Remastered Bundle

I have been putting off buying the remastered versions of Sullivan's Anne of Green Gables films and Road to Avonlea in hopes that a Blu-ray release was coming.  This weekend, Sullivan Entertainment  had a great special on a bundle of the remastered Anne films and the complete series of Road to Avonlea and I couldn't help myself!

The bundle came with some great extras, including: Kevin Sullivan's novelization of A New Beginning, the Anne of Green Gables Story Book, some Road to Avonlea photos, an autographed photo of Hannah Endicott-Douglas as Anne, a soundtrack CD and some assorted chocolates and candies.

I can't wait to start watching! I'm planning to do some posts in which I compare the remastered and standard versions.

RIP Jonathan Crombie

Yesterday, we heard that sad news that Jonathan Crombie, best known for playing Gilbert in the Sullivan Anne of Green Gables films and Road to Avonlea, had passed away at the age of 48 from a brain hemorrhage on April 15th.

In addition to his many television roles, Crombie was well-known to the theatre world as an actor at Stratford and on Broadway.

His sister Carrie said, "I think he was really proud of being Gilbert Blythe and was happy to answer any questions ... he really enjoyed that series and was happy, very proud of it — we all were."

Producer Kevin Sullivan said, "I think there will be hundreds of people who will be floored that this has happened. It's such a devastating tragedy. In reality, Jonathan was as generous, as kind, as sensitive and as ambitious, in some ways, as the character he came to be identified with."

Jonathan Crombie's performances have touched thousands of people around the world and it is indeed a tragedy that he has passed on at so young an age.  His fans will always remember him through the work he has left us.

Horrible New Anne Cover

A company called CreateSpace has published a new edition of Anne of Green Gables with a horrible cover!  They seem to have replaced our favourite 19th century orphan with Daisy Duke!?

The 1908 novel is in the public domain so pretty much anyone can publish it.  I really hope no one will buy this one!  What are your thoughts?

Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel

Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel (titled Anne of Avonlea in the US), despite its awful title is actually quite good.  It first aired on May 19, 1987; about two years after Kevin Sullivan's successful Anne of Green Gables was released.  The story was written by Sullivan based on Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island and Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery.  The film was also produced and directed by Sullivan.

Even though the film is cobbled together from various sources and many details are changed from the original novels, it somehow remains consistent with the tone set in Montgomery's work and the tone of the first film.  It begins with Anne as the Avonlea school teacher and a frustrated writer as her short stories continue to be turned down by publishers.

Diana has become engaged to Fred Wright and Anne is somewhat disappointed that her friend has gone for a man who is nothing like her childhood ideal.  Diana proves that she will always be a great friend to Anne by slightly altering one of her stories and submitting it to a contest to advertise baking powder.  Anne is somewhat shocked to find that she has won!

As much as Anne seems to have grown up she is still a free spirit and can still get into mischief.  I love the cow incident from Anne of Avonlea in which she accidentally sells Mrs. Lynde's cow and she and Diana ruin their dresses by chasing after the cow through a muddy field.  This film also continues Mrs. Lynde's story.  Her husband Thomas becomes very ill and dies.  Rachel is forced to consider leaving her beloved Avonlea to live with her son in the west.

Gilbert asks Anne to marry him (twice) and she refuses saying that he will always be a great friend but that she can't love him as a wife.  With Diana's life changing, Marilla's eye sight improving and wanting to escape from Gilbert, Anne decides to accept a post as English professor at Kingsport Ladies College in Nova Scotia.  Her old teacher, Miss Stacey, has recommended her.  Marilla decides to invite Rachel to live with her at Green Gables and Anne feels free to go when she knows Marilla will not be left alone.

Anne arrives in Kingsport to find the town is dominated by the various clans of the Pringle family. They do not like outsiders--especially when they are orphans who write short stories.  The Pringle girls and their parents make the first few weeks of Anne's term extremely difficult but Anne does find a kindred spirit in one of her students, Emmeline Harris.  After an incident in which Anne and Emmeline fall through the roof of the caretaker's shed, Mr. Harris removes Emmeline from school and withdraws his financial support from KLC.

The school board wants Anne to resign but Miss Stacey convinces them to keep her on for the rest of the term.  In order to try to make up for the financial losses, Anne mounts a play with her students. The process helps most of the Pringle girls to come together and understand Anne.  The event is a huge success and the school board offers Anne a five-year contract.  The only person who remains bitterly against Anne is the school principal, Miss Katherine Brooke.

In the midst of all this, Anne approaches Emmeline's grandmother, Mrs. Harris, to ask if she can continue tutoring Emmeline outside of school.  The tyrannic old woman agrees.  Over time, Anne's kindness and spirit bring light and joy to the old Harris mansion for the first time in years.  Bitter Mrs. Harris comes to love Anne until her death sometime later.  After the funeral, Emmeline leaves Kingsport to live with her father in Boston.  But not before Mr. Harris, enchanted with Anne and what she has been able to do for herself and his family, asks her to marry him.  It is at that moment that Anne realizes she has made a grave mistake.  She does love Gilbert and she declines Mr. Harris' proposal.

