Director, Producer, Screenwriter

(b. April 27, 1921 Toronto, Ontario - d. January 1, 1985 Montreal, Quebec)

One of the most prolific of the many producer-directors at the National Film Board during its glory years, David Bairstow oversaw the production of over two hundred films between 1944 to 1974. He is perhaps best known for Royal Journey (1951), a documentary account of the five-week tour by the young Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh to Canada and the United States in the fall of 1951. A hit in Canada and abroad, it became the most successful NFB film up to that time.

Bairstow’s best work as a director was made in the early sixties – his Morning on the Lièvre (1961) won the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, and his work on the Arctic Circle series produced a number of fine films. As a producer, he was responsible for many episodes of the “Frontiers” television series, which dealt with such social issues as the integration of mentally challenged children and the effects of automation in industry, and for a number of films on conservation and the environment, such as River with a Problem (1961), The First Mile Up (1961) and Tomorrow Is Too Late (1974).

Bairstow was also a producer with the Native Indian Training Programme and spent a year (1969 to 1970) working with the Australian Commonwealth Film Unit.

Film and video work includes

Safe Clothing, 1946 (director)
Building for Tomorrow, 1947 (director)
Abitibi, 1949 (director)
Valley of Gold, 1949 (director)
Gentleman Jekyll and Driver Hyde, 1950 (director)
Holiday at Waskesiu, 1950 (director)
Cadet Holiday, 1951 (writer; co-producer with Douglas Wilkinson and Robert Humble)
Royal Canadian Army Cadets, 1951 (co-director with Douglas Wilkinson)
Shawinigan, 1951 (director; writer)
Wings for N. A. T. O., 1951 (director)
Eye Witness No. 40, 1952 (co-producer with Nicholas Balla)
Eye Witness No. 41, 1952 (co-producer with Nicholas Balla; writer)
Eye Witness No. 42, 1952 (co-producer with Nicholas Balla; writer)
Eye Witness No. 43, 1952 (co-producer with Nicholas Balla; writer)
Eye Witness No. 44, 1952 (co-producer with Nicholas Balla; writer)
Eye Witness No. 45, 1952 (co-producer with Nicholas Balla; writer)
Eye Witness No. 46, 1952 (co-producer with Nicholas Balla)
Eye Witness No. 47, 1952 (co-producer with Nicholas Balla)
Horizons of Quebec, 1952 (editor)
Powertown Story, 1952 (director; writer)
Dues and the Union, 1953 (director)
Eye Witness No. 48, 1953 (director)
Eye Witness No. 49, 1953 (co-producer with Nicholas Balla)
Eye Witness No. 50, 1953 (co-producer with Nicholas Balla)
Eye Witness No. 51, 1953 (co-producer with Nicholas Balla; writer)
Eye Witness No. 52, 1953 (co-producer with Nicholas Balla; writer)
Eye Witness No. 53, 1953 (co-producer with Nicholas Balla)
Eye Witness No. 54, 1953 (co-producer with Nicholas Balla)
Eye Witness No. 55, 1953 (co-producer with Nicholas Balla; writer)
Eye Witness No. 56, 1953 (co-producer with Nicholas Balla)
Eye Witness No. 57, 1953 (co-producer with Nicholas Balla)
Eye Witness No. 58, 1953 (co-producer with Nicholas Balla; writer)
Eye Witness No. 59, 1953 (director; co-producer with Nicholas Balla)
Eye Witness No. 60, 1953 (co-producer with Nicholas Balla)
Highlights from Royal Journey, 1953 (co-producer with Gundun Parker and Roger Blais)
Aircrew, 1954 (co-producer with Thomas Farely)
Aviation Fuel Handling - Part 1: Characteristics of Aviation Fuel, 1954 (co-producer with Frank Spiller)
Aviation Fuel Handling - Part 2: Railway Tank Cars to Surface, Bulk Storage, 1954 (co-producer with Frank Spiller)
