In Bed with an Elephant (1987) User Reviews

Very informative and worth a look into! (coming from a college student)

[pacmand-53062 · 8/10 · 28 February 2019]

Alrighty! Where do we begin I have a few favorite parts because well maybe I'm still a toddler. I will give this documentary/movie/fly-on-the-wall production a 8.3/10. It's definitely a Canadian produced video because about 12 minutes in the narrator (Kent Martin) says, "eh?" so be proud! (I'm not Canadian FTR). It was a VERY informative video; not only did it hit the history before the presidents came into relationships with the Prime ministers, it dove deep into each and every relationship up until Maloney and Reagan. I will do my best to not give any spoilers but the important information. Martin pointed out that the star-spangled banner isn't only about them gaining their independence, the bombs bursting was about canada! Mackenzie and Roosevelt had a great relationship. Roosevelt admired Mackenzie and upon meeting each other they had a great time and made this very apparent with the press and public eye. To make sure ties were set in stone and both countries would be 'best friends' they signed a permanent defense agreement; in which this would be an issue much later but bare with me we'll get there. Canadians made it apparent that Howe was the reason the economy was booming. America and Canada were major trading partners and this is what helped bring them together until Diefenbaker and Kennedy ran into issues. (toddler inbound) Diefenbaker wanted Canada to be Canada, and took trade away from the US and wanted to stop the Americans from owning so many businesses in Canada. Diefenbaker wanted to not rely on Americans due to his petty relationship with Kennedy; and took trading to the US's enemies (china). When the Cuban missle crisis happened Canadians were not per say 'against' Diefenbaker but if something happened Canadians would back Kennedy with no hesitation. To further help himself, Kennedy held private meetings with Canadian officials and press to help his image. During this secrecy Diefenbaker's term was coming near and with Kennedy being a sly fox helped kick him out and started a great relationship with the next Prime Minister. Kennedy had some not so nice remarks about Diefenbaker in which you'll have to watch to find out what he said! Kennedy wasn't able to further the relationship unfortunately but Johnson and Pearson were great together thanks to Kennedy. It's questionable as to whether Johnson took Canada for granted and had a VERY informal meeting with Pearson. It was more of a best friend party that finally got down to business with a random situation. Martin further digs into the economy of Canada and automobile industry and how this was a good and bad thing for Canada. Johnson and Pearson eventually came to an issue but Pearson being Canadain stuck with the old good ways and made everything all better. Later Nixon comes into play and wasn't a true fan of Trudeau and later called him a donkey. Also Nixon comes back and even though there's no wall #trump between Canada and the US their differences can be met through a good talk and each should tie their own shoes before helping the other put their shoes on.Martin has great footage of each relationship which really kept one engaged and it was easy to follow and piece together. I'd recommend it if you'd like to know a little more about the history between the two closest friends in the world.

A Fine Historical Documentary

[grhorton · 9/10 · 28 February 2019]

I would rate the film "In Bed with an Elephant: Prime Ministers and Presidents" a nine on a scale of ten. This film is fairly concise, being only an hour long, but it contains a lot of information and covers a lot of historical ground over the course of that hour. It goes from John A. Macdonald, Canada's first prime minister, meeting with President Grant as a representative of Great Britain's interests, on up through the 1930s, where it began to delve into more detail, up until the mid-1980s. This film was produced in 1986. It discussed relationships all over the spectrum, from the friendly and familial conduct between Mackenzie King and Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the rivalry between Diefenbaker and Jack Kennedy to the lopsided personal power dynamics of the era of Lyndon Johnson and Lester Pearson (the election of whom Kennedy directly influenced) and the rift between the two nations caused by the rift between Richard Nixon and Pierre Trudeau. All of these relationships are against a background of industrial production, economic strategies, and conflicts such as the Second World War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Vietnam War. The film did a great job of showing historical images, using still pictures, sound clips, and historical film to emphasize its points. The contrasting relations between the presidents and prime ministers as the years went by is shown quite clearly through images of them together, interviews with historians or, in one case, a former prime minister himself, and the narration provided. Some of the relationships were quite friendly and some were not very friendly at all, and plenty of detail behind these was provided in the form of specific events or meetings between the two heads of government. The music of the film fit the time periods depicted and helped to illustrate the points that the film was trying to make, and the fact that the narrator was shown in a variety of historical places, like Mackenzie King's study, also helped to bring the history to life, which seems to be the challenge faced by all historical documentaries. The film ends by raising an interesting question ("Can Canadians choose their nationality?"), which seemed a bit off and was the only detrimental aspect of the film, in my opinion. Overall, it was quite good.

