A Canadian doctor interned at a Japanese POW Camp during WWII must tend to his fellow British prisoners who are being worked to death in a mine.
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Writers:
Awards:
- 2 wins.
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Complete, Cast awaiting verification
| Donald Sutherland | ... |
Narrated by (voice)
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David Edney | ... |
Ben Wheeler
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| Frank C. Turner | ... |
Peter Seed
(as Frank Turner)
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Doug Kier | ... |
Medical Orderly
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Doug Bagot | ... |
Medical Orderly
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W. Forrest MacDonald | ... |
Prisoner of War
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Brian Laird | ... |
Prisoner of War
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Patrick McGuigan | ... |
Prisoner of War
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Grant Carmichael | ... |
Prisoner of War
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Dean Stoker | ... |
Prisoner of War
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Bill Johnston | ... |
Prisoner of War
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Alan Stebbings | ... |
Prisoner of War
(as Allan Stebbings)
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Keith Mullan | ... |
Prisoner of War
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Gerry Whelpton | ... |
Prisoner of War
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Philip Zyp | ... |
Prisoner of War
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Cecil Grinstead | ... |
Prisoner of War
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Larry Bauer | ... |
Prisoner of War
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Tom Whitton | ... |
Prisoner of War
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Jim Algie | ... |
Prisoner of War
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Rodrigue Deschênes | ... |
Prisoner of War
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Tim Davidson | ... |
Prisoner of War
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George Tsuruda | ... |
Guard
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Tosio Takahashi | ... |
Guard
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| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Anne Wheeler | ... |
Narrator (uncredited) (voice)
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Directed by
| Anne Wheeler | ||
Written by
| Ben Wheeler | ... | (diary of) (as Dr. Ben Wheeler) |
| Anne Wheeler | ... | (written by) |
Produced by
| Tom Radford | ... | executive producer |
| Michael J.F. Scott | ... | executive producer (as Michael Scott) |
| Anne Wheeler | ... | producer |
Music by
| Maurice Marshall | ||
Cinematography by
| Robert Nichol | ... | (cinematography by) |
| Ron Orieux | ... | (cinematography by) |
Editing by
| Ray Harper | ||
Art Direction by
| Michael Dorsey | ||
| Donaleen Saul | ||
Makeup Department
| Jenny Diment | ... | makeup artist |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
| David McAree | ... | assistant director |
Art Department
| Christine McLean | ... | props (as Chris McLean) |
Sound Department
| Jean-Pierre Joutel | ... | re-recording |
| Michel Lalonde | ... | sound (as Michèle Lalonde) |
| Ralph Parker | ... | sound |
Camera and Electrical Department
| Gary Armstrong | ... | camera assistant |
| Ian Elkin | ... | camera assistant |
Animation Department
| Svend-Erik Eriksen | ... | still photo animator |
Costume and Wardrobe Department
| Christine McLean | ... | wardrobe (as Chris McLean) |
Location Management
| Dean Stoker | ... | location manager |
Additional Crew
| Avrel Fisher | ... | research: photo and film |
| Pat Hart | ... | unit administrator |
| Yasuko Hiruki | ... | translator |
| Guy Lamontagne | ... | titles |
| Leah Main | ... | production assistant |
| Peter Mitchell | ... | production assistant |
| Pamela Nichol | ... | production assistant |
| Margaret Smith | ... | unit administrator |
Thanks
| George Blair | ... | our sincere thanks: to all the men who generously shared their memories and time to the making of this film (as Dr. George Blair) |
| Freddie Crossley | ... | our sincere thanks: to all the men who generously shared their memories and time to the making of this film |
| David Donnelly | ... | our sincere thanks: to all the men who generously shared their memories and time to the making of this film |
| Fred Down | ... | our sincere thanks: to all the men who generously shared their memories and time to the making of this film |
| Jack O. Edwards | ... | our sincere thanks: to all the men who generously shared their memories and time to the making of this film |
| George Harrison | ... | our sincere thanks: to all the men who generously shared their memories and time to the making of this film |
| Ben Mackenzie | ... | our sincere thanks: to all the men who generously shared their memories and time to the making of this film |
| J. McLoughlin | ... | our sincere thanks: to all the men who generously shared their memories and time to the making of this film |
| Peter Seed | ... | our sincere thanks: to all the men who generously shared their memories and time to the making of this film (as Dr. Peter Seed) |
| Arthur Smith | ... | our sincere thanks: for his song "Down the Mine" (as Trumpeter Arthur Smith) |
| Josiah Thompson | ... | our sincere thanks: to all the men who generously shared their memories and time to the making of this film |
| Nellie Rose Wheeler | ... | a special thank you to: my Mother, for sharing the diary originally written to her (as Nellie Rose) |
Production Companies
Distributors
- National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
- Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1983) (United States) (tv) (broadcast premiere)
Special Effects
Other Companies
- The Other Agency Casting (casting assistance)
- Australian War Memorial (archival source)
- Imperial War Museum (archival source)
- National Archives (archival source)
- Pathe Film Library (archival source)
- British Movietonews (archival source)
- NHK International (archival source)
- Mainichi Newspapers (archival source)
- Sentosa War Memorial (archival source)
- The Alberta Medical Alumni (our thanks to: for funding the filming in Taiwan)
- The Canada Council (our thanks to: for funding the initial research)
- Canadian High Commission (our thanks to)
- Canadian High Commission (our thanks to)
- Taiwan Coordination Council for North American Affairs (our thanks to)
- Keen Kraft Music (our thanks to)
Storyline
| Plot Summary |
Major Ben Wheeler was a Canadian doctor assigned to Singapore when the Japanese forced an unconditional surrender of the British and took him prisoner in 1942. He was taken to the notorious Kinkaseki Japanese POW mining camp in Formosa (Taiwan) and given the task of maintaining the mental and physical health of the British POWs. Wheeler kept detailed diaries of his experiences during his three and a half years at the camp and excerpts are narrated with dramatized scenes of the traumatic experiences of daily life. The working conditions in the mines caused innumerable injuries, and disease and malnutrition were rampant, but Wheeler had to make do with very few medical supplies and equipment. Also featured is newsreel footage of related events, archival footage of the camp, interviews with fellow survivors of the camp who unanimously praised Wheeler for his good work and provide their perspectives on the events described by him, and finally snippets of Wheeler's family life back home in Canada, before and after the war. Written by pr1mal_1 |
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Additional Details
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Box Office
| Budget | CAD368,000 (estimated) |
Did You Know?
| Movie Connections | Edited into A War Story: Based on the Diaries of Dr. Ben Wheeler (1981). See more » |
| Soundtracks | Down the Mine See more » |
| Crazy Credits | The producer wishes to acknowledge that archival footage and photographs from many different Far East prisoner of war camps were used to tell this story. See more » |