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Crawley Films Building

Budge Crawley and Stewart Gillespie plan studio expansion from model

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A Fine New Building
Hintonburg in the 1940s and 1950s consisted of many residential homes that dated to the early 1900s and 1910s. The buildings were built in a mix of architectural styles, including the “revival” styles of brick Romanesque, gabled structures, late Victorian pattern book wooden houses, and postwar designs.[1] The area was home to skilled tradesmen, civil servants, merchants, people attached to the churches and community services, and many others.[2] Commercial businesses were located on Wellington Street, the main thoroughfare.[3] Residents walked or drove by these businesses, the physical appearance of the buildings quickly and suggested through their large window displays and signage what product or service was being offered. These structures had a utilitarian look. They were straightforward, community-supported, and profit-oriented.

As a young married couple Judith and Budge Crawley lived on Wellington Street in Hintonburg, a neighborhood of Ottawa. Nearby was Crawley Films Limited in the old Church Hall at 19 Fairmont Avenue. However, as newspaper articles of 1953 indicate, the firm was planning a major expansion to double the capacity of Crawley Films’ Fairmont Avenue site, adding staff and venturing into television production in addition to its existing business of motion pictures. The two-floor addition represented 15,000 square feet in front of studios outside the St. Mathias Church Hall on Fairmont.[4]

A not-so-clear photograph in The Financial Post, April 9, 1949, shows Budge Crawley and a colleague discussing the addition in front of a model of the Old Church Hall and the grounds in front available for the expansion.[5] As Crawley Films Limited saw its number of productions increase by 32% in 1953, more assignments were completed, and prizes were received—52 motion pictures in 1953; eight new prizes brought the total awards to 35 in five years—the plans to expand workspace went from a two-storey model to a three-storey design, tripling the floor space.[6] The Crawley filmmaking facilities, which were 31,000 square feet, would be worth $250,000 in 1954 or $2,950,000 in today’s (2025) cost. However, articles from 1955, corresponding to when the new addition was completed, tell us that it cost $500,000 or about six million dollars if it were built in 2025.[7]

Ottawa architects William James Abra and Watson Balhourrie designed the new headquarters, which George A. Crain and Sons Limited were recruited to construct.[8] The 1955 flat-roofed, rectangular boxed glass and brick addition was characterized by architectural elements that presented a break with the architectural styles of the past and mirrored the social and economic sense of the 1950s beyond the post-war era. Key characteristics included a steel frame, a brick exterior with picture windows, and no representational decorative ornaments. The picture windows allowed for natural light and a connection to the outdoor scenery. While the style was modernist, the use of brick allowed for a touch of classic aesthetic that fit in with the neighbourhood south of Wellington Street. Notwithstanding the brick, the new 19 Fairmont Avenue captured the sense of modernist architecture with the minimalism of the 1950s as its model. The rectangular block shape with a horizontal expression of repetitive picture windows with horizontal layers of brick bands gave the structure the impression of simplicity, lightness, order and regularity expected in a modernist office building. Abra and Ballhourie’s design displayed the polished and visually appealing architectural style that emerged after the War.

While drawings by architects Abra and Balhourrie for the new Crawley Films' facilities at 19 Fairmont Avenue have not been located, functional requirements can be imagined as having included planning for a building that had to work with advancements in cinematographic, animation, and television technologies. The architectural and construction plan would likely speak to a message of progress and modernity, a move towards the future and an expression of Crawley Films’ Canadian and creative ambitions in production away from a wartime and historical aesthetic and towards Canada’s contemporary cultural and technological manifestation in animation, motion picture, and television.

Upon completion of the addition, newspapers reported on the interior of the building, which they described as "the most modern film studio in Canada."[9] They described the interior as painted in pastel colours, with dedicated rooms for film production. It had a sound recording suite with floating floors to eliminate noise and vibrations.[10] They explained the layout of each floor, with on the first floor a reception area, a state-of-the-art theatre for projections, the animation studios and their equipment, executive offices, a cafeteria, labs, and a power station.[11] On the second floor was a large sound stage for indoor and outdoor shots, nearby dressing rooms with make-up rooms, and set and prop storage space.[12] The music, engineering, and camera departments and studios were on this floor.[13] On the third floor could be found scriptwriter and production units.[14]

Unfortunately, photographs of the exterior and interior have not been located beyond those in this exhibit and those included in Barbara Wade Rose and James Forrester’s books and articles, Michal Crawley’s writings, and those cited in the bibliography of this site.

