'People keeled over in droves': shocking Expo 67 medical film gets rare screening at MUN

A medical documentary that made audiences faint during its debut 49 years ago is on the screen again Wednesday night in St. John's.

The 19-minute film, Miracles in Modern Medicine, was controversial for its timebecause audiences had never before had a close-up look at open-heart or brain surgery.

Shot in 1966 at three Montreal hospitals, the documentaryopens with a live birthand includes five other major operationsthat were graphic for viewers before the age of theinternet and reality TV.

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"You were so close to things you never saw," saiddirector Robert Cordier.

"A baby coming out of its mother, practically eviscerated because all the blood had to be changed, which was forbidden to be seen."

The film was such a shock for viewers at theMan and his Health pavilion at MontrealExpo 67 thata reported 200 people a day fainted while watching it.

"They were passing out and they were put on stretchers, and half of them askedif they could come back and watch the restof the show,"CordiertoldCBC'sOn The GoTuesday.

Lineups to view the filmstretched for hours, and 2.5 million visitors saw the documentaryover the six months of Expo 67.

"My thing is, you know,life is dangerous. Live the danger. Do it.Get into it and show it to people and try to touch them,"saidCordier, who said he only recently heardfrom one of the patient'sfeatured in his film.

'A beautiful mlange'

"People keeled over in droves when the general public finally got a look at this kind of thing, which of course just made the film that much more popular," saidSteven Palmer, historian of medicine at the University of Windsor.

They were passing out and they were put on stretchers, and half of them askedif they could come back and watch the restof the show.- Robert Cordier

Palmer, who is originally from St. John's,rediscovered the film at the Library and Archives of Canada.

"The thing is, there were no credits on the film so it was poorly catalogued," he said.

Palmer found production notes, which includedthe names ofpeople who had worked on the film.

"When I Googled them, my jaw dropped and Isaid, 'Wow, these were big art people in New York City,'" said Palmer.

"They were at the centre of the art avant-garde at the time."

He tracked down directorCordier in Paris, and the pair arranged to be at Memorial University'sscreening 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Medical Education Building of theSt. John's campus.

This will be justthe second time the film has been shown since 1967 one other screening was heldin October2015 at McGill University in Montreal.

Palmer said it's important to remember Expo 67 was "the biggest cultural event ever held in this countryIt was subsequently forgotten, somewhat like this film."

He said the documentary was made by the "elite" of the global art scene and featured medical procedures in Montreal that "were on the cutting edge of medical research at the time, and it was a beautiful mlange."

Miracles in Modern Medicinestill looks contemporary, Palmer said, and will still move people viewing it in 2016.