Throughout her time in Kingsport, Anne has struggled to make a friend of Katherine Brooke. Brooke is a strict disciplinarian.  She does not like teaching and takes it out by being miserable to everyone around her.  Eventually, Anne's persistence breaks down the walls the Katherine puts up. Anne invites her to spend the summer at Green Gables and Katherine accepts.  She finally opens up to Anne and confesses that what she really wants to do is travel and see the great sights of the world.  

Meanwhile, Gilbert has completed his first year as a medical student.  He is engaged to a woman called Christine but at the end of the term he catches Scarlet Fever and calls off the wedding.  He knows that Anne is the only one he'll ever love.  Anne has taken Gilbert's old advice and written a collection of stories about Avonlea.  Her first book is published shortly after she arrives home.  She takes a copy to Gilbert, who is deathly ill, and her love gives Gilbert the strength to fight back to health.

Once recovered, Gilbert asks Anne to marry him once more.  This time she accepts and a new epoch in her life begins.

My only real criticism of this film is that the hairstyles are sometimes far too huge and ridiculous! It's true that the large, loose "puff" was the style for young women at this time but sometimes Megan Follows looks like she has about twenty pounds of fur on her head!

All in all, this is really entertaining film and a good addition to the mythos of Anne of Green Gables.

All images are owned by Sullivan Entertainment.  No copyright infringement is intended.

Anne of Avonlea

"Having adventures comes naturally to some people," said Anne serenely.  "You just have a gift for them or you haven't."

This week I re-read L.M. Montgomery's sequel to Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea.  It chronicles Anne's life in her mid-teens as she becomes the Avonlea village school teacher and helps to found a village improvement society.  

Almost immediately the reader can tell that Anne has grown up.  Though she's still filled with flowery language and prone to daydreaming about the beauty of nature she has come a long way from the troubled girl she was.  As grown up as she has become, Anne can still make mistakes.  The most memorable one from this volume is when Anne believes her cow has escaped (again) and is running free in the fields.  She impulsively sells it on the spot only to realize that her cow is safely locked up at home!  I think Montgomery is telling us that we will make mistakes all our lives and the important thing is that we learn from them and make certain we take responsibility for them.

Montgomery introduces a colourful new character in this book as a new neighbour for Anne and Marilla: Mr. Harris.  Harris lives alone with a crude-talking parrot so everyone assumes he is an unmarried bachelor until his estranged wife comes to Avonlea.  Other new characters include Davy and Dora Keith.  These twin children are distant relatives of Marilla's and she takes them in after their mother dies. Davy's mishaps make up for the lack of Anne's.  She's now in a position to help another young person learn from their mistakes.

I find it incredible that 16 year-olds could be school teachers!  Anne becomes a teacher before even going to college.  My grandmother became a teacher in the 1950s at the age of 19 so I suppose it's not far-fetched but it certainly is different from the way things tend to happen today.  I'd say that most teenagers today are nowhere near responsible enough to take on such a role.  Life was much more difficult a hundred years ago so I expect most people had to grow up quite quickly.  In many ways we are quite spoiled today.  I know I have been!

Montgomery's romantic language continues to evolve in this novel.  It's written in a very episodic fashion so it's perfect for reading to children or for children to read one chapter at a time.  Though we miss childhood-Anne acutely there is enough of her remaining in her teenaged self so that we remain in love with her.  As much as we might wish it would, time will never stand still.  Children always have to grow up.  Anne remains young by dealing closely with other children.  She understands their spirit and their needs and is able to encourage them while still helping to mold them into proper adults.  This novel is an interesting exploration of the transitional time of adolescence and the adventure continues...

Sullivan's Anne of Green Gables

Kevin Sullivan's Anne of Green Gables is a beautiful and charming film that is incredibly faithful to L.M. Montgomery's novel; if not always in letter than certainly in spirit.  He selected all the most wonderful moments from the novel and managed to capture them wonderfully on film.

I remember watching this when it aired in parts on the CBC when I was a child and I have caught bits and pieces of it from time to time as it re-airs.  I watched it this week for the first time on DVD and I was a little worried that it might not hold up to the memories I had of it.  Fortunately, it remains wonderful to watch.  It has a timeless quality that will probably outlive all of us.

The casting of this film is really pure genius!  Megan Follows makes a wonderful Anne.  She does a great job of capturing the spirit of Montgomery's character and is very convincing as Anne at several different ages.

Though I always hear a bit of the voice of the demon from The Exorcist when she speaks, Colleen Dewhurst brings Marilla Cuthbert to life perfectly.  She's so wry and dark yet full of love that she's impossible not to like.  Richard Farnsworth is so sweet and sad as Matthew Cuthbert.  He had a career that spanned sixty years but I think this is his most memorable role.

