Great Days in the Rockies, the Film

Great Days in the Rockies Re-released by NFB (National Film Board of Canada) in May 2026, this short film about Byron Harmon was originally released in 1983 and directed by Arvi Liimetainen. The title comes from the 1978 book, Great Days in the Rockies, Photographs of Byron Harmon 1906-1936. Byron began filming in Banff and the Rockies around 1912. In 1913 he opened a movie theatre, The Harmony, next to his studio and giftshop at 111 Banff Avenue. Sadly, this building burned down in 1917, which ended the life of the theatre but not Byron’s film career. He worked on commission and sold footage to the Canadian government, the CPR, Fox Movietone News, British Pathe and others. He also filmed several short documentaries and two full length films between 1917 and the mid 1930’s. Great Days in the Rockies also contains some footage by William Oliver of Calgary, Alberta. Notably the opening sequence is from Oliver’s 1933 film, She Climbs to Conquer which documents Georgia Engelhart climbing Mt. Victoria with Swiss guide Ernest Feuz. Read my Substack blog, Mountain Tales for more detail.

Skiers on Bunker Hill at Skoki, 1932, included Byron’s son Lloyd and, possibly, Lloyd’s friends Cyril Paris, Norman Knight, and Peter Whyte. This still is associated with a sequence in Great Days in the Rockies film.