Great and interesting film

[cfander · 9/10 · 27 February 2019]

Overall, I would rate the film of "In Bed with an Elephant" as a 9 out of 10. There were a lot of chronological details provided by the film that gave in depth descriptions of the Presidential and Prime Minister relations over the years. There were also a lot of details included within each relationship that described how unique each relationship was and how they impacted both Canada and the United States. I enjoyed the fact that each relationship had its own impacts. Specifically how the relationship between the President Franklin Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill was what initially started the military relationship between the United States and Canada. If there were no relationships between the leaders of the Canada and the United States, there would be really no way for the two countries to be connected. It was also interesting how the relationship between the Prime Minister and the President were what lead to cooperation from other countries. A lot of the trade connections between the two countries and other countries, specifically China, came down to the connection between Canada and the United States. It can also be seen the perspective that Canada and the United States had of each other. The United States oftentimes questioned whether or not Canada was capable of sustaining as a country on its own and it came down to what Canada wanted. The United States knew that it could support itself as a country as well as assist Canada in becoming the country that it wanted to be. However, the Prime Ministers of Canada did not always appreciate the condescending view that the President of the United States often had. Yet, the relations between the two leaders, even through the changes of the leaders themselves, has continued to prove helpful and important when it comes to country development and sustainability.The film was very well made with valid information being portrayed throughout the entire length of it. It was interesting being that it was produced in a way to keep the attention of the viewer and had smooth transitions between each of the relations of the leaders. There were a few instances, however, where there could have been more information provided. There were a lot of relationships where it was not mentioned how the Prime Minister and the President had met and with prior knowledge, I know that there were a lot of cases where how the two people had met had a vital impact on the result of the overall relationship between the two countries. However, overall a sufficient amount of information about each relationship was provided with smooth transitions and connections. As a viewer, I believe that this film was made very well and I would recommend for other viewers.

Informational but extremely dull

[rmschlic · 6/10 · 28 February 2019]

Even trying to give this film the benefit of the doubt (having been released in 1986 and being solely about politics), I cannot bring myself to give it more than a 6 out of 10. Despite its length of only 60 minutes, it took me several hours to watch this film in its entirety. Simply put, the film is boring. It was very difficult to focus on and I ended up needing to re-watch sections because I found myself zoning out and not paying attention. It isn't that I was trying to find fault with the film, but more that I struggled to find something in the film that would actually engage me.While the narrator is easy to understand (and very clearly Canadian, with that accent!), he speaks in a very monotone voice. He tells little anecdotes about his life as a Canadian citizen during the different political climates that each President-Prime Minister relationship created, and while these stories are clearly meant to give the audience something to relate to, I found them distracting and not at all entertaining.The film explains the relationship between many sets of Presidents and Prime Ministers over the course of many years, and explains how each relationship set the tone for the rest of American and Canadian citizens to follow. There were several instances in which the narrator emphasizes the idea that Americans believe that they will one day absorb Canada, and that Canada is basically America already- this threw me off, because it seemed very anti-Canadian in a film that is obviously made for Canadians. But as the film progresses, this sentiment becomes more and more anti-American, and is portrayed more as a joke- "Well, if Canada doesn't work out, I can always move to America!" I also feel that much of the film was spent talking about the friendly relationships between American and Canadian leaders, with only a quick mention of how antagonistic Reagan and Mulroney were towards each other. I think the film may have been more effective if this antagonism were emphasized and explained more, as it is such a drastic contrast to previous President-Prime Minister relationships- in particular, the close friendship of FDR and King.In spite of my complaints and what I view as the film's shortcomings, I believe it was a very informational piece. I found it difficult to learn from, but I do believe that it is simply a difference in my learning style and the film's delivery of information. For any other individual, I'm sure that this would be a great film to learn from, if a bit on the dull side.

Very Informative

[patrickkory · 8/10 · 28 February 2019]

Overall I believe the film as a whole was, for lack of a better word, good. It wasn't mind rattling or thought provoking, but it was interesting and provided many facts on American and Canadian relationships going back to John F. Kennedy and working its way up to the 1980's. I thought the organization of the film was structured well, presenting events in chronological order while looking at many aspects while going through time. The premise of the of movie of the beginning, was set up as the relationship that Canada has with the United States. I felt that, for the most part, that idea was carried throughout the whole film and done smartly. However, there seemed to be times where the film turned into a history lesson (which was not a bad thing in my opinion), in order to set up the why and how those events impacted American and Canadian relationships. Thus, it is important to pay attention to the film in order to comprehend the information being told to the fullest.In terms of negatives, I did not think there was anything abundantly wrong with the film. The only critique is that, being and old film, it most certainly has that old 'put you to sleep' style of history videos. Unless you are being attentive, it could be very easy to loose interest. Taking everything into consideration, I would give this film a 8/10. The information presented is interesting and can shed light on some thing that people probably do not know about the United States and Canada. I would recommend this to people who are interested in history or looking to learn more about Canadian American relationships.

Informative Documentary

[alynch-89711 · 6/10 · 28 February 2019]

Overall on a scale of 1 to 10, I would give this short film, "In Bed with an Elephant", a 6 out of 10. I will start off by saying that this review may be biased because I believe this short film was made by Canadians for Canadians, which fortunately I am not (only because I cant imagine anywhere that is colder, has more snow, and has more big bearded men saying "eh"). Also, I am probably the most uninformed person when it comes to anything that involves president and prime minister interaction or anything political for that matter. So now that we got that clear, lets jump into this. Starting with the name, "In Bed with an Elephant", is kind of funny and ironic because Canada does in fact, have more square miles than The United States. Wouldn't this make Canada the Elephant in the bed, since it is "bigger"? I do however see how Canada can say that The United States would be the Elephant as they are affected by every twitch and grunt. So now to the details of my review, this short film seemed very crowded with information therefore not making it very enjoyable, and again, that kind of goes back to being made by and for Canadians. With this being said, i did find a couple points kinda interesting because i did not know them before. One of these is that when the first constitution was drawn up, article 11 stated that at any point in time, Canada could just join The United States with no fuss, bother, or questions asked. Another fairly interesting thing i found was that back when the first prime minister came to The United States, he did not come for friendly reasons. I also found it interesting how you can see the hills and valleys between Canada and The United States relationship and how it started off not so good but eventually turned into what it is today.I do think my favorite part about the president and prime minister interactions is that with Kennedy and Diefenbaker and that Kennedy said "I never wanna see that son-of-a-b*tch ever again" because i can clearly imagine him saying that in my head. I know that this is probably a more serious thing and i shouldn't laugh at it, but i felt that with it being well before i was born and the obvious point that we can't change history, i feel that we can have a little laugh every now and then.

