My Movie - "Nahanni"

"I suppose you've seen my movie.

The National Film Board of Canada sent a writer, Bill Weintraub, in April of 1961 to plan a Nahanni movie. He flew in with Lloyd Romfo, a Yukon pilot.

At first, they spoke with Gus Kraus about it, but Gus didn't want any part in it; he was managing the construction of the Nahanni Butte community for the Indian Affairs bureau. He didn't have time for movies, so he sent them on to see me.

Well, I couldn't turn them away. They just wanted to film what I would do anyway. If all went well, when I got above my second cabin after the Falls, and the stream I was going to had some colors, I'd have built a new cabin to stay for the Winter. But, I couldn't get there in time.

Nahanni, August 1961.

(l to r): Albert, photographer-director Don Wilder, writer-narrator Bill Weintraub.

 
First off, the film director, Don Wilder, kept wanting me to do the same thing over and over again while they shot it, like just coming out of my Simpson shack here.

When we finally got to the Nahanni, they had to carry this heavy camera and batteries up the hillsides to photograph from special angles, and Don wanted me to take my skiff thru the worse waves up the Figure Eight, again and again - nearly sunk us, too, with them heavy batteries in the bow.

By the time we got to the Falls, it was already into August. Then Wilder had a plane come in to fly all around for more filming. By the time we was going above the Falls, it was getting cold already.

So the plane came back and brought Bill Weintraub with it. He made a great spaghetti and pasta sauce dinner before the film crew flew out. And, we went out in ten days together, the two of us, in my boat. It sure wasn't the summer I had planned, but that's what they wanted. "

"Here is a link to the National Film Board of Canada and more information about my movie."

"I didn't ask for anything for my starring role.

I did say I liked the fine binoculars that the RCMP used, and Bill Weintraub saw to it that I got the finest pair they could find

But the real reward came years later when my step-son, Harry, back in Duluth Minnesota, saw the picture. He hadn't heard from me since his mother had died in 1951, and after a time figured that I was gone as well.

Albert and Harry
But the movie came to Duluth in 1965 and it surprised everyone. The very night Harry saw it, he was speaking to me by telephone. Three years later, on June 7, 1968, Harry flew into Fort Simpson for a grand reunion. The whole town came out to greet my son, - it was my proudest day!

Return to Introduction