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Village Squire, 1977-12, Page 45Canadian movie breakthrough probably began with the success of The Apprentice- ship of Duddy Kravitz. the first Canadian movie to be popular at home and abroad. It was based on Mordecai Richter's best seller a solid base to build on. The next big hit was Lies My Father Told Me. from the story of another Montreal writer, Ted Allen. This year's biggest hit so far has been Why Shoot the Teacher? Again from a successful novel this time by Max Braithwaite. Why Shoot the Teacher has been the biggest hit yet. playing for long runs in major cities and making it to many smali-town theatres that have shunned Canadian movies as being too risky in• the past. It's a warm. humourous tale of the cold life of the Prairies in the depression. Presently playing to big crawds across the country are two more movies adapted' from successful books. Who Has Seen the Wind is based on W.O. Mitchell's novel of the same namelone of the most popular books of all time. The Prairie is again the locale. and more than that, is a central character in the movie. Its powerful effect can be seen shaping the lives of the residents of the small town, like the hermit driven crazy by years of being hailed out and rusted out trying to operate his farm. It's a slow, meandering movie, reflecting, the pace of life in the town. The star is young Brian Painchaud who plays the little boy growing up through his experiences throughout the learning to deal with death. particularly when his father dies. He is supported by a large number of Canadian stars and one American. Jose Ferrer. • The movie is good, but far from perfect. It projects mood well. but depending as it does on a young boy, inexperienced as an a actor, it can't delve as deeply into character as does the original book. But it's undoubtedly one of the most beautiful movies made in a long time. Richard Leiterman is a master of photography and he made the supposedly dreary depression look richly beautiful. There are scenes that are breathtaking. The second big hit presently is Outrageous. about as opposite to Who Has Seen the Wind as you can get. Set in gritty Toronto, and grittier New York it deals with the unbeautiful topics of mental illness and homosexuality but in such a way as to leave audiences laughing and applauding, not depressed. it's the story of a pretty outpatient from a mental home who moves in with an old friend, a frustrated homosexual hairdresser with a strictly platonic friendship ensuing. Each helps the other as Robin the hairdresser builds a career as a female impersonator first in Toronto and then in New York and Liza discovers she can live with her illness. Mental illness and homosexuality recede into the background as the story becomes the story of two warm, interesting individuals struggling to find happiness. The situation is one that could be downbeat, but the treatment is joyous. Craig Russell dominates the show both as the female impersonator (which he is in real life) and as the tender man behind the funny faces. Hollis McLaren is beautiful and fragile as Liza. There are few similarities between Outrageous and Who Has Seen the Wind. Wind had a budget of more than a million dollars. Outrageous under $200.000. Wind is beautifully photographed. Outrageous is not. Wind is slow paced. Outrageous moves at a fast clip. Wind deals with another time, Outrageous with the hard realities of today. The one similarity is that both began from already successful material. Outrageous was adapted by Richard Brenner from a short story by Margaret Gibson in her book Butterfly Ward. The story is actually about her friendship with Craig Russell after she had spent time in a mental home. The trend to turn good literature into movies seems to have taken hold. Another Richter story. Jacob Two -Two Meets the Hooded Fang has recently been filmed. And perhaps the most timely of all new films is the one in production now based on Hugh MacLennan's novel Two Solitudes. The classic story written during the Second World War deals with the gap of understanding between French and Eng- lish Canadians in a way that still rings true today. While it seems well timed, Two Solitudes also shows that not everything has changed in Canadian movies. The French Canadian main character is played by a film star from France and the English Canadian by an American. Oh well. Rome N:asn't built in a day. The Clothes Line of Listowel ���27 Main St. W. *, 291-4390 401 For her Christmas gift Joanne Dahl Joan Hemsworth rencyammamamicaimigammommigsvisessywvismonmeacKsumnimilgawassmmil 1FOR YOUR 1 Aelottest Ck&nas gqtg 1 SEE OUR BAR I ITEMS 1 BRASS CHINA CRYSTAL FIGURINES 1 WICKERWARE DRIED FLOWERS ~ _ a FENTON GLASS MIRRORS & PICTURES ETC. .i a ETC.t�,� X. GIFT SHOPPEI 1 1 1 460 g 140 MAIN ST., LISTOWEL, ONT. 1 c1tartcYmclmclPmcttmcrocrmc crmcmacsmcttmcaacrsucttacfracaocltacVIocpmcltmtgacwacttac lac VILLAGE SQUIRE/DECEMBER 1977, -1+.