[1] It was produced for the NFB's Pacificanada series, which aired on CBC-TV in early 1975.
[2] The film is a revealing portrait of a tough cop with a big heart.
Vancouver Police Department Sergeant Bernie "Whistling" Smith walks the beat on the city's Downtown Eastside, the hang-out of petty criminals and down-and-outers.
His policing style is unorthodox; to many drug users and prostitutes, he's more than a cop—he's a counsellor and a friend.
In the year that he's been in charge of this beat, crime has dropped by over forty per cent.