City in siege

Description: A record of Winnipeg’s ordeal by flood in the spring of 1950. From the first overflowing drain to the broad sea that the Red River finally became, the film traces the course of this disaster. Scenes of wholesale destruction are matched by pictures of heroic rescue and defence work. When the waters recede we enter sodden houses to find mouldy walls, slimy floors and rotting furniture. But the film does not end on a note of despair - our last view of the flood area shows the work of reconstruction beginning with the removal of dykes and the restoration of roads. Voice and narration by Jack Scott. Photography by Robert Campbell and Hector Lemieux.