[1] John Leaning, Hintonburg and Mechanicsville: A Narrative History (Ottawa, ON: Hintonburg Community Association, 2003), 32.
[2] Leaning, Hintonburg and Mechanicsville, 20.
[3] Leaning, Hintonburg and Mechanicsville, 21.
[4] The Ottawa Journal, "Crawley Films Planning $250,000 Expansion," The Ottawa Journal (Ottawa, ON), September 24, 1953, 1, digital file.
[5] The Financial Post, "Man-Wife Movie-Making Team Find Profit in 'Shorts' for Industry," The Financial Post (Toronto, ON), April 9, 1949, 15, digital file.
[6] The Ottawa Journal, "Crawley Films Ltd. Let Contract for New Building," The Ottawa Journal (Ottawa, ON), January 11, 1954, 19, digital file.
[7] The Ottawa Journal, "Crawley Films," 19.; The Ottawa Citizen, "Crawley Films Limited Now Located in Fine New Building," The Ottawa Citizen (Ottawa, ON), May 14, 1955, 7, PDF.
[8] The Ottawa Journal, "Hospital Extension Tops $465,000 Building Permits," The Ottawa Journal (Ottawa, ON), June 4, 1954, 27, digital file.
[9] The Ottawa Citizen, "Assorted Advertisements," The Ottawa Citizen (Ottawa, ON), May 14, 1955, 7, digital file.
[10]The Ottawa Citizen, "Assorted Advertisements," 7.; The Ottawa Journal, "Handsome New Crawley Building Is Tribute to Film's Growth," The Ottawa Journal (Ottawa, ON), April 30, 1955, 31, digital file.
[11]The Ottawa Citizen, "Assorted Advertisements," 7.; The Ottawa Journal, "Handsome New Crawley," 31.
[12]The Ottawa Citizen, "Assorted Advertisements," 7.; The Ottawa Journal, "Handsome New Crawley," 31.
[13]The Ottawa Citizen, "Assorted Advertisements," 7.; The Ottawa Journal, "Handsome New Crawley," 31. These articles also detail the equipment in the various studios and units.
[14]The Ottawa Citizen, "Assorted Advertisements," 7.; The Ottawa Journal, "Handsome New Crawley," 31.
The Beginnings
Budge felt the pull and attraction of Hollywood, but Judy felt strongly about staying in Canada, so they decided to start their own film company.[1] Arthur A. Crawley felt his son's determination and supported him in 1939 to found Crawley Films, but the firm only became incorporated in 1946 after the War.[2] They worked from the attic studio of Arthur A. Crawley's family home at 540 Driveway (the house is still there). With a loan from his father and an additional loan from the bank, Budge purchased a vehicle, a camera, and some equipment, and so was born Crawley Films Ltd.[3] It was a small family adventure with Judy's brother, Rod, and sister, Cecily, who joined in the process of film reels.[4] Crawley Films now had responsibility for a payroll covered by paid contracts for the National Film Board of Canada and government sponsorship, such as training films for the Canadian Armed Forces and projects of the Motion Picture Bureau under the backing of the Ministry of Trade and Commerce, as well as from non-profit groups.[5] Crawley Films got to do these films because there were few Canadian film production companies. With financial resources, Budge hired his first non-family employee, Grant Crabtree, who would be a cameraman.[6]

When the War ended, and there were fewer government film contracts, Crawley Films developed its private sector business of making and selling films. Budge Crawley’s daughter Michal writes that her father felt this when: "You had to go out and hustle. You knew if you put in a certain amount of time, you could sell a picture, but your volume would be 12 to 15 thousand dollars a year gross, and your film costs might be two or three thousand.”[7]

In 1946, Crawley Films, with its small group of seven employees consisting of family members and friends Grant Crabtree and Dorothy Munro, moved from the operation tight quarters at 540 Driveway to St. Matthias Anglican's old church hall at 19 Fairmont Avenue, purchased by Budge Crawley's father Arthur A. Crawley.[8] More people were hired. Graeme Fraser, a high school friend, became Crawley's best salesperson, promoting the company's projects and services.[9] The location was likely selected because Budge and Judy lived nearby on Wellington Street (later, they would move and make their home in Chelsea, Quebec).

