fred Davis takes a look at Korea in 1954, and gives a sobering account of the realities of war as they affect the Korean population. He sees the primary industries of agriculture and fishing in ruins, towns and villages destroyed, thousands of homeless and orphaned children left to survive as best they may. At the docks of Inchon harbour, previously the landing base for United Nations troops, Davis interviews two officers of UNKRA (United Nations Korean Relief Administration) and learns about this organization's aid program in war-torn Korea.

  20. 20. Aviation Medicine

    1954-01-01 · 15m

  21. 21. End of Tour

    1954-01-01 · 15m

  22. 22. Auto Production

    1954-01-01 · 15m

  23. 23. Chosen Children

    1954-01-01 · 15m

  24. 24. Workshop for Science

    1954-01-01 · 30m

  25. 25. Better Business Bureau

    1954-01-01 · 15m

  26. 26. Camera Men

    1954-01-01 · 15m

    In this film, On the Spot series host Fred Davis sets out to learn about the art of photography. Amateur, commercial, news and portrait photographers discuss the tricks of their trade when Davis pays them a visit: Louis Jacques does a photo story on pianist Oscar Peterson, while Ottawa's Yousuf Karsh explains how he clicks the shutter at famous people and, illustrating his point, snaps Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent’s portrait.

  27. 27. The Magnificent

    1954-01-01 · 15m

  28. 28. How to Climb a Mountain

    1954-01-01 · 30m

    In this short documentary vignette, members of the Alpine Club of Canada display their skill and talk to host Fred Davis about why they climb.

  29. 29. The Doll Factory

    1954-01-01 · 30m

  30. 30. Deep Sleep

    1954-01-01 · 15m

  31. 31. The Car Mart

    1954-01-01 · 15m

  32. 32. Cancer Clinic

    1954-01-01 · 15m

  33. 33. Bureau of Missing Persons

    1954-01-01 · 30m

  34. 34. Curtain Time in Ottawa

    1954-01-01 · 15m

  35. 35. Harness Racing

    1954-01-01 · 15m

  36. 36. French Cuisine

    1954-01-01 · 15m

  37. 37. The Magic Men

    1954-01-01 · 15m

  38. 38. Micro Movies

    1954-01-01 · 15m

  39. 39. Montreal Fire Department

    1954-01-01 · 15m

  40. 40. Vancouver's Chinatown

    1954-01-01 · 15m

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