Footage tampered?

When people think of French President Charles de Gaulle's 1967 visit to Canada, they imagine him pronouncing "Vive le Québec libre!" from the balcony of City Hall to the roaring applause of the crowd below. But that applause may not have been as roaring as most people imagine: on the film footage of the celebrated event, applause sound was actually added in post-production.

Montreal filmmaker Robin Spry, who used the footage in his 1973 film Action, says the footage was originally put together by filmmaker Jean-Claude Labrecque in an earlier documentary on de Gaulle. Spry says adding sound is a standard practice in filmmaking, noting "there's a rumour that de Gaulle's voice was actually that of an actor--nobody managed to get sync sound at the event itself."

Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste president Guy Bouthillier says the idea of piped-in cheering "sounds like some sort of CIA fabrication." Bouthillier doubts the added sound would have changed the spirit of the event itself. "There was absolute delirium during his visit," Bouthillier says. Labrecque was unavailable for comment at press time. Philip Preville