1940s The Loon’s Necklace film photograph indigenous mask

1940s The Loon’s Necklace film photograph early Canada Canadian movie cinematography Indigenous mask Own a piece of history from possibly Canadas most successful short film The Loon’s Necklace 10 minutes long and done in 1948 This is an still photo of a scene and mask from the beginning of the film Lot of info online about this film and see at the end for further info below These were authentic indigenous masks from the Canadian National museum collection About 10 x 8 inches Fair to good condition Print is crisp but some creases at the top 40.00 Can mail out for additional 6.00 postage Flexible re pickup Elmsdale Road M4J 3M3 Donlands O'Connor East York Don Mills south exit off DVP The Loon’s Necklace was not a sponsored film. It was created by a group of filmmakers at Crawley Films during the 1940s, while they were working on “industrial documentaries.” Imperial Oil bought the Canadian rights, following its completion and recognition as “Film of the Year” at the inaugural Canadian Film Awards. The technical challenges involved in making this experimental short, given the limitations of 16 mm film effects, are hard to appreciate considering the effortlessness of today’s image manipulation software. Judith Crawley’s idea of using the West Coast First Nations ceremonial masks to illustrate the legend was inspired. In continuous distribution for fifty-five years, there were more than 4500 prints in circulation on its 30th anniversary, when it was restored by Rod Crawley. It may have been viewed by more people than any other Canadian film. It has been erroneously credited to the NFB, who rejected the completed film for distribution. The inspiration for the film came when Judith Crawley noticed a mask hanging on the wall of A.Y. Jackson’s studio when her husband was shooting Canadian Landscape for the NFB in 1941. She later recalled, “I said to Budge, wouldn’t that be fabulous with transmitted light, because it was exciting just on the wall.” When the Crawleys returned to Ottawa Judy contacted the Dominion anthropologist, Dr. Marius Barbeau, who was an early supporter of the young filmmakers. He gave them access to the National Museum’s extensive collection of First Nation masks and his colleague Dr. J. Douglas Leechman, an anthropologist at the museum and collector of native legends provided the story. Dr. Leechman combined elements of three or four traditional Interior Salish stories to create the script. Judith selected the masks to be used in the production and Grant Crabtree, the cinematographer, began working on the calculations required to do the filming. At the end of WWII his brother Graham re-joined Crawley Films as art director and he provided the backgrounds for the film. During the War, Crawley Films operated out of the third floor, billiard room of the Crawley family home at 540 The Driveway. In their spare time this small group of family and friends pitched in to try something different. Unlike the sponsored films they made for business, organizations like the Canadian Geographical Society and the NFB, this film was made on speculation. In 1946, the company outgrew the limited space and it relocated to a former church hall at 19 Fairmont Avenue. It was here that the sound stage was set up to shoot this landmark production