Montreal by Night - 1947 NFB Documentary

[@soapbxprod]

I grew up in Manhattan, and now live in New Hampshire- and have worked in Paris many many times- I am bilingual, and I would like to say that Montréal is the finest city on the face of the Earth. Jazz to die for, fantastic beer, poutine, smoked meat, the best Cuisine Indochine et Juive, NO racism, great ganja... DOGS! And beautiful women! Tell me, where is better? PLEASE, Canada- let me retire in your blessed Nation!

[@soapbxprod]

Jaime Anderson Keep it coming, "Jamie"... that's a girl's name, right?

[@soapbxprod]

Hannah Matthau Dead WRONG. Communist. fortune.com/2015/03/02/economic-inequality-myth-1-percent-wealth/

[@bengt_axle]

Well, you got that right. Especially now that pot is legal and you can now just pick it up on your way to get some beer.

[@nkmcfrln]

montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/major-neo-nazi-figure-recruiting-in-montreal

[@remirichard6897]

Glad you like Montreal :) While there is racism (like everywhere else on the planet) it's very minimal, more than a majority of places and very cosmopolite.

[@genevievemarie9427]

I love how they made the video as a short film rather than a documentary about Montreal!

[@firstnamelastname-ct7nr]

Amazing ...how it must have been ,back in my grandparents day...

[@yvettenugent1805]

I grew up in Montreal at that time and it was the most vibrant and friendly city. It was exactly as the documentary showed. It was bilingual, and everyone got along no matter what country you were from. I wish those days would return!

[@thornimation5492]

Yvette nugent, according to recent linguistic statistics of the Island of Montreal and Greater Montreal, overall, they may well return.

[@headlinesgenerator5426]

get rid of parti quebecois ..

[@TruztNoI]

Memories and more great thinks in Canadian history shame left wacks in province govt destroy the boomer the property of the city even somehow this city is bleeding. I am working with a platform to put Montreal leading Canada and heavy reform to show the Canadian identity one more time to this city...

[@janejames9173]

Thank you so much❤️❤️❤️

[@WAL_DC-6B]

I like the early scene with the people boarding the electric streetcar. Too bad these aren't in use in Montreal anymore.

[@PatrickStafford]

The lover couple is Janette Bertrand et son mari Jean Lajeunesse.

[@grimshake]

I'm so proud of my city

[@HeyYouIngles]

Montreal friggin rocks!!!

[@thornimation5492]

Especially in the good ol' days of the 1940s!

[@janiceulaayuangnatuk4708]

Imagine living this life style today, would be so much better.

[@d46512]

Where is part two? It says 11 minutes total length.

[@thornimation5492]

People say that Toronto is Canada's answer to the big Apple. But really and especially, Montreal is more like the Canadian version of New York City. It's directly north of New York City, it's closer to the estuary of the Saint Lawrence River and, back in the '40s, it was the biggest city in Canada. Toronto back then, was more like, Detroit (When it was still an affluent city) or Cleveland (but more important and famous). Montreal is like New York City in most ways, except that it's much more French than New York City, especially today with majority of signage in French only and the use of Rue instead of Street and Chemin, instead of Road. Back in the 1940s, it was more Anglophone, like New York City. Back then, Montreal was the big apple of Canada, NOT Toronto. Toronto was more like Detroit, Michigan or Cleveland, Ohio. Geographically, architecturally and in terms of population, it was the New York City, of Canada. It's interesting and an important historical fact at 1:17, when the narrator said 'Almost half the people speak French and English, i.e. Bilingual. Thus, no matter what either side says, Montreal has always been and still is a de facto bilingual city. And that is what gave the city its interesting and old world character, but with new world elements to it too. A bit like how cities like Boston, Massachusetts and Portland, Maine, have an old world character, in terms of Geographic location, architecture and history, but with new world elements! Sorry I waffled on a bit there, but I thought it is an interesting comparison.

[@ivus1]

For those who know about french TV, the young couple is Jeanette Bertrand and Jean Lajeunesse!

