John A.: Birth of a Country (TV 2011)

Director:

Jerry Ciccoritti

Writers:

Richard Gwyn (book), Bruce M. Smith

Stars:

Shawn Doyle, Peter Outerbridge, David La Haye

8 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shawn Doyle	...	John A. Macdonald
Peter Outerbridge	...	George Brown
David La Haye	...	George Etienne-Cartier
Aidan Devine	...	John Sandfield Macdonald
Michelle Nolden	...	Anne Brown
Peter MacNeill	...	(as Peter Macneill)
Cedric Smith
Rob Stewart
Ted Atherton
Patrick McKenna
Steve Cumyn	...	Spence
Neil Foster	...	Speaker #2
Frank McAnulty	...	Speaker #3 (as Frank Mcanulty)
Jean-Michel Le Gal	...	Dorion
Christian Martyn	...	Hugh John

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

1800s | 1860s | canada | british colonial | canadian prime minister | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 September 2011 (Canada)

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 4,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Indian Grove Productions, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

John A. Macdonald: It's Canada! Everything's in the middle of the wilderness!

User Reviews

This Yank enjoyed it too

The history of Canada may not be the average Canadian's strong point, but it's a total mystery to the average citizen of the US. This made-for-TV movie manages to cover an important development with enough clarity to serve Canadian History 101 without being so elementary as to bore those who have a reasonable knowledge of the subject. To cover the important details of events transpiring over 8 years in a 91 minute film while maintaining dramatic pacing is no easy task but this film accomplishes it with enough interest to send viewers to the history books to find out more. I'm hoping it could be expanded to a mini-series. (I recall a mini-series of several decades past starring William Hutt as John A. Macdonald in the story of the building of Canada's transcontinental railroad and it was fascinating.) I do hope the CBC will give us more.