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We have very little information on Canadian films at this time. Canada has a difficult task in building a national film industry in that successful directors and actors take off for Hollywood as soon as they develop a reputation. Soome head for Hollywood even before developing a reputation. Here French speakers in Quebec had a very difficult time. We know of numerous English-speaking Canadians involved in American movies and television. We do not know of any French speaking Canadians. We have noted a strong Canadian television industry, but we know very little about Canadian movies. We know few films not only made in Canada, but about Canada. One film we know of is "The Kidnappers" (Scotland, 1954). It is set in Canada, but shot in Scotland and England. Hopefully our Canadian readers will provide us some information about Canadian films. One question we have is about Quenec. Are there any interesing Quebec films with boy characters.
We have very little information on Canadian films at this time. Canada has a difficult task in building a national film industry in that successful directors and actors take off for Hollywood as soon as they develop a reputation. Soome head for Hollywood even before developing a reputation. Here French speakers in Quebec had a very difficult time. We know of numerous English-speaking Canadians involved in American movies and television. We do not know of any French speaking Canadians who are major stars. There asre some recent developments. Hollywood is collapsing. There shidt t woke porramming abd DEI has impacted the economics of the indutry, creating major flops. In additrion, producig films and pogramns in Hollywood has become very xpensive because of exploding sallaries to aford Califirnia prices. This had led to profucers moving productionout of Hollywoos. This has mean foreign countries (especially Britain) as well as lower-p;[riced sttes like Georgia and Texas. But as these are conmsrvsatibe states where 'progressive' Hollywood gyoes apparently do noy feel comfortable/ So we see some production in Canada. One such productrion was 'Starfleret acadamy' (2026) wjichas proven to be a mega-flop.
We have noted a strong Canadian television industry. Camada has a Government-owned network rather like the BBC in Britain. There is also
CTV Inc. which bills itself as Canada's pre-eminent broadcast communications company with conventional television operations across Canada and a leading position in the specialty television sector. Canada is not well known for its television. As in other media sectors, Canadian broadcasters faced difficult competition from the huge American media giants outh of the border. Canadian television not only has a relatively small national market, but that market is divided into two language groups, English and French. There are
probably regulations govrning language content as well as national content. An additional problem faced by Canadians is that quite a number of Canadian actors work in America (Mike Myers, John Candy and Jim Carrey). While we have realtively little information on Canadian television. We do know of a few programs which provide insights into children's clothing. One of the best known children's produced in Canada was the 1980s show, You can't do that on television. It proved popular on American cable networks. A Canadian
reader suggests that Pit Pony an Wind At My Back provide useful glimpses of period Canadian clothes.
We know very little about Canadian movies. We know few films not only made in Canada, but about Canada. One film we know of is "The Kidnappers" (Scotland, 1954). It is set in Canada, but shot in Scotland and England. Hopefully our Canadian readers will provide us some information about Canadian films. One question we have is about Quenec. Are there any interesing Quebec films with boy characters.
Here there is a girl hero. A reader writes, "For many years, I went to
cinema with my daughter and her friends to look at them. She was near to be Fanny in Very good memories."
Thuis is a film on winter and snow and snowball fighting. A real good film released in 1984. Very representative of Qu�bec with full of fantasy and also of youth psychology. It was the first of a series of films devoted to youth called "Tales for all".
'The hppy time' was an American film, but set in Canada.e' It is a fun comedy about the ups and downs of a loving, but ecentric French Canadian family in Quebec. It is a coming of age story about 12-year old Bebi played by Bobby Driscoll, a very popular child star who was beginning to grow up and this the perrfect choice for a coming of age story. It is based on the 1945 novel by Robert Fontaine. Samuel A. Taylor turned the popular book into a play. The book was published in 1945, but set in the 1920s, a time in which knickers were virtually universal in America and Canada. Knickers would persist a little longer in Canada than America. We are not sure why. Robert (Beni) wears a knickers suit with long black long stockings complete with a matching flat cap. The characters includes a French maid and a picturesqe grandfather. The Americans next door include a girl who has a crush on him and her brother who calls him 'fancy pants', we guess because of his knickers. Beni ignores the attentions of the American neighbor girl, because he's infatuated with the beautiful new maid. Beni also has trouble with a mean school master. The play was adapted into a Broadweay musical (1967).
"The Kidnappers" is also listed in HBC as "The Little Kidnappers" - it's U.S. release title. A HBC reader writes, "I've seen the film before but forgot how good it was. The boys are especiaaly good in the film - they got oscars." The older boy Harry is played by Jon Whiteley who also played the boy in "The Spanish Gardener". "Kidnappers" is set in Canada but it was filmed in Scotland and in London studios--a bit like "Huntingtower". Many on the production team
including some of the actors on Scottish so we have archived the movie as a Scottish film, it could also be called a British film, further complicated by the fact that the film is set in Canada. The boys wear knee britches with braces and coarse shirts as of the time - early 20th Century. Also scenes in the school have other boys similarly dressed, although Jan who Harry fights in the school yard is better dressed. Jan is the son of the doctor, a Dutch settler who the Scots call "Boers". Also when Harry is taken to court (held in the local store - it's a small community) for "kidnapping" the Dutch family's baby his young brother, Davy, is dressed up in a smarter suit with a sort of string tie. There's a great ending but I won't give it away ....
Another girl hero.
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