The National Dream (miniseries)
The National Dream | |
---|---|
Based on | The National Dream The Last Spike |
Written by | William Whitehead Timothy Findley |
Directed by | James Murray Eric Till |
Starring | John Colicos Gillie Fenwick William Hutt Joseph Shaw Gerard Parkes Chris Wiggins |
Narrated by | Pierre Berton |
Theme music composer | Louis Applebaum |
Country of origin | Canada |
Original language | English |
No. of episodes | 8 |
Production | |
Producer | James Murray |
Cinematography | Harry Makin, CSC |
Editors | Don Haig Arla Saare |
Running time | 447 minutes (approx. 56 minutes per episode) |
Budget | $2,000,000 |
Original release | |
Network | CBC |
Release | 3 March 28 April 1974 | –
The National Dream, also known as The National Dream: Building the Impossible Railway, is a 1974 Canadian television docudrama miniseries based on Pierre Berton's 1970 book of the same name, plus Berton's 1971 follow-up book The Last Spike.[1] The television adaptation was written by William Whitehead and Timothy Findley. Berton is listed as a consultant on the credits.
Production
The series portrayed the concept and construction of the
.Principal cast
- Cornelius Van Horne
- Gillie Fenwick as Alexander Mackenzie
- William Hutt as John A. Macdonald
- Joseph Shaw as George Stephen
- Gerard Parkes as Edward Blake
- Chris Wiggins as Donald Smith
- Ted Follows as Charles Tupper
List of episodes
- The Great Lone Land
- The Pacific Scandal
- The Horrid B.C. Business
- The Great Debate
- The Railway General
- The Sea of Mountains
- The Desperate Days
- The Last Spike
After initial release
The series was never intended for international sales to cover any significant portion of its production costs.[4] Berton, however, was believed to have earned at least $250,000 from it, as well as from a re-release of the related books.[4]
There has never been a home video release, but it is available to educational institutions in DVD on special order from the CBC.[5]
References
- ^ a b "National Dream slated". Windsor Star. 22 February 1974. p. 17. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
- ^ a b "Rail-building Series Back". Leader-Post. 26 December 1975. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
- ^ "A Historical Series On TV to Camouflage American Domination". The Forge. 20 May 1976. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
- ^ Montreal Gazette. p. 27.
- ^ "The National Dream". curio.ca. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
External links
- University Directory of CBC Television Series: The National Dream, accessed 5 June 2008
- The National Dream at IMDb