Does a good job of telling the Whole story

[adpaquin · 9/10 · 27 February 2019]

I would rate this a 9 out of 10. This documentary was written by a Canadian, for Canadians. It is important to keep this in mind to give an honest review. We also need to keep in mind the atmosphere surrounding the two countries when this documentary was created. In 1986 when this was released, The Canadian dollar was at an all-time low, and the Canada-united states free trade agreement was in negotiations. This almost explains the anti-American tinge, and the nationalistic tone the film takes. It was written in a time when Canadians feared for their future, and many didn't know exactly who they were as a country. This documentary tells the story of the Canadian and American relationship over the past century. I find it very important that this film examined the relationship between the two countries from the beginning. It shows how the two countries have always viewed each other. The U.S has always had an attitude like Canada is a part of us. Canada has always held the view that they are not one of us. I like that the film took the time to dig up details that were forgotten by many Americans such as Article IX. Article IX is a section of the US constitution that states that the door is always open for Canada to join the US. It is important because the Two countries have very different views of it. Many in the US see it as a politeness or a favor. We will ALLOW Canada to join us. Canada sees it as an overreach, more like someday Canada WILL join us. This attitude continues throughout the events of the film. More notably it is seen when prime minister John Diefenbaker Started expanding his trading partners. The two countries saw these events very differently. Canada saw this expansion as a chance to stand on their own feet. Filling the need in the market left by the US. The US saw this as Canada trying to undermine Us authority. Specifically when Canada Went around US trade embargos in Cuba and China. This film is a good look at history through a different lens than we are used to. It is very well done.

Informative, but not particularly engaging

[rlallen-49248 · 6/10 · 27 February 2019]

"In Bed with an Elephant" is a documentary that looks back at Canada-US relations in the past 100 years or so. In looking at relations between Canada and the US, the film focuses on the relationships between prime ministers and presidents throughout the years. Some of these relationships are more positive, while others are more negative. Despite its relatively short running time of just under an hour, the film manages to cover a lot of topics, and is very informative. It does a good job of explaining how and why things happened and relationships formed throughout the US and Canada's shared history. While the film does have its strong points, I found that there were quite a few drawbacks to it. Firstly, while the film is very informative, I didn't find it to be very interesting or engaging. The voice of the narrator is clear and easy to understand, but it is rather monotonous. In addition, the use of visuals corresponds well with the narration, at least for the most part, but the film doesn't really do anything interesting with its visuals. To be blunt, in terms of the film's visuals, it feels rather sluggish and boring. Going off of that, most of the film utilizes historical footage, mainly of presidents and prime ministers. However, there are short segments throughout the film that utilize contemporary footage of the narrator or interviewees. I think these segments are a bit of a drawback to the film, as they don't really add anything to it. They just seem to be thrown in at random points of the film and are not any more or less interesting than the rest of it. I think the film would be a bit more interesting if more interviewees were used, or at least used more consistently. The final thing I want to touch on is the blatantly anti-American tone of the film. This is not necessarily a drawback of the film, but it did detract from my enjoyment of it. As I stated above, the film covers many different Canadian prime ministers and US presidents. Almost every president that is touched on is portrayed in a negative light, with Canada consistently being portrayed positively. Justified or not, the film only seems to look at things from one perspective and doesn't make much effort to see things from both sides. To be fair, this is not all that surprising, considering that the film was produced exclusively by Canadians. While I'm sure we Americans do the same sort of thing in our films, and I'm probably a bit biased, the film's anti-American tone was pretty off-putting. Ultimately, I don't think "In Bed with an Elephant" is bad film, despite my complaints. Rather, it is very clearly made to be a film by Canadians, for Canadians (which I am not). The film is very informative and manages to cover a lot of information in a relatively short amount of time. However, I do think it has some issues. Namely, it is not particularly interesting or engaging. This, along with its short running time, makes the whole film a bit difficult to follow.

