On the Spot(1953–1955)

School for Charm

Dresden Story

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

Story of a Newspaper

Laurentian Skiing

Test Pilot

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.

The Strong Man

Threshermen’s Reunion

Survival in the Bush

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).

The Traffic Cop

Javanese Dancing

On Leave in Tokyo

Police Club for Boys

Artist in Montreal

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.

Hidden Power

Movies in the Mill

Judo - Jinks

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.

Chinese Canadians

Food and Drug Patrol

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.

Korea, After the War

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.

Aviation Medicine

End of Tour

Auto Production

Chosen Children

Workshop for Science

Better Business Bureau

Camera Men

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.

The Magnificent

How to Climb a Mountain

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.

The Doll Factory

Deep Sleep

The Car Mart

Cancer Clinic

Bureau of Missing Persons

Curtain Time in Ottawa

Harness Racing

French Cuisine

The Magic Men

Micro Movies

Montreal Fire Department

The Winnipeg Story

Winnipeg Ballet

Fred Davis goes backstage at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Oil

Transpacific Flight

This short documentary invites us aboard a transpacific flight. Host Fred Davis, on his way to shoot stories in Japan and Korea, interviews the pilot, navigator and flight attendants.

It's Raining Soldiers!

Football Story

This short documentary from the On the Spot series - “National Film Board’s up-to-the-minute report of what’s happening somewhere in Canada” – invites us to visit the Edmonton Eskimos football team on their home ground. Host Fred Davis introduce us to some of the team’s key players and interviews its 28-year-old coach, Darrell Royal, a firm believer in the use of moving pictures in the coaching of modern football.

Hotel Story

The Zoo in Stanley Park

In this documentary short, a superintendent at Vancouver's Stanley Park Zoo discusses issues related to feeding and acclimatization of birds and animals from other zones.

The Mounties' Crime Lab

Saskatchewan Farm Museum

Christmas Comes Twice

The Ukrainian population of Winnipeg celebrates Christmas not only on the twenty-fifth of December, but also on January seventh, with religious ceremonies, banquets, songs and concerts.

Routine Flight

Takes a quick look behind the scenes at flight in the mid-20th c., including engine maintenance, flight pre-planning and weather checks, the control tower, and an introductory flight on a "new"-to-North-America dart turbojet aircraft.

Trends in Textiles

Vertical Flight

A visit to Okanagan Helicopters in Vancouver, showing what Canadians are doing in the field of vertical flight.

Two Countries, One Street

This short documentary visits the 3 Quebec border towns of Rock Island, Stanstead and Beebe, and the Vermont town of Derby Line to see how residents and officials cope with a civic life that is cut down the middle by an international boundary.

Maritime Montage

There are two subjects in this film--the cooperative movement stemming from St. Francis-Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and a rural fair at Egmont Bay, Prince Edward Island.

Lunenburg - Home of the Bluenose

Gold Rush Land

An excursion up the Yukon River along the trail of '98 to Dawson City, part of the Klondike gold rush. We visit a prospector who has never left the Yukon and see some of the city's famous sights.

Food Facts

Prairie University

Forest Wardens

Junior forest rangers learn skills for fighting forest fires, and a volunteer team on Vancouver Island demonstrates search procedures for people lost in the forest.

Backstage at Parliament

Child Guidance Clinic

Alcoholism