Grierson

CinemaSerf7/10

Jun 7, 2025

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Born in Edinburgh, Jack Grierson grew into an activist on a Clydeside soapbox in his teens advocating improvements in the lives of the poverty stricken shipbuilders struggling to make ends meet in early 20th century Scotland. The Great War took him into the Royal Navy and thence to university where a degree in moral philosophy saw him move to Chicago. This was at a time when Capone and prohibition dominated the city and when he fell in with journalist Walter Lipman. It was with him that Grierson decided that he must find a way to harness the increasing power of mass communication to get his message across to what he knew was a willing but dis/mis/uninformed public. A sojourn to Hollywood saw him further develop both his skills and his contacts and soon he was on his way to producing documentaries that delivered potent and effective storytelling on an whole range of subjects. As his successes grew and his methods attracted more to similar styles of programming, he became instrumental in establishing the National Film Board of Canada and to supervise and inspire it’s enormous variety of content both overtly commercial and more niche. This is as much a compelling look at the development of the art of documentary film making as it is an evaluation of a tenacious and visionary thumper who gradually learned how to take the tools of the written press and adapt them to more modern technology. There are a few quite revealing interviews included from both himself and from many whose life he touched as his role - despite the fact that he didn’t ever actually act himself - made him one of the industry’s ultimate and most respected critics. If you are at all interested in the development of movies with a more educational purpose, then you ought to give this an hour.