[@bjdon99]

Note how most of the commercial street signs were then in English.

[@thornimation5492]

Because it wasn't until 1977, that Bill 101, the dreaded bill that ruined Quebec's connection to the rest of Canada, began to restrict the use of English of street signs and commercial signs. It's a good thing that the PQ, who introduced Bill 101, are no longer in control of Quebec Provincial Government.

[@leocadieux6781]

Good thing that changed!

[@fredericharvey1903]

​@@thornimation5492 You should talk to people in Toronto. They too would like a bill 101 to make English signs compulsory. Just go at the corner of Warden & Pharmacy: Everything is written in Arabic and no effort whatsoever is made to write the translation in English...

[@SilkEWorldwide]

Well said

[@TheElvisgratton]

Se que je trouve le plus plate quand je regarde ces vieux films,surtout quand je vois des vieux films du boulevard St-Laurent coin Ste-Catherine s'est comment on est passé de cette époque à la débandade d'aujourd'hui

[@HeyYouIngles]

"St-Laurent coin Ste-Catherine s'est comment on est passé de cette époque à la débandade d'aujourd'hui" Oh, pas si mauvais...non?

[@themovietheatre]

1:19 Metropolitan News at 1248 Peel St. It closed early in the 2000's due to the Internet.

[@mamaneverlovedme]

Amazing. Danceland is now Urban Outfitters. What happened to all the neon in the city?

[@gcharb2d]

Normal, the Catholic church had forbidden the English protestants to go to french schools, so they weren't that many bilingual English since after the church was kicked out of the government in the 50s and the 60s. And the reason the English had the better end of business also had to do with the Catholic church who has kepped the french in poverty and illiteracy for 400 years, again, until it was kicked out of the government!

[@auclair84]

Some propaganda in general it was a good video !

[@campbellhen]

The Legendary Kid Oblay plays the guy asking for directions from the police.

[@gilbro2005]

Si tu aimes te raconter des histoires et des contes de fées en résumant la situation de façon aussi étroite et limitée, n'en tient qu'à toi !

[@LucCournoyer]

Jeannette Bertrand et Jean Lajeunesse...

[@HeyYouIngles]

really? were they Quebec actors?

[@LucCournoyer]

Oui!

[@stratovani]

Jeannette Bertrand was a real cutie!

[@LucCournoyer]

Shes now at 92 years old!

[@HeyYouIngles]

min 1:04 Thats "CLUNY BROWN" on the marquee. I wonder if Mrs Bertrand remembers shooting this movie.

[@Klens75]

What a shame... the last big project to happen in Quebec was the St. Lawrence Seaway....Montreal is now arguably the 4th most important city in Canada behind TO, VA, and CG. Can we have old Montreal back!!!

[@HeyYouIngles]

Montreal is an AMAZING city!!! Love it!

[@z7fan577]

1967 Expo? 1976 Olympics? Where were you?

[@matju2]

Par "gros projet" il veut dire un projet dans lequel c'étaient les anglais qui menaient tout... parce que les autres, ils comptent pas. Il y a maintenant trop de frogs à Montréal pour que cette ville puisse arriver dans SON top 3 ;-)

[@alaingadbois2276]

That’s not correct, for example all the hydroelectric dams that were built after. The Saint-Laurence seaway had the effect of destroying Montréal’s monopoly on seagoing travel, as ships no longer had to stop and transfer goods to smaller ships to continue on the Lachine canal. In the late fifties, Toronto’s growth was already fater than Montréal.

[@GoingSkateboarding]

Don't jump to any conclusions...

[@Igaluit]

Camilien Houde !

[@bjdon99]

But Gilles on the other hand without the Church there may not have been a Francophone Quebec today. It is true that the Church encouraged people to stay rural, and they did not emphasize advanced education for their people, but they also encouraged them to have large families (to win the population race) and was the original source of French Canadian nationalism. June 24th was originally (and still is) a Catholic holiday,and O Canada in French was a Catholic hymn.

[@msbrownbeast]

Good old Montreal, 1947 - before Jean Drapeau became mayor and subsequently cleaned up the smut.

