Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story

One might expect a mini series over 3 hours about the father of Medicare would be full of fillers but they would be mistaken. The life of T.C. Douglas goes by very quickly in this movie yet manages to cover much of his major accomplishments, personal highlights, and famous speeches. Tommy Douglas was first and foremost a great orator. His experience as a Baptist pastor honed his public speaking skills and also his moral commitment to his promises. "PRAIRIE GIANT" shows the extent of his persecution both religious ("The trouble with you Baptists is they don't hold you under the water long enough") and political (his C.C.F. party is referred to as Communists and the Red Menace). His accomplishments can best be viewed on related web pages and publications. The biopic wisely focuses on his personal life which in large part shaped his social attitudes. The music and cinematography are a big part of this film but Canadian films about the Depression and mid 20th Century have always been of high quality. The acting is also as good as anticipated. Many famous faces have yet to be posted on the IMDb list. For example, Nicholas Campbell (the star reporter on Ron Howard's Cinderella MAN for those of you who haven't seen DAVINCI'S INQUEST)plays Liberal E.J.Young, CODCO's Andy Jones plays P.M. MacKenzie King, and Aidan Devine (Gordie Howe on NET WORTH) plays M.J. Colewell. Of course, it would not seem like a Canadian biopic without R.H.Thompson who's been in docu-dramas about other Canadian heroes like Ken Taylor, Terry Fox, Ted Lindsay, Frederick Banting, and Pierre Trudeau. The producers really pulled out all the stops to make a movie that will live as long as the memory of T.C. Douglas lives on.

I am probably the only person on this string of comments who actually met Douglas. That said, I acknowledge the sincere effort of the producers of telling an important historical story, but I was utterly shocked by the inaccurate depiction of Jimmy Gardiner as an ultra right-wing ogre. Despte what you saw in this film, Gardiner was a teetotaler and a defender of oppressed minorities (Eastern European immigrants during the heyday of the Ku Klux Klan in the late 1920s and the On-to-Ottawa trekkers in the summer of 1935). There has been much controversy in Saskatchewan over the sadistically inaccurate depiction of Gardiner. Also, the Estevan coal miners strike of 1931 was inaccurately depicted: the bodies of the dead were not left to rot and Douglas and his wife were not in the area at the time. Moreover, Gardiner was not the premier at the time and did not, despite what you saw in the movie, order the shooting or exult in the miners' deaths. On and on and on go the list of historical errors, all of which just happen to aggrandize Douglas and his party.

What this movie "got right" was the important role of provincial finance minister Clarence Fines and cabinet minister Woodrow Lloyd during Douglas' term as premier. Actor Michael Therriault did an exceptional job of capturing Douglas' personality and speaking style.

There is a school of thought here in Saskatchewan that Douglas did as much harm as good...by waging war on business so effectively, he provoked it into a six-decade boycott of Saskatchewan, setting the stage for relatively few jobs. It has taken 60 years for another NDP government (see the April 6, 2006 budget brought down by NDP premier Lorne Calvert) to reverse years of anti-business rhetoric and policy--and throw open the doors to the private sector.

Among Canadian leftists, there is something akin to a cult around Douglas' life and deeds that prevents an objective, balanced analysis of his legacy. This ambitious but flawed feature will not make that consideration any easier.

The film is shamelessly emotional and still pulls it off, because the material is strong. By no means perfect. It sneaks up on you and is, at times, a full-on, hanky-worthy tear jerker. My most cynical friends reluctantly admitted they cried their eyes out. How often do you get to say that about a 4-hour CBC biopic? Far beyond the film, Tommy's worth a ten on his own merits. (So I can only give it a nine.) He is unquestionably a hero of the left, but he is also a hero for anyone who believes in balanced budgets and debt reduction.

Scratch that. Debt elimination.

He's a hero for anyone who thinks politicians should campaign on what they intend to do, and then do what they campaigned on. He's a hero for anyone who thinks government ought to be transparent and accountable. He actually managed to deliver ambitious yet ruthlessly efficient government service. Sometimes government is the problem. Not this time. This time government was transformative.

Like John Diefenbaker and John A. MacDonald, he is a man who changed his country beyond any reasonable expectation.

How the hell do you turn that into a series of compelling scenes with even remotely engaging characters? Good luck.

And yet the movie is so much better than you think it is. Especially the second part, which by all rights should flounder and die like a baby seal in a Greenpeace ad. But it creeps up on you until it absolutely soars. Look at the person beside you. One of you is probably going to cry.

Politics? Emotional? Inspiring? This Baptist preacher from the 30's is, in the end, shockingly relevant? Who woulda thunk? Not that I would pretend to be objective.

This film was OK, but took too many liberties for my liking. Parliamentary debates are not as they were portrayed in the first segment and one quotation attributed to Douglas was actually said by Ontario Premier Mitch Hepburn about a decade earlier.

I was disappointed that the second part glossed over Tommy's years as leader of the New Democratic Party. We see him defeated in 1962 and then suddenly it's 1983.

That being said, I was glad to see the emphasis on Irma Douglas's role behind the scenes. The NDP was in many ways a family affair, with wives just a vital an influence as their more famous husbands.

And anything would beat another show with Ben Mulroney or another episode of Falcon Beach!

This is a brilliant biop not only about medicare but about the whole career of a much loved politician. (That was not necessarily an oxymoron back then!) Michael Therriault has captured the essence of Tommy Douglas. Apparenly he studied many old TV clips and consulted Douglas' family. (Douglas had a Scots burr. Therriault does not use one. But nonetheless he has captured the man's peppery manner impressively.) Some of the other portrayals (MacKenzie King, John Diefenbaker, M.J.Coldwell) were not as effective. They've also captured the era with a stunning array of vintage cars, kitchen appliances, telephones, furniture and men and women's clothing. They have been interwoven effectively with old TV clips including one of Norman DePoe and David Lewis. (Remember them?) Let's hope this film doesn't end up in a basement at the CBC after its summer repeat. It's a legitimate Canadian story that should keep turning up on Canadian TV for several years and which, despite it's authentic Canadian character, would make good viewing almost anywhere in the English speaking world. Damn good stuff!