Gordon Pinsent Movies

This Canadian made-for-television movie spawned the popular series about a crime-fighting Royal Canadian Mountie. Paul Gross stars as Constable Benton Fraser, an RCMP who sets out to track down his father's killer. His chase takes him all the way to Chicago where he hooks up with Ray Vecchio, (David Marciano) a macho, local Chicago detective. Together they hit the streets as a crime-fighting and justice-seeking duo. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi

Just before Christmas, Fraser (Paul Gross) and Ray (David Marciano) are put in charge of young Del Porter (Ryan Philippe), who claims to have witness a bank heist. In truth, Del is trying to shield his father William (James Purcell), the wheelman for a gang of bank robbers disguised as sidewalk Santas. The two lawmen take it upon themselves to straighten out the situation and to persuade William from further disillusioning his loyal son. This Yuletide episode includes an altogether appropriate reference to O. Henry, author of "Gift of the Magi." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Bonds of Love in this made-for-TV drama are those forged between divorcee Kelly McGillis and mentally disabled Treat Williams. What begins as a friendship between two lost souls blossoms into a deep and genuine romance. Their wedding plans are challenged by his mother (Grace Zabriskie) and father (Hal Holbrook)-who are not depicted as villains but merely well-meaning and overprotective (only Williams' brother, played by Steve Railsback, comes off in negative terms). Based on a true story, Bonds of Love is set in Kansas (though it was lensed in Ontario). The film premiered January 24, 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this drama, a well-respected Toronto businessman finds himself victimized by a vengeful Hungarian immigrant who believes that the entrepreneur killed his family at Auschwitz. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Veteran Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent handled the direction of John and the Missus. And who with better right? Pinsent also wrote the novel upon which his screenplay was based. John Munn (Pinsent) is a Newfoundland miner whose town faces extermination when the local copper mine is closed. Everyone else in town is resigned to relocate, but John stands firm, hoping to salvage the home of his father. Jackie Burroughs co-stars as John's wife, or "Missus," who backs up her husband's near-hopeless cause. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Made for television, The Life and Times of Edwin Alonzo Boyd is a fact-based study of 1940s criminal activity, Canadian style. Gordon Pinsent stars as Boyd, leader of a notorious gang of thieves, cutthroats and pluguglies. Featured in the cast are Mary Ann McDonald as Boyd's wife and Peter Glen as "The Law". Director Les Rose adopts a semi-documentary approach, utilizing the big-band music of the era to create the proper atmosphere. The teleplay was based upon The Boyd Gang, a book by M. Lamb and Barry Pearson. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on a true story, this film follows the trials and tragedies that befall Walter Reamer (Tom Skerritt) and his wife, Olive (Ellen Burstyn), as they struggle to create a home and raise a family in the brutal Canadian frontier of 1919. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi

In this drama, a woman attempts to put together her shattered life after her husband inexplicably commits suicide. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Created by Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent as a potential TV vehicle for himself, A Gift to Last first aired as a one-off CBC special in 1976. Narrated by Melvyn Douglas, the program chronicled the lives and times of the Sturgess family, who lived in Tamarack, Ontario, at the turn of the century. On January 22, 1978, the weekly, one-hour series proper was launched. Covering the period between 1899 to 1905, A Gift to Last was told from the viewpoint of young Clement Sturgess (Mark Polley), whose widowed mother Clara (Janet Amos) did her best to raise Clement and his sister Jane (Kate Parr) in a fatherless household (Clement's father Harrison, a key character in the 1976 special, was killed off in the first episode). Aiding Clara was her mother-in-law Lizzy (Ruth Springfield) and her late husband's two brothers: James (Gerard Parkes), a mild-mannered businessman, and Edgar (Gordon Pinsent), a bombastic, globe-trotting sergeant in the Royal Canadian Regiment. Clement idolized his Uncle Edgar, even though the boastful career soldier had a habit of getting involved in shady and sometimes downright dishonest financial transactions, and despite the fact that virtually all of Edgar's grandiose dreams were doomed to spectacular failure. As the series progressed, Clara Sturgess was squired by grocer John Trevalyen (John Evans), whom she eventually married and with whom she had a child; James Sturgess entered politics, and was elected town mayor; and Edgar ended up wedding the Sturgess family maid, Sheila, in an award-winning episode. By the time the 21st and final hour-long episode rolled around, Clara had passed away and Edgar had settled down with the local militia. Sometimes described as the Canadian counterpart to The Waltons (though it was much, much more than that), A Gift to Last was syndicated internationally with great financial success; still, a "rediscovery" of the series in the United States is long overdue. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This drama is based on the classic novel by W. O. Mitchell. In the story, two boys (Brian Painchaud and Douglas Junor) growing up in the Depression a small Saskatchewan town, must confront the hard facts of life as they mature. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi

A priest, a rabbi, and a minister are attempting to keep a financially-strapped drug rehab center open, when the last bit of funding disappears. Desperate, they approach a sickly Mafia don and offer to absolve him of his sins in exchange for cash. Unfortunately, he dies before he can get them the money and they must figure out how to steal it from his safe. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A heroin smuggler gained an unexpected accomplice in the form of a weak TV newsman who loves wine, women and cars. ~ Rovi