Drylanders

An epic saga about a family who leaves Montreal to farm wheat in the Canadian West. Though prosperous as first, the pioneers fall victim to the nationwide draught that triggered the Depression of the 1930s. With James Douglas and Frances Hyland.
For more background information about this film, please visit the NFB.ca blog: blog.nfb.ca/200...
Directed by Don Haldane - 1962 | 69 min
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[@howardloewen1834]

My dad told me about the dirty 30's, growing up in Saskatchewan he left home at the age of 12 in 1931 took his bicycle and went to Manitoba where he met my mother in the late 30's and here I am in 2024 almost 80 myself living in Tennessee.

[@fangslaughter1198]

Every person involved in this GEM deserves an award. Every award. What a wonderful movie. Saw it in school when I was 12. Watching now. Again.

[@dereklu1675]

My English teacher recommended this movie to me. This is the first time I watched a movie in English. Although I couldn’t understand most of the dialogue, it didn’t affect my ups and downs with the protagonists of the movie. I Very moved, my eyes are moist, the first generation of immigrants in Saskatchewan is so great, it is their hard work that created the beautiful Saskatchewan, it is a pity that Danny did not see the day when the drought ended, I love this movie .

[@osmia]

Despite having grown up in the Canadian school system like lots of others commenting this is the first time I've seen this. It was great

[@rottenjohnny4703]

The first time I saw this was in the late 1960s/early 1970s at a campground somewhere in British Columbia. They had a movie night and my parents, undoubtedly tired of putting up with 4 kids in a station wagon for days on end, sent us to watch the movie. My younger siblings wandered off, but I was mesmerized. I never forgot this movie. I had never seen it again until finding it here. Now I findI can go to the NFB web site and purchase the DVD! Thanks for putting this up. For whatever reason, it remains a fond memory from my childhood.

[@kenvarro4063]

i saw the movie in vancouver at premiere 1965 with grandma born in montreal 1914 raised in regina and mom born 1933 in regina

[@carolfisher1411]

i saw this movie when i was 12 years old now 68years old. shows that in todays hard world we should never give up they sure didn't

[@oilersridersbluejays]

The 1930's were heartbreaking years here. Actually much of the 1920's suffered from severe drought as well, especially in the early 1920's and 1929. 1914 and 1917 were also tough years, 1914 in particular rivalled the drought of the 1930's. Today much of this land is still farmed, and some has been turned to pasture for beef cattle production. Improved farming techniques such as reduced tillage and leaving half of the land idle for a growing season has made leaps and bounds on dryland farming. In recent years it has been the wettest part of the Saskatchewan grain belt.

[@Roarmeister2]

Yes, in 1929 several families packed up and relocated during the drought that summer. It was drier in Alberta during the '20s even though Saskatchewan saw some great crops like the one in '28 or the drought in '29 as the movie indicates. The depression on the prairies started well before the economic crash of 1929-32 contrary to what some urban fools suggest. The crash did leave some farmers overextended with loans and coupled that with addition crop failures killed the economy. Urbanites sit back and complain about the 25-30% unemployment during that period - on the prairies it was up to 50% because of the drought. Grandpa saved many a soul with handouts even though his business didn't make money and he didn't pay himself.

[@oilersridersbluejays]

@@Roarmeister2 absolutely. There were also some pretty bad years in the 1980s like 1984, 1985, and 1988. 2001, 2002, and 2003 were also very bad.

[@gregrak9389]

thanks for the upload, hadn't seen this in many many yrs, holds up quite well.

[@jrin72]

The dust bowl. Must've been all those gas guzzling SUV's.

[@beaugeste2899]

Heroic people.

[@Autostade67]

The NFB was always reticent in committing itself to fictional feature film production (the politics and economics of which are a long, and somewhat disheartening story which, believe it or not, involves much suppression on behalf of the Disney corporation [under father Walt himself] and the MPAA) but clearly this mid-century gem gives evidence to unfulfilled potential as it is clear all the talent was available to foster a home grown films industry. Specific mention should go to the cinematographer Reginald Morris (note the light on the face of the silent wife of the man who asks for water at the beginning of the film) and to the great Eldon Rathburn, house composer for the NFB, who is one of the unsung geniuses of film composition. A Modernist chameleon, Rathburn could write in any style, here offering a Canadian 'Copland' take on the (North) Americana sound with a beautiful main theme.

[@gregrak9389]

You assert that Walt Disney tried to stifle Canadian film making??

