Quebec in Summertime (1949) User Reviews

it's Canada

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 12 November 2022]

TravelTalks travels to Quebec City and eventually Montreal. I don't know if people actually still used the spinning wheel. I'm guessing that they brought that out of a tourist trap and put it outside. My main issue is the lack of exoticism. It may have some French flavors, but it's still Canada. It's Canada. Maybe the post-war period had some travel issues. Whatever they may be, the show needs something more exotic than Canada. I'm not saying that it's anything awful. If nothing else, it is interesting to see a mainly white North American culture during this time. They are different from the English, but without the language, it's harder to appreciate that.

Old World City Still Endures Amid Change

[barryrd · 9/10 · 31 December 2019]

James Fitzpatrick, narrator of travelogues from the mid 20th century, became a tourist in Canada for this film on the city of Quebec. As a Canadian, I noticed how much this film reflects many of the highlights that a visitor would seek out some 70 years later - the old world city, the Chateau Frontenac which overlooks the St Lawrence River, Our Lady of Victory Church, the architecture like the St Louis Gate, the breakneck steps separating Lowertown from Uppertown, Montmorency Falls, etc. We see the hooked rugs that attracts tourists to the old town, the market in Lowertown, the bake ovens used by families for generations to bake bread, and the famous Plains of Abraham. Before the American Revolution, as Fitzpatrick points out Quebec was a huge overseas territory that included half of Canada and large parts of the United States. The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, a surprise attack in 1749 which lasted about 10 minutes, made Canada a part of the British Empire. What has changed is the dominant Catholic culture that held sway from the early Quebec of the 1600's to the 1960's. It was a city in a time warp. As Fitzpatrick observed, even the French spoken in the streets of Quebec was more that of 17th century France and not the Paris of his day. The Quiet Revolution changed all that and made the city and province of Quebec very much part of the secular culture; however, the Old World City remains to a great extent the tourist attraction it has always been.

TravelTalks

[Michael_Elliott · 1 November 2012]

Quebec in Summertime (1949)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

James A. FitzPatrick takes us to Quebec this time out to take a look at the city that was called the "New France" and was drawing over a million tourists a year. We see how the downtown markets haven't changed over the years and then we visit several sites including the St. Lawrence River and Mount Royal, which overlooks Montreal. Fans of the FitzPatrick series will undoubtedly want to check this one out as it features that touch of history and visuals that make the series so addicting. I think the best thing going for this is actually the Technicolor as it brings many of the scenes to life including some beautiful shots of the St. Lawrence River and another waterfall that is shown. The history lessons actually aren't as many as you'd expect from the series but what's here is still quite interesting including how he keeps referring Quebec to an American city.