History from the Canadian Side

[tjciarel · 6/10 · 28 February 2019]

6/10 This will be a much more critical review than many of the other videos. Overall, I liked the movie - it gave a lot of information about the history of different Prime minister - President relationships. However, this is highly biased towards the Canadian viewpoint. In almost every single relationship, the film painted the President as someone out to get Canada part of the United States, even mentioning that the Constitution still allowed for Canada to join the United States. Although in the beginning of our countries this was true, the viewpoint became more to just be neighbors on this side of the globe by the time of President Roosevelt. This also pushed the Canadian side of this narrative, that Canadians are not part of the United States and never will be. From the tariffs that lasted through before World War 2 until NAFTA, the disdain shown to President Kennedy for going to Parliament and telling them to join the United States, and the spite that was shown as car assembly became robotic rather than employing Canadians, there was many issues that the Canadians saw as irreparable. They used this to further the notion that Canada was happy to not be the Untied States - and this nationalistic movement pushed many Prime Ministers to make many different decisions regarding the relationship. One moment that I though particularly fascinating was when the United States joined World War 2, Canada was already doing so much for the effort in England. The government was spending a lot of money to manufacture and send supplies to Great Britain, and with basically just a call and a meeting between President and Prime Minister, the basis of the North American defense was put in place. The sheer amount of prosperity that Canada grew from the war was fascinating - the standard of living nearly doubled, and they were named one of the most technologically advanced countries once the war was finished. The best part was that these factories did not go to waste when the war was over - they were sold and grew Canadian industry.

Review

[krautg · 8/10 · 28 February 2019]

I would rate this movie at a 8/10 , I had little previous knowledge about the topic of relations with Canada before this film, as i assumed that America and Canada always had a great relationship and got along. This video has a view from the Canadian side of things shows how as an american i don't realize how much america affects Canada. As one of the first quotes states "how do we protect our political and economic interests as a people while living next door to the most powerful nation in the world". I thought it was very funny, that article ix allowed Canada to join the united states whenever they liked. Little do Americans realize the effect of the relationships between president and prime minister, but this film does a great job show how much of an effect these two nations have on each other, and how the leaders make a huge impact on that relationship. This film also surprised me as i learned that Canada was once one of the greatest car producers in world which most people don't realize. Where now due to the Auto pact where Canada is only relied on the assembly of cars so the jobs have gone and robots have taken the place of workers. Another crazy point in this film that was brought up was when Lester Pearson opposed LBJ on his views of the Vietnam war and LBJ confronted Pearson in person and lifted him up from the neck... Then Pearson said sorry and thank you for the kindness from LBJ. I do like how the video end saying that the relationship between these two countries is very good compared to other neighboring countries around the world, which i think most Americans take for granted that they don't have to worry about being attacked from their borders.

Interesting display of past relations.

[jackivers1 · 7/10 · 28 February 2019]

I give "In Bed with an Elephant" a 7/10.

Prior to viewing this film, I did not know much about past President of the United States and Prime Minister of Canada's relations. Recently, I have only been made aware of President Donald Trump's interests in making changes to trade agreements. 'In Bed with an Elephant" takes a look at relationships between several President - Prime Minister relations prior to the year the film was published, 1986. The film recognizes that by looking at these relationships, guidelines are almost set for how both the United States and Canada feel about each other. The status of this relationship, whether positive or negative, reflects upon the rest of each country. Looking at the relationship between Franklin D. Roosevelt and William Mackenzie King, I thought the clips selected for the film were great in easily recognizing the lack of tensions between countries. Roosevelt is shown smiling alongside King. This relationship played a role in the events that would take place in World War II. Canada was quick to support the crown in England as they faced the threat of Germans on the Western Front. This war instituted a boom in production and growth in Canada and down the road, would lead to a trade agreement between Canada and the United States. This post war activity was looked to be maintained. The development of this film takes a close look at goals of both countries. By looking at the economies of each country, this film displays an importance on relations based on control of each countries economy. I found all of the film used very intriguing. These clips displayed intense nationalism on all scales displaying big parades with celebratory cheers. I didn't know that John F. Kennedy attempted to make Canada apart of the United States again in in the early 1960's. Overall, this film does a good job in displaying the reflection of relationships on each country, both North and South. This display is a good analytic in looking at each countries past and how we have made it up until this point today.

Informative but biased and boring

[accraig-64858 · 7/10 · 28 February 2019]

Overall, I would rate this film to be a 7/10. It is a very informative movie that goes in-depth to cover the relationship between the United States and Canada since the civil war until around 1986; however, much of this information is lost in the way that it is presented. In general, this information is conveyed in a very monotone fashion and does not excite the listener in any particular way. The information itself though is quite fascinating, especially coming from an American perspective, as much of this relationship is not often covered between the two countries. A gripe that I have with the film is the amount of bias it has towards painting Canada in a positive light compared to the United States. This is probably partially due to this being produced by Canadians, but it does come off as slightly jarring when often the relationships are portrayed in this biased fashion. An interesting part of the film though is how Canada and the United States grew to become friendlier and friendlier with each other. It was a long process, and there were moments were that relationship deteriorated, but in the end the two countries become much closer as allies. A big development for this came from World War II where they had a common adversary and had to work together to defeat them. Conflict seemed to be the major way that the two grew their friendships. Another interesting point of how their relationship developed was through the use of trade. Trade was a big aspect to the United States - Canada relationship when they were not allied in a war. To bolster their relationship, they would work out trade agreements that benefited both the countries. A big example was NAFTA which would allow for free trade between the country, and is a big point for how they became even closer. Overall, this film was able to quite efficiently give this information, which is quite interesting for a viewer unfamiliar with the topic. It contains a slight bias towards painting the United States as more manipulative than it is, and Canada in a more positive light, but that does not detract from how informative this film is.

