The Film Companion

Toby Rupert was a librarian living in Toronto.

The Film Companion, in the style of the Oxford Companion series, lists about 650 entries: 300 of these deal with people (producers, directors, writers, editors, animators, composers, and cameramen), 300 deal with titles of films in Canada (from shorts to features), and the balance are survey and identification articles (such as “maple syrup porno,” which describes soft porn from Quebec). The alphabetical arrangement has a sufficient number of cross-references. Each entry identifies and expands on the basic data of life facts or plot summaries. There is a distinct historical emphasis, since the stress is on older films, and this makes the book good for film studies programs. All of the entries have some kind of bibliography or source list for further reading or references. Morris, founder of the Canadian Film Archives and former curator of the Canadian Film Institute, has done a masterful job in presenting and writing up the material.