Improved wages and shorter workweeks were important contributing factors to the remarkable change in the pattern of leisure-time activities during the 1920s. Calgarians, like other Canadians, had become ardent movie-goers. In the long run, the effect of the new electronic media, radio and motion pictures was to further integrate Canadians into the American cultural milieu. It is important, however, to stress that this happened gradually. At first, and particularly in the Calgary area, there was a local tradition and history around which a Canadian film industry could develop. Southern Alberta's North West Mounted Police and ranching heritage lent themselves easily to a romanticized portrayal on the "silver screen". Beginning in the immediate pre-war period, a number of Canadian, British and a few American movie companies produced numerous films set in Calgary and the surrounding foothill ranches. In many films, such as this one advertised in 1926, the famed Calgary Stampede played a prominent part. When the Canadian, and particularly the western-based film industry collapsed during the 1930s, Canadians had to depend on imported images.
The 1920s were, perhaps, the golden age of the motion picture theatre. By 1928 Calgary had 5,400 theatre seats. Spacious, glittering and ornate structures were built in the downtown of every major city. When patrons went off to the movies during the twenties, they were treated to a much more elaborate presentation than is characteristic today. Most of the big theatres had their own well-known, live orchestras. Produced by British Canadian Pictures, a Canadian subsidiary of Paramount Pictures, "His Destiny" appeared near the end of the "silent" era. The first sound movies came to Calgary in 1928.