Very Interesting and Informative

[daranvil · 8/10 · 28 February 2019]

Overall I would give this documentary a 8/10. The documentary gives a very insightful and informative view on the growing relations between the United States and Canada. Throughout all the Presidents and Prime Ministers the countries have had, this documentary tell the story of how each leader got along with the other during the time period. Possibly the most important Prime Minister in this time was William Mackenzie King, who was Prime Minister from 1935 to 1948, during World War II. He is responsible for the type of economic growth that Canada experienced during this time, as he was able to grow the relations with the President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the United States. At the beginning of this relationship, Roosevelt was told that he should be kind to King and his attempts to partner, as Canada was quickly becoming an economic rival the the United States. After the war broke out in Europe and more specifically England, King took it upon himself to enter into a defensive deal with the United States, without the consent or knowledge from his cabinet. This lead to Canada becoming the 4th largest industrial power in to world at the time due to the need to aid its allies in the war efforts.

It was interesting to see that Article XI of the constitution clearly states that Canada is able to join the United States at any time they wish. It seems that most of the relations between Canada and the United States come about not because of want, but because of need. Secretary of State under President Eisenhower, John Foster Dulles once said that "there are two ways of conquering a nation. One is by force of arms, the other is to gain control of its economy." This relates directly back to the relations arriving out of necessity.

Later Prime Minister - President relations were not great, at all. The relation between Kennedy and Diefenbaker was strained when Canada was participating in trades with "enemies" of the United States. Another strained relation was between Nixon and Pierre Trudeau, again over trade and import taxation. Later, Nixon went on record to proclaim that Trudeau was an "a**hole".

Overall this documentary was very informative in the growth of political relationships between the United States and Canada.

Informative but biased and boring

[tmmoon-72889 · 7/10 · 28 February 2019]

I give this movie a 7/10. This movie was very informative and provided a lot of information on US Canada relationships since the Civil War. I was surprised to find out about how the relationship has been up and down since then. I was also very surprised to find out about Article XI of the Articles of Confederation and how the US just kind of expected Canada to join the confederation. I was surprised that the relationship between the two countries has been so bad considering how close the two countries are to each other and how easy it would be for them to trade with each other. I thought it was interesting how many of the previous Prime Ministers were nationalists that put tariffs on imports and made an attempt to promote Canadian industry.I feel like this film was very biased toward the Canadian side of the argument. During the whole film the majority of things said about Americans is sort of how they are better than Canadians. Being American myself I found this, along with the narrator's monotone voice, made the movie very difficult to watch and stay awake.Overall I found this film to be very interesting and provide another point of view on a pretty complex relationship. Oftentimes people in the US sort of forget about their neighbors in the north despite the long, turbulent relationship the multiple leaders of the two countries have had.

Informational, and educational, consequently dull

[jdzwart · 8/10 · 28 February 2019]

The film 'In Bed with an Elephant' was produced in 1986 by Kent Martin. The film describes the US - Canadian relationship through the relationships of their respective leaders. Starting with John Macdonald, up to Mulroney, the emphasis of this film is how the Canadian identity is subject to great molding from American politics. Consequently, actions and relationships of Canadian Prime Ministers have a disproportionately high impact on the citizens of Canada. I would rate this film as a 8/10. This material seemed to be presented in a factual and non-partisan way. The reason it does not reach a 10 is because the film simply lacks intriguing moments or stories. One aspect of the film that I really enjoyed was the brief introduction to Canadian politics. This introduction took up the first 10 or so minutes and really helped me understand the political ideologies Canada had held before and up to the Macdonald era. This time was also used to give the viewer a brief introduction to Canadian economics, which was helpful as an American viewer. As the film progresses through the relationships of US and Canadian leaders, we see two reoccurring themes. The first is that American actions have consequences magnitudes larger in Canada, than Canadian actions do in America. This was portrayed well in the relationship between F.D.R and William Mackenzie. Mackenzie and F.D.R had a many conversations about trade, specifically free trade. Few Americans knew or would have cared about this discussion. On the contrary, Mackenzie was so worried about the backlash of the Canadian populous that he held these meetings in private, and burnt the documents after the deal fell through. The other reoccurring theme was that America was often oblivious to the Canadian political situation altogether. This is best shown when Lyndon B. Johnson simply forgets the name of Lester Pearson while the two were trying to strike a manufacturing deal at Johnson's ranch in Texas. The film describes Johnson getting drunk, shooting guns, and almost forgetting about the meeting altogether. The combination of these two reoccurring themes lead to Pierre Trudeau's famous quote where he says: "Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt".

Very informational but progresses slowly

[tjpepera · 7/10 · 28 February 2019]

In my opinion, the movie; In Bed With an Elephant is very informative about the history of the relations between the United States and Canada throughout their time together as neighbors. The movie contains a very wide assortment of historical points that I had never even heard about. The one that I was unaware of that baffled me the most was the point made about article IX which states that Canada can become part of the United States at any if they so choose to. I think it is bizarre that this clause existed and that I had never even heard of it in any of the history classes I have taken throughout high school and college. It got me wondering as to how that would work if they so chose to do that. Would all the provinces stay split the same way? Would they all just become states? Would they all keep their names or would the United States decide to rename all the provinces and even possibly split them into even more territories? However, none of these questions are answered in the movie and I don't think that anybody will know the answers until it were to ever happen. In addition, I thought the documentary was very well narrated and it transitions very well between live filming for the movie and clips from the past simply inserted into the movie for additional information. The movie made a lot of very good points about different hypothetical things such as trade agreements and border agreements.The only things that I was not a very huge fan of while watching this movie were how it was geared well toward the American people to watch, and that it felt almost like I was sitting through a history lecture rather than watching a movie. This is just because of how slowly the movie progresses as well as the large amount of details added to the movie that don't necessarily need to be there. However, all in all, I did enjoy this movie and would recommend it to anybody looking to learn more about the history of the relationship between the United States and Canada specifically the relationship between the United States President and the Canadian Prime Minister. Overall, I would rate this movie with a 7.5 out of 10.