[@GoingSkateboarding]

I'm just saying, Quebec has changed quite a bit and you'd be wrong to make that conclusion...

[@stratovani]

Le Maire Camillien Houde!

[@gilbro2005]

«bon petit souverainistes haineux» ? Encore une fois, quel mépris dans tes commentaires. Il est clair que tu as une obsession compulsive contre les souverainistes. Tu sais, avec un bonne thérapie, ça se soigne...

[@MartinLeMalin]

Si ça n'avait pas été de l'Église catholique, nous n'aurions pas eu ces écoles, ces collèges, ces hôpitaux, ces organisations caritatives, etc.. C'est l' Église catholique qui a formé l'élite canadienne-française qui a permis au Québec de passer d'une société rurale à une société moderne via la révolution tranquille. Bien sûr tout n'était pas parfait, mais avec les moyens qu'ils avaient, ces prêtres et ces religieuses ont accompli beaucoup plus que ce qu'on pouvait espérer.

[@rubydawn1]

lol like every other Canadian girl she wants to get married

[@thornimation5492]

Well, it was the 1940s, wasn't it.

[@Tenebrius1963]

And you don't generalize...

[@gcharb2d]

Plutôt que de faire des commentaires vaseux, répondez-donc à ma question, si vous le pouvez, bien entendu!

[@gcharb2d]

Sachez que j'ai longtemps été souverainiste, jusqu'au jour ou je me suis aperçu que nos chefs, ceux-la même qui ne cessaient de chier sur les anglais, avaient eux-même été à l'école anglaise et qu'ils y envoyait leurs enfants. Dernière en lisse, Pauline Marois, qui a envoyé ces deux garçon au Collège Dawson, belle gang d'hypocrites! Et j'ai été souverainiste suffisamment longtemps pour savoir que la majorité de ceux-ci ont en effet une haine viscérale de tout ce qui n'est pas francophone!

[@Igaluit]

La fille de Bernard Landry parle beaucoup mieux l'anglais que son père ne le parlait. Faut croire qu'il l'a envoyé aux meilleures écoles.

[@raidim]

ding a ling,the boys also,a need to get the meal on the table,1950 is not today,ding a ling.

[@1982kinger]

Pre Bill 101 Montreal... Those were the days

[@gilbro2005]

Et tu penses que les anglais auraient pu faire l'argent qu'ils faisaient sans le "cheap labor" des canadiens français qui se tuaient à l'ouvrage pour un salaire de crêve faim et qui ne pouvaient se payer l'électricité à la maison vendue par les compagnies non canadiennes françaises ? Et qui tu penses qui cultivait pour nourrir le Québec? Ta vision et ta compréhension sent le mépris à plein nez.

[@gcharb2d]

Aussi, plutôt que de cracher sur mon commentaire en bon petit souverainistes haineux de tout ce qui n'est pas francophone pure laine, expliques-nous donc pourquoi la situation des francophones a changée dès que nous avons séparé l'église de l'état et que nous avons commencer à faire de bonnes études! Tout à fait normal dans les années 40-50, qu'une population d’illettré comme nous l'étions n'ait pas eu de bonne conditions de travail, c'étais généralement pire ailleurs, exemple l'Angleterre!

[@jakal911]

A city where the French people aren't snobs.

[@gcharb2d]

En ce qui concerne le mépris, relis-toi, et tu verra que mon commentaire ne fait qu'expliquer les raisons qui font que les francophones du Québec sont rester pauvre et incultes, alors que le tiens est tout à fait empreint de mépris pour mon commentaire! Et rien ne change le fait que c'est l'église catholique qui nous a maintenue dans l'iletrisme et qui a fait en sorte que nous ne pouvions avoir de meilleurs emplois!

[@riffraffclothingco]

That's because we're not French. We're Quebecois and franco Canadians.

[@raidim]

look again,mr leblanc takes care of the cie of the big boss,mr leblanc is a very good employee,me leblanc is french and the boss is...?Well,lets say,not french.