Oscar C. Burritt on the CBC television program Cinema Six, Toronto, 1969. (Digital frame grab from BC Archives V1990:06/001.02 item #2)
1937-1955
National Film Society of Canada (Vancouver Branch)
Male
Superviisor of film acquistion and film editing, CBC Television Toronto (CBLT); televison film consultant
"Oscar C. Burritt and Dorothy Burritt (nee Fowler) were film enthusiasts and amateur filmmakers who lived in Vancouver until 1947. Oscar C. Burritt also worked as a professional cinematographer and film director. In later years, he worked for CBC television (CBLT) in Toronto. Both the Burritts were active in the film society movement, including the Vancouver Branch of the National Film Society (later the Vancouver Film Society) and the Toronto Film Society, which they co-founded. Dorothy Burritt was also founder of the Canadian Federation of Film Societies." (British Columbia Archives.)
Starting in 1943, Oscar Burritt shot and directed industrial films for Leon Shelly at Vancouver Motion Pictures, including a handful of NFB shorts. In 1947, when Shelly moved his operation to Toronto (as Shelly Films), Oscar moved east and continued working for him. One of the films Oscar directed for Shelley Films was Beans of Bounty (1948, for Victory Mills); it was co-winner in the Non-Theatrical category at the first Canadian Film Awards in 1949. In 1950, Burritt joined the CBC to supervise the development of film services for television production at CBLT. In the 1960s, he also introduced classic film screenings on CBLT prgrams such as Cinema Six. (D.J. Duffy)
"Burritt, Oscar C., 1908-1974." Oscar and Dorothy Burritt fonds, British Columbia Archives.
Duffy, Dennis J. “A Fan of the Chinese Opera.” Seriously Moving Images (2019)
Duffy, Dennis J. "'Evangelists': The Other Cinema of Dorothy and Oscar Burritt." Amateur Cinema (2019).