Very Informative, One-sided view though

[richterlauryn · 8/10 · 28 February 2019]

I rate this movie an 8/10. This movie is Canadian produced though, so it's supposed to be from a Canadians viewpoint. I found that it was very informative on showing the relationships between the prime minister's and presidents over the years. At some points during the film I found it not engaging when they went on to talk about different policies and events that were happening with Canada. In my opinion, it seemed to drag on a lot about information that wasn't relevant on what they were trying to discuss, which was the Canadian-American relationship. During the film, you can tell that there is an 'anti-american' theme to it to make it look like the U.S. was controlling all of what Canada did. Besides the point of getting off topic and having this theme, I liked how they got into detail about some of the relationships they had. In the beginning of the film it starts out with a happy tone to it, implying that relationship was in good standing. I believe that JFK had also said "Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners, and necessity has made us allies". The relationship between the two effects how the nations can prosper. With King and FDR's relationship, they accomplished a lot together. King was fascinated by FDR and even had a dream that Jesus said the U.S. and Canada should stand together. They established the permanent joint of defense between the two and after that Canada had high hopes. But take the relationship between Nixon and Trudeau, Nixon flat out called Trudeau an asshole, and wanted it to be recorded when he said it. Even though Trudeau had a hopeful attitude and said Americans were Canada's best friends whether they liked it or not. It just shows that depending on the relationship the prime minister and president have with each other, it effects how they're going to meet, discuss policies and deals, and even possibly develop a friendship. The relationship between the two countries has been up and down over the past 60 years. Overall I believe this film gives a better insight as to what was discussed specifically when the U.S. and Canada teamed up and how they worked together to get through tough times.

Informative and Very Interesting

[dgbruck · 8/10 · 28 February 2019]

I would rate the film In Bed with an Elephant an 8 out of 10. The film discusses the history of America and Canada from the beginning and how America has tried to get Canada to become part of them. Canada has always made it clear that they are not a part of the United States. I thought it was interesting that they included that it is in the constitution that Canada is free to become part of the United States at any time since most people are probably not aware of this. The main aspect of the film is about the significant relationships between United States Presidents and Canadian Prime Ministers. The first major relationship discussed was that of President Grant and Prime Minister Macdonald who met with the president as a representative for Great Britain's interests. One of the relationships it focuses on is the one between Franklin Roosevelt and Mackenzie King. This was a very good president/prime minister relationship and both countries grew during this time. The film shows many videos of these two being together and interacting which is quite different from things today. During and after World War 2 Canada and the United States relied heavily on each other in order for economic growth. While this was a very positive relationship, the film also delves into some of the not so good relationships, like the one between JFK and Dief. During this time was when the United States implemented the trade embargo with Cuba and China due to communism. Canada saw this as an opportunity to gain more trade partners and began trade with the two countries. This did not sit well with JFK and the United States and the relationship was soured from there on out. The worst relationship portrayed in the movie was between Nixon and Trudeau which was due to Nixon implementing a tariff and saying that Canada would not receive any special treatment. Overall, no matter which relationship it was, the movie shows that they all revolve around the economy, markets, and industries of the two countries for the most part. It is also important to note that this is a movie for Canadians by Canadians, so it shows a different side of things that may come off as anti-American.

Greaat Canadian Documentry

[tjkulich · 9/10 · 28 February 2019]

The film "In Bed with an Elephant" was a documentary film that was written by Canadians. It showed the reflection the U.S. President and Canadian Prim Minsters relationships over the past hundred years. Saying that, I like history films very much so I think the film "In Bed with an Elephant" deserves a 8.7 out of 10. Since, this movie was made for Canadians there was a slight anti-American feel throughout the movie, but I quickly got past that. Reason for that was because it used a lot of original old clips. Now let's dig into some of the details

Some of the things that greatly interested me in the film was how Article IX section of the U.S. Constitution was formed for. This section of the U.S. Constitution was made to allow Canada to Join the United States at any time. This seems to me that the United States are trying to be a good friend and lend a helping hand out whenever possible, but the Canadians did not view it that way. Their view on this situations was that someday Canada will be the part of the United States. Another good point to bring up was that Trading agreements between the United States and Canada played a huge role with the relationship between U.S. presidents and Canadian Prime Ministers over the years. An example would be when President Richard Nixon imposed a 10% tax on all imports. Trudeau of course was not very happy about this idea, so both leaders met together to work out an agreement. This agreement made is now the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It was enforced to strengthen neighboring countries economies which would result in a better relationship between the countries.

