John Grierson was born on April 26, 1898 in Kilmadock, Stirlingshire, Scotland. He was a producer and writer, known for The Song of Ceylon (1934), The Brave Don't Cry (1952) and Coal Face (1935). He was married to Margaret Grierson. He died on February 19, 1972 in Bath, Somerset, England.
He was instrumental in establishing and developing the National Film Board of Canada. To recognize this, in 1972 the Governor General of Canada contacted the government of Canada to negotiate an amendment to the Order of Canada's constitution to allow Grierson, who was not a Canadian citizen, to be appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada. The Cabinet scheduled a meeting to formalize this change and a telegram was prepared to be sent to Grierson as soon as the necessary documents had been authorized. Unfortunately, Grierson died one day before the Cabinet was scheduled to approve his appointment. Since posthumous appointments cannot be made, Grierson was never appointed to the Order. In recognition of this tragic delay, the Order of Canada was significantly altered during the 1970s to remove the bureaucratic delay for honorary appointments, and since that time non-citizens like Nelson Mandela and Václav Havel have been appointed honorary companions.
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In 1939 he became the National Film Board's first film commissioner.
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He arrived in the United States in 1924 because of a grant from the Rockeller foundation. His research was in the field of social sciences.
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In 1926 he helped prepare Battleship Potemkin (1925) for American audiences.
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Honorary president of the Oberhausen International Short Film Festival.
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Man of Africa
1956
producer
Child's Play
1954
executive producer
Devil on Horseback
1954
producer
Edge of Divorce
1953
executive producer - uncredited
The Horse's Mouth
1953
executive producer
Scotch on the Rocks
1953
executive producer
Miss Robin Hood
1952
executive producer
The Brave Don't Cry
1952
executive producer
Time, Gentlemen, Please!
1952
executive producer
You're Only Young Twice
1952
executive producer
Brandy for the Parson
1952
executive producer
Judgment Deferred
1952
executive producer
The Invasion of North Africa
1942
Short series producer
A Colour Box
1940
Short producer - uncredited
The Londoners
1939
Documentary short producer
The Face of Scotland
1938
Documentary short producer
North Sea
1938
Documentary short executive producer - uncredited
On the Fishing Banks of Skye
1938
Documentary short producer
A Job in a Million
1937
Documentary short producer
Children at School
1937
Documentary short producer
The Line to Tschierva Hut
1937
Documentary producer - uncredited
Daily Round
1937
Short producer
The Saving of Bill Blewitt
1937
Short producer - uncredited
The Smoke Menace
1937
Documentary short producer
We Live in Two Worlds
1937
Documentary short producer
Coal Face
1935
Documentary short producer
BBC: The Voice of Britain
1935
Documentary producer
Granton Trawler
1934
Documentary short producer - uncredited
Post-haste
1934
Documentary short producer
6.30 Collection
1934
Documentary short producer
The Song of Ceylon
1934
Short documentary producer
Weather Forecast
1934
Short producer
Cable Ship
1933
Documentary short producer
The Coming of the Dial
1933
Documentary short producer
Spring on the Farm
1933
Documentary short producer
The Country Comes to Town
1933
Documentary short producer - uncredited
O'er Hill and Dale
1932
Documentary short producer
Shadow on the Mountains
1931
Documentary short producer
Industrial Britain
1931
Documentary short producer - as Grierson
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Seawards the Great Ships
1961
Documentary short treatment
The Heart of Scotland
1961
Documentary short treatment
Rivers at Work
1960
Documentary short
On the Fishing Banks of Skye
1938
Documentary short
Granton Trawler
1934
Documentary short uncredited
Director
Title
Year
Status
Character
Granton Trawler
1934
Documentary short uncredited
Drifters
1929
Documentary
Cinematographer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Granton Trawler
1934
Documentary short
The Private Life of the Gannets
1934
Documentary short
Miscellaneous
Title
Year
Status
Character
Trade Tattoo
1937
Short presenter
Pett and Pott: A Fairy Story of the Suburbs
1934
Short presenter
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Making Movie History: Wartime Women
2014
Short
Editor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Drifters
1929
Documentary
Production Manager
Title
Year
Status
Character
Night Mail
1936
Short documentary production supervisor
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Creative Process: Norman McLaren
1993
Documentary
Himself (voice)
Hitchcock on Grierson
1965
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Rivers at Work
1960
Documentary short
Narrator
John Grierson
1959
Short
Himself
This Wonderful World
1957
TV Series
Presenter
The Face of Scotland
1938
Documentary short
John Knox (voice, uncredited)
Night Mail
1936
Short documentary
Commentary
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
Documenting John Grierson
2014
Documentary short
Himself
Cinéma Vérité: Defining the Moment
2000
Documentary
Himself (founder, NFB) (uncredited)
The Magical Eye
1989
Documentary
Himself (uncredited)
Has Anybody Here Seen Canada? A History of Canadian Movies 1939-1953
1979
TV Movie documentary
Himself - Takes Film Notes with Officers (uncredited)
$200,000
