Above: Frame enlargement from the 1929 Amateur Cinema Society film, “Sleep-Inn Beauty”. Photo by Dale Gervais / Library & Archives Canada.
Although short-lived, the Port Arthur Amateur Cinema Society, founded in April 1929, was the first such organization in Canada, and made three feature-length films in less than two years (A Race For Ties, Newsreel, and The Fatal Flower). The film, Sleep-Inn Beauty, presented by the Amateur Cinema Society, was directed by Harold Harcourt, from a story adapted by M. Dorothea Mitchell. A Race for Ties was the first amateur feature-length film in Canada. To read the story of this unique organization, its films, and the role of Dorothea Mitchell, Canada’s first independent female filmmaker, please visit www.Ladylumberjack.ca.
Dorothea Mitchell (The Lady Lumberjack), was the first female independent filmmaker in Canada, and The Fatal Flower was her final film. In only two years, (1929-1930), Dorothea Mitchell and the Port Arthur Amateur Cinema Society produced three feature-length films in what is now Thunder Bay, Ontario. The historical importance of the films made by the Port Arthur Cinema Society is second to none.
Thanks to Ron Harpelle for all information regarding the Amateur Cinema Society that appears on this site. For complete details on the Amateur Cinema Society, and their films, please visit www.Ladylumberjack.ca
For more, please visit;
Library & Archives Dorothea Mitchell Collection (The Race For Ties)
Library & Archives Ernest Henn Collection (Sleep-Inn Beauty)
ACS tee shirts
I have a limited number of Amateur Cinema Society t-shirts available at this time.
The t-shirt is a Canadian made Gildan Ultra-Cotton 100% heavy weight tee, and is offered in navy-blue only. All ACS tee shirts come with an ACS bookmark displaying the ACS logo together with background information and links to the Ladylumberjack and Canadianfilm.com websites.
To order, or inquire for availability, please use the form via the Contact page.