Like most Canadian documentary of history, I would recommend every American to watch. One being there history usually has a lot to do with our history, and shows some things that most Americans were not taught about. For two, it creates a slight eye opener for how our neighbor country thinks of the Americans, we are not the same apparently.

Historical and Informative on a Canadian's Perspective

[nrstark-96045 · 8/10 · 27 February 2019]

On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate "In Bed with an Elephant" an 8. In general, the film is presented from a Canadian point of view (The National Film Board of Canada), showcasing their perspective on the United States as well as the relationship that past Presidents and Prime Ministers have had together. Early in the film, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney said, "...I say to you that it's time for us to become a stronger nation and a more reliable ally of the United States and our friends in the Western Alliance. If this means giving our friends the benefit of the doubt from time-to-time, so be it...". This "giving our friends the benefit of the doubt" is utilizing the stereotype that the Americans are oblivious to the Canadian side of the border, but in the same respect, the Canadians are having to give in and compromise to whatever the Americans choose. Throughout the film, there are many not so common historical facts about relationships between the Presidents and Prime Ministers dating back well over a century ago; adding to its overall positive rating. One of the interesting historical facts mentioned was how the Founding Fathers' draft of the Constitution in 1781 included Article XI which expressed that Canada could join "anytime it wanted with no fuss or bother". Another point the film brings into the light is how much influence President Kennedy had over the Canadian people and how that hurt Prime Minister Diefenbaker, influencing the election enough to elect Pearson as the next Prime Minister. Yet another example of the relations between Canada and the United States is brought up in the Nixon-Trudeau era of how the rise in Canadian Nationalism from Nixon's economic policies led to Trudeau keeping all channels open in regards to trade and other assets as well as continuing to diversify. In conclusion, "In Bed with an Elephant" provides a Canadian perspective on what being neighbors with the United States has been like over various president-prime minister duos, through the positive times and good relations as well as in moments of tension and lackluster relations.

Interesting Viewpoint on Canadian and American Relations

[wisetony-43181 · 9/10 · 28 February 2019]

On a scale of 1 to 10 I would have to say that "In Bed with an Elephant" gets a 9 out of 10. The movie is very interesting to myself as I have not watched many documentaries that show the history of the world from outside the American perspective. This movie makes it clear that the focus is on Canada and is viewed through the lens of Canadians. Seeing how Canadians viewed the United States over the course of history and how the relationship between the two have changed, was a rather refreshing revisit of history I thought I already knew. Whenever history classes in the United States talk about history, the viewpoints of other countries are hardly mentioned. This movie did a good job showing the changing relationship between the United States and Canada from the perspective of Canada. The material in the movie itself was quite diverse. A lot of time and effort must have been put into researching all the material covered in this movie. This movie also does a great job keeping pace and does not seem to slow down too much. There is never a point where the movie focuses too much on one point in history or visual. Instead, the movie introduces new things that help explain what is happening at any given point (for example, photographs/film of events, interviews with various people, narration). Mixing it up helps this movie keep the attention of the audience, and also helps make it easier to remember what the movie is trying to convey. The only downside about this movie is that it can be seen as a bit Anti-American. Every now and then you get another reminder that Americans are power-hungry and incredibly nationalistic. I understand that America is not a perfect country, but some of the generalizations made don't do this movie any favors. I suppose this is to be expected when the movie tells the story of history from a certain perspective. That perspective is bound to have a different opinion on the things that have happened. The other downside of this movie is that the narrator is rather one-note. Every now and then you think he's going to have some emotional range with his voice, but then he stops himself and keeps it relatively monotone. This isn't terrible, but it does make the movie slightly boring in that regard. Besides those downsides, I rather enjoyed the movie and the new perspective it showed me.

Canadian Documentary

[tjkulich · 9/10 · 28 February 2019]

The film "In Bed with an Elephant" was a documentary film that was written by Canadians. It showed the reflection the U.S. President and Canadian Prim Minsters relationships over the past hundred years. Saying that, I like history films very much so I think the film "In Bed with an Elephant" deserves a 8.7 out of 10. Since, this movie was made for Canadians there was a slight anti-American feel throughout the movie, but I quickly got past that. Reason for that was because it used a lot of original old clips. Now let's dig into some of the details.

Some of the things that greatly interested me in the film was how Article IX section of the U.S. Constitution was formed for. This section of the U.S. Constitution was made to allow Canada to Join the United States at any time. This seems to me that the United States are trying to be a good friend and lend a helping hand out whenever possible, but the Canadians did not view it that way. Their view on this situations was that someday Canada will be the part of the United States. Another good point to bring up was that Trading agreements between the United States and Canada played a huge role with the relationship between U.S. presidents and Canadian Prime Ministers over the years. An example would be when President Richard Nixon imposed a 10% tax on all imports. Trudeau of course was not very happy about this idea, so both leaders met together to work out an agreement. This agreement made is now the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It was enforced to strengthen neighboring countries economies which would result in a better relationship between the countries.

Like most Canadian documentary of history, I would recommend every American to watch. One being there history usually has a lot to do with our history, and shows some things that most Americans were not taught about. For two, it creates a slight eye opener for how our neighbor country thinks of the Americans, we are not the same apparently.

