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.

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.

Visiting Avonlea Village: Part Two

If you haven't seen Part One, Check it out too!

One of the most clever sets in the village was the covered bridge.  It was on tracks close to the post office so that it could be moved on to the road when needed and then moved off to the side.  It was a great use of the limited space available.

The blacksmith's shop was a very detailed set.  It was amazing to see all the dressing and props that made it look so authentic.

The lighthouse was a crucial set.  It really helped make the village believable as a seaside location. There was a full-size lighthouse which was visible from the road and also a smaller stunt version which made it easier to get close-ups of actors at the top.  It was also used when someone had to be thrown or fall from the top.

I was really impressed with the design and construction of all the sets in the village.  We were fortunate to see some of the process on our visit.  The left side of this photo shows the Cannery facade and on the back of that the crew is building what would become Jasper Dale's house.  

Obviously, one of the huge highlights (of many) during the visit was being able to stand on the porch of Rose Cottage.  This house was almost as important as Green Gables itself.  It was neat to be able to see the small wallpapered area inside the front door that lead to nowhere!

Peg Bowen's shack was another really great set.  There was a lot of detail with great stuff hanging from the trees and interesting papers on the interior wall.  

The "main street" area with the general store and post office was yet another highlight.  There was so much detail that it didn't feel like a set.

Our tour guide for the day was Dan Matthews who served as location manager on Road to Avonlea and Wind at My Back.  Matthews has been a long-time employee at Sullivan Entertainment and most recently worked on the high definition restoration of Anne of Green Gables.

This last image is a scan from an issue of TV Guide shortly after Road to Avonlea ended its seven-year run.  I'm so grateful that I was able to see these amazing sets before they were destroyed.

Visiting Avonlea Village: Part One

I find it very interesting that the exterior sets for Road to Avonlea were constructed in Uxbridge, just a few kilometers from where L.M. Montgomery once lived in the Leaksdale Manse.  In the summer of 1992 or 1993 I had the incredible opportunity to visit the sets!

These first photos were taken before we arranged access.  Note the tiny lighthouse next to my head in the background.

One of the highlights of the visit was the Avonlea schoolhouse.  Where most of the buildings were just facades or shells, the schoolhouse was a complete interior/exterior set.  I'm just speculating but I would imagine this was because the hours you're allowed to have child actors on set are short so it would have been easier to film all the schoolhouse scenes together rather than moving back and forth from the exterior to the Toronto soundstage.  I remember clearly that the stones at the base of the building were just molded plastic but otherwise it was quite solid and realistic.

The village was built on land owned by the Nesbitt family on Concession 6 off Highway 21.  The blue Nesbitt farmhouse stood in for the King farmhouse.  We weren't permitted to get close to the house as the family actually lived there (I believe they still do).

The series had several art directors so I'm not certain who designed these incredible buildings but the work was truly amazing.  They were quite beautiful.  They came up with an ingenious idea to use crushed red brick to imitate PEI's red soil.  Near the entrance to the village was a huge pile of brick waiting to be used if necessary.

Watch for Part Two next week!

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.