Aviation Fuel Handling - Part 3: Handling Procedures, 1954 (co-producer with Frank Spiller)
Basic Rescue No. 1 - Five Basic Knots, 1954 (co-producer with Julian Biggs)
Basic Rescue No. 2 - The Use of Levers, 1954 (co-producer with Julian Biggs)
Basic Rescue No. 3 - The Use of Jacks, 1954 (co-producer with Julian Biggs)
Basic Rescue No. 4 - The Single Ladder, 1954 (co-producer with Julian Biggs)
Basic Rescue No. 5 - The Extension Ladder, 1954 (co-producer with Julian Biggs)
Eye Witness No. 61, 1954 (co-producer with Nicholas Balla; writer; co-cinematographer with Robert Humble)
Eye Witness No. 62, 1954 (co-director with Hector Lemieux; co-producer with Nicholas Balla; writer)
Eye Witness No. 63, 1954 (co-producer with Nicholas Balla)
Flying Instruction Technique, 1954 (co-producer with Thomas Farley)
More Dollars in the Pasture, 1954 (producer)
Anti-submarine Mortar Mark 10, 1955 (producer)
The Automatic Radio Compass: Part I, 1955 (producer)
Daily Inspection Procedures for the T33, 1955 (producer)
Early Handling of Spinal Injuries, 1955 (producer)
First Aid for Aircrew, 1955 (producer)
Harvest in the Valley (Short version), 1955 (co-producer with Larry Gosnell)
Hybrid Corn, 1955 (co-producer with Larry Gosnell)
Navy Goes North, 1955 (producer)
Operation Eclipse II, 1955 (producer)
Prepare for Advancement, 1955 (producer)
Raising the Hogs the Market Wants, 1955 (co-producer with Julian Biggs)
Road of Iron, 1955 (producer)
Supply Depot to Flight Line, 1955 (producer)
Air Survey, 1956 (producer)
Chemical Conquest, 1956 (co-producer with Larry Gosnell)
Crash Rescue and Fire Fighting, 1956 (producer)
Emergency Rescue - T33 Jet Aircraft, 1956 (producer)
Fish Spoilage Control, 1956 (producer)
Gyro Steering, 1956 (producer)
H Bomb, 1956 (producer)
An Introduction to the Radio Range, 1956 (producer)
Methods of Instruction, 1956 (producer)
Arrival, 1957 (co-producer with Blanche Markle)
Aural Null, 1957 (co-producer with Frank Spiller)
The Automatic Radio Compass: Part II, 1957 (co-producer with Frank Spiller)
Aye Follow Your Own, 1957 (producer)
Battalion Intelligence Section, 1957 (co-producer with Walford Hewitson)
Birth of a Giant, 1957 (producer)
Call it ... Rehabilitation, 1957 (producer)
Coming to Single Anchor, 1957 (producer)
Flagged for Action, 1957 (producer)
Flash Up - St. Laurent Class Ships: Parts 1 and 2, 1957 (producer)
Honey Bees and Pollination, 1957 (co-producer with J.V. Durden and Larry Gosnell)
Island Romance, 1957 (producer)
A Letter from Oxford, 1957 (producer)
Log Drive, 1957 (producer)
Mapping for Defence, 1957 (producer)
Pierrot in Montreal, 1957 (producer)
The Salmon's Struggle for Survival, 1957 (producer)
Staff of Life, 1957 (producer)
The Standard Range Approach, 1957 (co-producer with Frank Spiller)
The Two Kingstons, 1957 (producers)
Conquest of Cold, 1958 (producer)
The Editor, 1958 (producer)
Evidence for the Crown, 1958 (producer)
First Novel, 1958 (producer)
The Golden Age, 1958 (producer)
Home Landscaping, 1958 (producer)
Journey from Etsa, 1958 (producer)
The Legendary Judge, 1958 (producer)
Men and Automation, 1958 (producer)
Men and Mechanization, 1958 (producer)
Neptune Mission, 1958 (producer)
Northwest Neighbours, 1958 (producer)
One Day's Poison, 1958 (producer)
Ottawa, Canada's Capital, 1958 (producer)
People of the Peace, 1958 (producer)
River of Wood, 1958 (producer)
School for the Stage, 1958 (producer)
The Story of H. M. S. Shannon, 1958 (producer)
Student Nurse, 1958 (producer)
Tales out of School, 1958 (producer)
The Ticket, 1958 (producer)
Train 406, 1958 (producer)
Western Brigade, 1958 (producer)
