Patterned after the popular American March of Time newsreels, The World in Action was designed to appear to a broader international audience than Canada Carries On .
Each film was shown over a six-month period as part of the shorts or newsreel segments in approximately 800 theatres across Canada.
The NFB had an arrangement with Famous Players theatres to ensure that Canadians from coast-to-coast could see them, with further distribution by United Artists.
[4] After the six-month theatrical tour ended, individual films were made available on 16 mm to schools, libraries, churches and factories, extending their life for another year or two.
[3] The narrator in Global Air Routes in The World in Action series was Lorne Greene, known for his work on both radio broadcasts as a news announcer at CBC as well as narrating many of the Canada Carries On series.