A worthwhile watch for Historical content

[cdkase · 8/10 · 28 February 2019]

I would give a 8/10 to the 1989, In Bed with an Elephant. It is a film that explores the history and politics of relationships between Canada's Prime Ministers and American presidents, a well researched history of the ties which have shaped both nations history. The strange case of the worlds longest undefended boarder and a surprisingly violent history that America shares with its peaceful northern neighbor are brought to light in this film. From The war of 1812 to the Reagan presidency the movie gives interesting and entertaining facts and well picked historical footage of meetings between leaders and the rather strange social interactions that mark the state visits for both sides of the boarder. The film does a great job of dropping interesting facts and funny stories to keep you entertained, it is not just a lame documentary about Canada. The use of historical footage to accompany and provide evidence of the events that are brought up in the video. Plot of the film is divided like a timeline, starting int he early days and moving forward in time as the ever evolving political environment is explained. The social and political relationship that exists between Prime ministers and Presidents is the focus of the film and it does a good job of highlighting the intricacies and "between the lines" realities that existed between the interesting set of characters. Overall the film does set American in a rather negative tone, there is hints of anti-American sentiment in the chosen stories that are told about US presidents and American culture paints them as rude, disrespectful and in the case of Nixon and Kennedy downright mean. While these stories may be true the intent of choosing them did show the American leaders as manipulative,opulent and overbearing and the Canadian Prime ministers as kind, patient and down to earth. A comparison which has obvious intent to appeal to Canadian Nationalism. In Bed with an Elephant is a fitting name for the relationship that is portrayed between the superpower that is the United States and stereotypical apologetic Canada, it would also be a good excuse for the hair problems experience by the narrator during outdoor scenes when every whisp of wind whips his 80's fashioned hairdo into a tussle. While not relevant to the content of the film it is quite distracting. Overall the content of the film was remarkable, I learned many new things including the founders desire to bring Canada into the Union, going so far as to extend an open invitation in the articles of confederation, and Kennedy to publicly state his hope to have it be a new state in the future (a public display that drew criticism and started a feud between leaders at the time). This is definitely worth the watch for any occasion.

Review

[nsbondi · 8/10 · 28 February 2019]

8.5/10. I found this film to be very interesting as it provided me with a lot of information about US-Canada relations. To see the relationship develop over to from this perspective was quite interesting. One thing I never knew about the US-Canada relations, was that the US has Article IX, allowing Canada to join the US whenever it wants. I feel that this film shows that a lot of the relations between the US and Canada are to keep them from become rivals. There is a line from the movie "sometimes you give your neighbor the benefit of the doubt". I took this as sometimes one country that might not help the other, but you have to live with it because overall the relationship benefits both parties. With the US being such a large economic and world power, they notice when Canada's economic was attempting to make them economic rivals. It is important to note that when this film was made in 1986, the Canadian dollar was at an all time low, and the film was made for Canadians about the US-Canadian relations. This explains the nationalistic standpoints in the films. As well as the classic Canadian identity of un-American. One thing that I found quite interesting was Mckenzie King destroying his research about free-trade. Although, we know that this ends up failing and the creation of the Free-Trade Agreement and then later NAFTA. Its interesting to see how the film constantly provides new information to provide details about the US-Canada relations. The US-Canada relations hit an all-time low during JFK and Baker era. Baker goes behind the US's back and looks for any and all trade deals. Canada ends up going behind US-Cuba sanctions. This leads to some bad blood between JFK and Baker. With US outspokenness against Cuba and communism, Baker sends US-Canada into an all-time low with these actions. Overall, I found the film to be quite interesting perspective on US-Canada relations over the past 100 years and it provides insight on a lot of things that Americans aren't aware of.

Informative and Entertaining

[jokobe · 8/10 · 25 February 2019]

This film was an interesting survey of Canada's economic and political development throughout World War II and on to the 1980s. I particularly enjoyed the heavy usage of original video clips from throughout history, it was interesting to get a first hand look at some Canadian political rallies and see how they compared to those the United States. These clips also dedicated a large amount of time to images of American nationalism as a way to contrast the attitudes of the neighboring nations. The score also reflected this as these scenes are typically accompanied by a boisterous American tune. It was very interesting to hear about William Mackenzie's secret free trade talks with the United States and their subsequent destruction, but by far the most interesting part of the film was the interactions between Canadian Prime Ministers and the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. It was really surprising to hear the lengths Kennedy went to in order to help elect Lester Pearson over John Diefenbaker, not only playing a part in the media coverage surrounding the race, but sending campaign advisers to help. Lyndon Johnson's treatment of Pearson during their meetings was also shocking, starting off with Johnson forgetting his guest's name and continuing on to include a bit of a physical altercation over America's actions in Vietnam. Even more shocking was the letter of thanks Pearson sent Johnson following the incident. Richard Nixon carried on the seemingly historical tradition of disliking Canadian Prime Ministers with his comments about Pierre Trudeau. I found it interesting that Canadian nationalism experienced a peak during Nixon's time in office. I found Pierre Trudeau's criticisms of Kennedy's actions during Pearson's campaign as well as Pearson's decision on nuclear weapons refreshing. I also liked how Canada was able to take advantage of America's restrictions on Chinese and Cuban trade in order to bolster their own economy. Overall this film presented a ton of useful and entertaining information on the Prime Ministers of Canada, their relations with the United States, and the overall development of Canada's economy. The copious amount of historical footage also helped to make this film an 8 out of 10.