1,500,000 of Us, 1959 (producer)
Bacon, 1959 (producer)
Canada - World Citizen, 1959 (producer)
Dykes for Dry Land,1959 (producer)
Eternal Children, 1959 (producer)
The Gifted Ones, 1959 (producer)
Grassland Farming, 1959 (co-producer with Julian Biggs)
The Inquiring Mind, 1959 (director; producer)
The Mine Makers, 1959 (producer)
The Performer, 1959 (producer)
Prairie Bonanza, 1959 (producer)
Report on Cancer, 1959 (producer)
Teamwork in Farm Research, 1959 (co-producer with Barrie McLean)
U. N. in the Classroom, 1959 (co-producer with Julian Biggs)
Automation, 1960 (co-producer with Don Mulholland)
Life and Radiation, 1960 (co-producer with Hugh O'Connor)
Men Against the Ice, 1960 (director; producer)
Men Against the Ice (Revised), 1960 (director; producer)
On Prescription Only, 1960 (producer)
Poisons, Pests and People, 1960 (producer)
The Power of Matter, 1960 (producer)
Steering North, 1960 (director; producer)
This Electronic World, 1960 (producer)
The First Mile Up, 1961 (director; co-producer with Guy Glover; writer)
A Lake for the Prairie,1961(co-producer with Peter Jones)
Morning on the Lievre, 1961 (director; co-producer with Guy Glover)
On Their Merit, 1961 (writer)
River with a Problem, 1961 (co-producer with Guy Glover)
Henry Larsen's Northwest Passages, 1962 (producer)
The Early Journeys of Vilhjalmur Stefansson, 1963 (producer)
The Later Journeys of Vilhjalmur Stefansson, 1963, (director; writer)
Memories and Predictions, 1963 (producer)
Music from Montreal, 1963 (director; writer)
Alexander Mackenzie: The Lord of the North, 1964 (director; writer)
Along Uncharted Shores, 1964 (director; producer)
Selections from the Christmas Oratorio by J. S. Bach, 1964 (director)
Autobiographical by A.M. Klein, 1965 (producer; co-editor with Richard Notkin)
Instant French, 1965 (director; producer; co-writer with Stanley Jackson)
Judoka, 1965 (co-producer with Bernard Devlin)
Max in the Morning, 1965 (director; producer)
Long Ways to Go, 1966 (producer)
Once upon a Prime Time, 1966 (producer)
Tuktu and His Eskimo Dogs, 1966 (producer)
The Accessible Arctic, 1967 (producer)
The North Has Changed, 1967 (producer)
Tuktu and His Animal Friends, 1967 (producer)
Tuktu and the Big Kayak, 1967 (producer)
Tuktu and the Big Seal, 1967 (producer)
Tuktu and the Caribou Hunt, 1967 (producer)
Tuktu and the Indoor Games, 1967 (producer)
Tuktu and the Magic Spear, 1967 (producer)
Tuktu and the Snow Palace, 1967 (producer)
Tuktu and the Ten Thousand Fishes, 1967 (producer)
Tuktu and the Trials of Strength, 1967 (producer)
Tuktu and the Cleaver Hands, 1968 (producer)
Tuktu and the Magic Bow, 1968 (producer)
Tuktu and His Nice New Clothes, 1968 (producer)
Twenty-four Hours in Czechoslovakia, 1968 (director)
City Limits, 1971 (co-producer with Laurence Hyde)
Total Approach, 1971 (co-producer with Roger Blais)
A Little Summermusik, 1972 (producer)
Script to Screen, 1972 (co-producer with Daisy De Bellefeuille)
The Second Arctic Winter Games, 1972 (co-producer with Dennis Sawyer)
The Sunny Munchy Crunchy Natural Food Shop, 1972 (producer)
Who Were the Ones?, 1972 (co-producer with Denis Gillson)
28° Above Below, 1973 (co-producer with Bané Jovanovic)
A Great Little Artist, 1973 (producer; cast)
Duty Free, 1973 (co-producer with Dennis Sawyer)
Grierson, 1973 (co-producer with Roger Blais)
Our Street Was Paved with Gold, 1973 (producer)
The People of the Book, 1973 (co-producer with Roger Blais)
Oceans of Science, 1974 (producer; writer)
Tomorrow Is Too Late, 1974 (producer; writer)
Canada Vignettes: Flin Flon, 1978 (cast)

By: Tom McSorley