I've been digging deep for Ericcentric ephemera. Wow he's a difficult guy to track down, especially so many decades after his illustrious career was in full swing. It's nearly 100 years since he made his stage debut! 

Pick up a copy of "Our Eric" by Andy Owens. It's a great bio and the only one written on Mr. Portman.

This article was a blurb in a little publication known as The Morwell Advertiser in Morwell, Victoria Australia. The mention in the article that the 49th Parallel was his screen debut. It wasn't. But it was arguably his largest and most popular of his films. The 49th Parallel was basically written as a propaganda piece for the war effort. Some of the most in-demand talents of the day appeared in the film and took sizable pay cuts in order to get the film produced. Actors from Europe, Canada and Europe teamed up to rally against the Nazi Party. It's a passionate film with excellent performances and wonderful monologues. One given by Eric himself.