Sullivan also managed to find a slew of other amazing international actors to populate his film. Marilyn Lightstone is the teacher we all wish we had as Muriel Stacy and Patricia Hamilton as Rachel Lynde is terrific.  She would become a favourite of mine later on Road To Avonlea. This film also features other performers who would soon take on new roles in Avonlea: Jackie Burroughs, Cedric Smith and Mag Ruffman.

Jonathan Crombie is pretty adorable as Gilbert Blythe.  He and Follows did a great job of creating a sense of first love.  Apparently, Schuyler Grant was originally considered for the role of Anne but Sullivan decided that role should be played by a Canadian so Grant became Diana Barry.  She's perfect in the role and goes on to give some memorable performances in the sequels as well.

The production did an amazing job of finding perfect locations to shoot in.  Only a very small percentage of the exteriors were actually shot on PEI.  Most of the film was shot in and around Toronto, ON.  The house used for Green Gables is actually a private residence and the filmmakers put up the picket fence.  The art team was lead by David Cronenberg's production designer, Carol Spier.

I have to mention Hagood Hardy's charming score.  Hardy passed away far too young in 1997 but his music really brings this film to life.  Somehow he's able to capture the spirit of Anne and translate it into musical form.  One of the things that Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story is really lacking is Hardy's touch.

Kevin Sullivan managed to capture some extremely memorable performances and some stunning visuals which make this one of the great contributions to Canadian film and television.  If you haven't seen this and you're a fan of the novel you really should check it out.

All images are the property Sullivan Entertainment.  No copyright infringement is intended.

Anne of Green Gables

I've just had the most incredible morning!  Earlier this week I began re-reading L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables for the first time in many years and this morning, over about four hours, I finished it.  I must admit that I had partially forgotten its magic.  So much time and so many changes have gone by since what Anne might call the "epoch in my life" in which I first discovered the Anne books.

As I lay reading this morning -- my slightly worn 1987 paperback edition with the Megan Follows cover -- so many memories came flooding back to me!  Not just memories of my previous readings of the novel but memories of my own childhood which can sometimes be forgotten in the blindingly fast evolution to adulthood.

Montgomery does such a superb job of capturing the spirit of youth; not at all carefree but so strong as to be able to overcome almost any obstacle.  As an orphan who had rarely been treated with kindness, Anne Shirley was never carefree and even after she moved on to her life at Green Gables she was never spoiled or coddled.  And though her heart was often heavy her imagination and love of the gifts of nature made her seem carefree.  It's amazing to compare the way children are raised today to Anne's upbringing (fictional though it may be).

Though I love towering skyscrapers and bustling cities, at the moment I've overcome with a nostalgia for a time I never knew when a child might not taste ice cream until the age of 11 and time spent relaxing was all the more rewarding after one had worked hard all day to help feed and clothe the family.  Just as Anne thought the days of Camelot, as described by Tennyson, were "so much more romantic than the present," I admit to feeling the Victorian days described by Montgomery seem so much more romantic than our present.

There are so many things to love about this book!  The story itself is of course charming, heartbreaking and romantic.  Montgomery's voice is wonderfully pleasant to read.  Her vivid and loving descriptions of locales on Prince Edward Island are a love letter to the island and even if the reader has never been there the descriptions recall to memory other natural settings, just as beautiful, that most people could never describe with such simplicity or charm.  But for all that, it is truly the characters of Anne of Green Gables that make it so personal and memorable.

Anne Shirley (Anne with an 'e') is one of the greatest literary heroines ever created and it is a crime that she is not more often remembered alongside Alice (of Wonderland), Dorothy (of Oz) and Jane Austen's heroines.  I can say quite earnestly that I think Anne embodies the best qualities of the human race and I think that if everyone took some of her lessons to heart the world might be a better place. Montgomery's other characters are just as wonderful!  Everyone must have known a busybody like Rachel Lynde and a mild-mannered sweetheart like Matthew Cuthbert.  Marilla Cuthbert is a wonderful example of a woman caught between two worlds as the Victorian Empire gives way to new roles and new ways of living for women in the twentieth century.

For me, the heart of the novel is really in the relationship between Anne and Marilla as they figure each other out over several years.  Anne transforms Marilla's somewhat sad, conservative life with her whirlwind of enthusiasm.  It seems to me that, through Anne, Marilla is able to see the world with fresh eyes; which makes her condition at the end of the novel all the more painful.  In turn, Marilla is able to temper some of Anne's wild qualities.  She bestows upon the child gifts of knowledge in how to run a household and also the gift of work ethic which helps Anne get so very far in life.

I remembered keenly over the past week how much I fell in love with Anne's scrumptious vocabulary, including words like "enpurpled" and "thrillier."  I can imagine these probably seemed quite strange to readers in 1908 and there were probably many Marilla Cuthberts who forbade many Anne Shirleys from reading such frivolous nonsense!  I have often said that it is sometimes wise to lose one's self in nonsense in order to truly figure out who one actually is.  I have read that the original manuscript was rejected by several publishers until it was finally bestowed upon the world in 1908.  I'm so thankful that it was!  I'm excited to re-read the rest of the Anne books now as I prepare to visit Green Gables this summer.