The coming-of-age of adolescent Brian O'Connal in small town Depression-era Saskatchewan is told. The son of the local pharmacist Gerald O'Connal, Brian is in many ways a typical boy, who dislikes school if only because of his run-ins with the nervous schoolteacher, Miss MacDonald, and who tries to catch gophers with his friends, Artie and Forbsie. His best friend and protector is slightly older Jonathan Ben, better known as The Young Ben (as his father is referred to as The Ben), who is highly regarded as a problem by those in town who see themselves as the moral authority if only because of The Young Ben's association to The Ben, the town still keeper and drunk. Brian's life takes a turn when his parents have to leave town temporarily, while Brian stays on his Uncle Sean's farm. That stint leads to a series of events which make Brian see life around him through slightly older and wiser eyes.
Directed by Allan King
Your score–
Not scoredImages
Cast
Brian Painchaud
Brian O'Connal
José Ferrer
The Ben
Gordon Pinsent
Gerald O'Connal
Helen Shaver
Ruth Thompson
Douglas Junor
The Young Ben
Patricia Hamilton
Miss MacDonald
Chapelle Jaffe
Maggie O'Connal
Nan Stewart
Mrs. MacMurray
Cedric Smith
Dr. Svarich
Linda Lawrence
Mariel
Leslie Carlson
Joe Pivott
Thomas Hauff
Principal Jim Digby
Related
CQ
The Good Half
SubUrbia
House of D
Real Women Have Curves
About Alex
Somewhere in Queens
It Runs in the Family
A Dog Year
Thunderstruck
Happy New Year, Colin Burstead
Don't Think Twice
My Own Love Song
Madea Goes to Jail - The Play
Chloe and Theo
Tyler Perry's Madea on the Run - The Play