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* [http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-74-1630-11214/people/lucy_maud_montgomery/clip9 A [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] account of the heirs' suit]
* [http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-74-1630-11214/people/lucy_maud_montgomery/clip9 A [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] account of the heirs' suit]
* [http://www.playbackmag.com/articles/magazine/20040202/anne.html A ''Playback'' Magazine article about the dismissal of Sullivan's suit]
* [http://www.playbackmag.com/articles/magazine/20040202/anne.html A ''Playback'' Magazine article about the dismissal of Sullivan's suit]
* {{imdb title|id=0088727|title=Anne of Green Gablesl}}



[[Category:1985 films]]
[[Category:1985 films]]

Revision as of 01:59, 7 December 2005

Anne of Green Gables is a 1985 television film, based on the novel Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. The film was produced and directed by Kevin Sullivan for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The screenplay was written by Sullivan and Joe Wiesenfeld.

There have been many film and television productions of Montgomery's much-loved novel, but the 1985 production is considered the best by many fans. In particular, Megan Follows as Anne Shirley and Colleen Dewhurst as Marilla Cuthbert are widely considered to have given the definitive performances of those roles.

The film aired on CBC as a two-part miniseries on December 1 and December 2, 1985. Both parts of the film were among the highest-rated programs of any genre ever to air on a Canadian television network. On February 17 and February 18, 1986, the film aired on PBS in the United States.

In 1987, Sullivan followed it up with Anne of Avonlea which was subsequently retitled Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel on video.

From 1989 to 1996 Kevin Sullivan produced Road to Avonlea based upon characters and episodes from several of Montgomery's books. Anne herself did not appear in the TV series, but Gílbert Blythe, Marilla Cuthbert and other characters from the Anne books are included.

Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story was released in 2000 and was controversial with fans of Montgomery's books as it was an original story that contradicted many elements of the novels.

Cast

File:Meganfollows.jpg
Megan Follows as Anne Shirley

Awards

The film swept the 1986 Gemini Awards, winning the following:

  • Best Dramatic Miniseries
  • Best Actress in a Single Dramatic Program or Miniseries: Megan Follows
  • Best Supporting Actor: Richard Farnsworth
  • Best Supporting Actress: Colleen Dewhurst
  • Best Writing (TV Adaptation): Kevin Sullivan and Joe Wiesenfeld
  • Best Music Composition: Hagood Hardy
  • Best Costume Design: Martha Mann
  • Best Photography: René Ohashi
  • Best Production Design/Art Direction: Carol Spier
  • Most Popular Program

Sullivan did not win, however, for Best Director of a dramatic program or series. He lost to Donald Brittain for Canada's Sweetheart: The Saga of Hal C. Banks. The film also did not win Best Editing for a dramatic program or series.

The series also won an Emmy Award in 1986, for Outstanding Children's Program.

Trivia

Katharine Hepburn was approached to play Marilla. Although she declined, she referred Sullivan to Schuyler Grant, her niece, who was cast as Diana Barry.

Lawsuit

Sullivan was sued by the descendants of/heirs to the novel's author, Lucy Maud Montgomery. Their contractual agreement with Sullivan said that he would pay them a flat $425,000 (Canadian) fee for the right to adapt the first book (and another $100,000 to do the second movie, Anne of Avonlea), plus 10% of all the profits of both. The contract also gave them the right to examine Sullivan Entertainment's financial records. However, when Sullivan claimed that neither of the movies had earned any money (even though, as noted above, they were among the highest-rated television programs in Canadian history) and refused to allow them to audit his books, they took him to court. Sullivan counter-sued for libel, insisting that the heirs should pay him $55 Million because they had defamed his character. An Ontario Superior Court judge dismissed his suit on January 19, 2004, saying that Sullivan's claim that the movies had never turned a profit was "a joke," and that Sullivan was "one of the most evasive witnesses [she had] encountered."

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