By 1946, the story we see happening with Crawley Films started with the vision and ambition of a husband and wife that required the financial backing of an established businessman, Budge's father, Arthur A. Crawley. However, the narrative continues and is about growth, and success reflected in the purchase of St. Mathias Hall and later their investment and expanded operations in a new building, a large modern addition. The progress described is reflected in artifacts like the fire insurance plans and the tax rolls in the City Archives. Looking at these documents, one can see the shape, surface, and building materials of Crawley Films in 1946 and 1956. Viewers see the expansion and increased square footage (and city taxes).[10]

The new workspace allowed production through film units of three or four persons who scripted, filmed, and edited projects. Because of this system, Crawley Films Limited was an excellent milieu in which to learn about filmmaking and its process.[11] James Forrester wrote an article about this fact and sentiment that can be read at https://canadianfilm.ca/2025/02/20/crawley-college/

Arthur A. formally incorporated Crawley Films Ltd. in 1946, which was likely the first year the firm made a profit.[12]
Fire insurance documents and City tax rolls in Ottawa City Archives show that in 1946, the old church hall occupied but a small land parcel and that there was vast space available in front. Before the significant 1955 addition, Crawley Films Limited had several small to medium additions built on. Newspaper lines reported alterations to the church hall/studio in 1948 when a storeroom and garage were built for $3,200, and additional unspecified alterations in 1950 were made for $12,000.[13]

The company went from functioning in a space for two in an apartment, then four and six between 1939 and 1945 in the attic at 540 Driveway, to 33 in 1949 in the St. Mathias Church Hall, and 100 after 1955 upon moving into the new addition at 19 Fairmont Avenue.[14] The studio also evolved in its functional requirements because it needed to accommodate more staff and film equipment, filming studios, darkrooms, projection spaces, and production suites, and it became a motion picture studio. The employees came from Ottawa but also included young, eager filmmakers from other provinces who called on Budge and his firm to train them.[15] Salaries were low, but the team of creators at Crawley Films felt like a family.[16] The changes to the number of employees and the technological advances give glimpses into the societal change Canadians were going through regarding the entertainment industry. Who knew then and now that this was a phenomenon in Ottawa?

The Crawley film firm was an important local employer but also contributed to the local economy by contracting services and making purchases that benefitted industries, the community, and families. Along with these changes in staff and operations, revenues increased.

For an overview of the history of Crawley Films, see https://canadianfilm.ca/2015/12/03/history-of-crawley-films/ by Michal Crawley.
[1] Rose, Budge: What, 41.
[2] Forrester, Budge: F.R., 18.
[3] Rose, Budge: What, 41.; Rose, Budge: What, 41.
[4] Rose, Budge: What, 45.
[5] Rose, Budge: What, 45, 47.; Forrester, "The Crawley," 22.
[6] Rose, Budge: What, 46.
[7] Crawley, "The History," Canadianfilm.ca.; Forrester, "The Crawley," 22.; Forrester, Budge: F.R., 18.
[8] Forrester, "The Crawley," 22.; Forrester, Budge: F.R., 18.
[9] Rose, Budge: What, 56.
[10] City of Ottawa, Insurance Plan of the City of Ottawa, map (Ottawa, ON, 1948), City of Ottawa Archives, Ottawa, ON.; City of Ottawa, Insurance Plan of the City of Ottawa Volume 3, map (Ottawa, ON, 1956), City of Ottawa Archives, Ottawa, ON.; City of Ottawa, City of Ottawa: Assessment Made in 1946 for 1947 Taxes, chart (Ottawa, ON, 1946), City of Ottawa Archives, Ottawa, ON.; City of Ottawa, City of Ottawa: Business Assessment in Ottawa, chart (Ottawa, ON, 1957), R64 - 454, City of Ottawa Archives, Ottawa, ON.
[11] Rose, Budge: What, 56-57.
[12] Rose, Budge: What, 58.
[13] The Ottawa Citizen, "$20,000 Tops Property Sales in Nepean Area," The Ottawa Citizen (Ottawa, ON), March 5, 1948, 18, digital file.; The Ottawa Citizen, "$1,010,547 Expended in December Building," The Ottawa Citizen (Ottawa, ON), January 9, 1950, 16, digital file.
[14] Forrester, Budge: F.R., 18-19.
[15] Barbara Wade Rose, 71.
[16] Barbara Wade Rose, 63.