Four New Apple Dishes

Directed by Judith Crawley

Canada, 1940 (documentary, 11 minutes, colour, English)

Film Description:
"A film showing how apples may be made an attractive part of the menu for many different occasions. Four recipes—apple salad, apple upside-down cake, glazed apples and apple ice cream—are given in detail, and a section is devoted to the choice of apples for different purposes."
-- National Film Board of Canada (source)

Film Credits (partial):
Production Company:	National Film Board of Canada / Office national du film du Canada

(sources)

Notes about Four New Apple Dishes

Four New Apple Dishes is the first Canadian colour film to be directed by a woman. It has sometimes been referred to as the first Canadian colour film, but it appears that at least two other colour films preceded it: Royal Banners over Ottawa (directed by Gordon Sparling, 1939) and The Royal Visit to Canada and the United States of America May 17 - June 15, 1939 (directed by Frank C. Badgley, 1939).

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Quote by the Director

"[John] Grierson called me up one day and said, 'Judy, can you cook?' I'd been married only a couple of months and I wasn't sure. I said 'Why?' He said, 'I think we can get some money from the Department of Agriculture to try a film about cooking apples, because there is a surplus.' This was the very first time that the Film Board had been able to finance a coloured film. I think that a lot of the reason that certain films were made and certain others weren't was Grierson's uncanny ability of finding where there might be a little money to use for artistic purposes."
-- Judith Crawley (source)

Quote about Four New Apple Dishes

"[John] Grierson gave [Judith Crawley] a different assignment: a film called Four Apple Dishes, intended to show Canadians how to use the bumper crop of apples coming that year. It was a bit of film domesticity for which she was neither inclined nor suited. [...] She took on Four Apple Dishes nonetheless, and insisted it be shot in colour on high-quality Kodachrome. Grierson agreed, and the first Canadian colour film was made."
-- Barbara Wade Rose (source)

Web Sites about Four New Apple Dishes

National Film Board of Canada. "NFB -- Four New Apple Dishes." National Film Board of Canada. http://www3.nfb.ca/collection/films/fiche/?id=16438.