Regarding Our Father
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45 minutes / Documentary / English / 2011 Produced by Rink Rat Productions Written and Directed by John W. Doyle and Marjorie Doyle |
Gerald S. Doyle was Newfoundland’s first collector of folksongs. He was also a remarkable salesman, a patriot, and an avid filmmaker. In this documentary, two of his children delve into his film archives to create a compelling portrait of a farsighted man and a rich period in Newfoundland history.
Doyle was a young man training to be a pharmacist when he got the opportunity of a lifetime in 1918: the chance to become the exclusive Newfoundland agent for a leading brand of patent medicines. He began to travel around the island to take orders, and fell in love with the traditional music that he heard in every outport. He collected the lyrics and published his first songbook in 1927: “The Old Time Songs and Poetry of Newfoundland.” He sent a free copy to every household in Newfoundland and Labrador. The book was an instant hit and made Doyle and his products household names.
When radio came to Newfoundland, Doyle adopted the new advertising medium without hesitation. He created a nightly message program that became a lifeline for people in the outports who had little access to modern communications.
In 1936 he bought a Ciné-Kodak 16mm movie camera and found a new mission in life: to document the outport way of life that he deeply respected and knew was changing fast. He filmed men and women at work, and children at play – catching and drying fish, hauling wood, tending gardens, building boats. It was a country where life was centered on the water and had changed little for generations. Many of the scenes Doyle filmed could have been shot a century earlier.
The documentary follows Gerald S. Doyle’s own story from his childhood in Kings Cove, through his growing business success, his fight against confederation with Canada, and his dedication to preserving and promoting Newfoundland folk music through his song books and records.
The lush Kodachrome images have been carefully restored and are startling in their immediacy, depicting Newfoundland life in the 1930’s and ‘40’s as it has never been seen on film. Interviews with folklorists, friends, family and contemporary musicians provide context.
The documentary is a tribute to a father who died too young, and a patriot’s view of the country he loved.