[@nathanyoungtheonemillionfan]

Cue mark at 1:09:30

[@maplobats]

Though the stock market did play a big role, it's effect would have been minimal on prairie farmers, who would normally have seen through the depression by living on what they grew. So to people from Saskatchewan (and surrounding areas), the drought played a bigger role in how the depression affected peoples lives than did the big stock market collapse.

[@adamwatson2914]

:,( Yeah it's tough when your dream crumbles like dust in your hand... Pretty damn good to say it was made in 1963! Thank you for uploading NFB.

[@fangslaughter1198]

Released in 1972 actually. It was filmed south of where I live. Swift Current. When it came out it was played in schools across Canada.

[@adamwatson2914]

It says it was made in that year though

[@juliecrook7336]

P.s. the lands were never 'empty'

[@oilersridersbluejays]

Empty enough to settle it and farm it.

[@azach5288]

Another reason to love Canada.

[@jagriti22]

Yup

[@Crazeyfor67]

Excellent. A film for the whole family. :0)

[@nickwhite2172]

that's my father at the begining.

[@tannerpetrie]

Wow! you're back from the dead after catching Pneumonia?

[@graysencw1591]

57:49 best part

[@gregrak9389]

the father slapping his kid?? sick sense of humour

[@azach5288]

Mighty Tyrtus when we were kids watching, everybody laughed at that scene.

[@josefbrosefstalin3714]

thx matey

[@wbell539]

When I hear people moaning and kwetching today I usually think about the conditions under which the prairie pioneers survived and eventually thrived.

[@bozomahoney]

Nationwide "draught" huh? Lol

[@dachanist]

4:52 And in not too long they would have the exact opposite opinion

[@calebbeck3196]

Yo

[@TJ-kd8wp]

I have to watch this for school and I don't wanna so can someone tell me the plot?

[@peterbloink8434]

+Ayden Murphy are you kidding? I had to watch it for school too; in grade three in 1969 at Lonsdale Elementary School North Vancouver and have never seen it since. I left Canada in 1970 but I remember watching this movie like it was yesterday and is one that has stayed with me all that time; not for being a great movie but for the historical story it represents about they people that contributed to building the Canada that you know today. You won't get that by reading someone else's plot summary, you owe it to yourself to watch it.

[@TJ-kd8wp]

+Peter Bloink that's crazy I didn't know the movie was that old, not meaning to say your old, but yeah i watched it and got like a 70 on my test

[@oilersridersbluejays]

It's actually a pretty good movie. Just watch it.

[@azach5288]

TJ I saw it in grade 9 history in 1987

[@jagriti22]

Its 2021 I still need to watch it for school

[@andredelage8732]

It is not the drought that led to the depression. The Federal Reserve did... the Federal Reserve is private own top eight stockholders: Rothschild Banks of London and Berlin; Lazard Brothers Banks of Paris; Israel Moses Seif Banks of Italy; Warburg Bank of Hamburg and Amsterdam; Lehman Brothers Bank of New York; Kuhn, Loeb Bank of New York; Chase Manhattan Bank of New York; and Goldman, Sachs Bank of New York. It was the British resolution to bring to submission the U.S.A

[@Roarmeister2]

You are obviously speaking from some urban centre 1000's of km from life on the prairies.

[@andredelage8732]

@@Roarmeister2 And it took you over 1000s days to reply... very taught through response

[@Roarmeister2]

@@andredelage8732 Actually only a few seconds to reply to an imbecile.

[@andredelage8732]

@@Roarmeister2 and an intellectual for the intellectual

[@seemeasis]

I agree the depression did not help the economic condition of the prairies. A depression wither is due to an acts of God through drought or bad economic decision from the Banks owners is hardship for the whole society. My point was to correct the statement that the drought led to the depression... it is false

[@Roarmeister2]

The drought began in the '20s well before the economic depression. Had the stock market not even crashed there still would have been drought and depression on the prairies.

[@darring.9161]

Saskatchewan! Where they bury the Farmers with one arm sticking out of the ground and a hand up in the air...waiting for their Government Wheat Subsidy to arrive!!! LOL

[@gregrak9389]

IGNORANT, and an insult to every Canadian, especially those living in western Canada!

[@gregrak9389]

I have requested that KZbin remove this offensive comment, but no avail, most unfortunate.

[@oilersridersbluejays]

Saskatchewan: the province that FEEDS the country. Maybe be a little more thankful and educate yourself a bit. You probably have enough time sitting on your welfare ass out east.