Louis Jaques, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
While attending a meeting of the Older
Filmmakers Club this week, the discussion reminded me of a movie idea I had
many years ago. It is not a project I feel I could undertake now, or even in
the past. Still, I think it would be a good project for someone.
At the meeting we talked about themes and ideas for stories about older people. In particular one issue that came up was about coping with the death of a loved one. This was an issue that I know that was difficult for me.
The discussion reminded me of an idea for a movie that I had a long while ago. I was still living in Winnipeg, so it would have been at least 45 years ago.
In the early 1950s, John Diefenbaker got involved with a court case over a train crash in BC. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canoe_River_train_crash) This was before he was Prime Minister.
The family of the man charged with manslaughter lived in Dief’s riding. The man’s father and approached Dief’s and asked him to take the case. Dief turned him down because he was busy as an MP.
The man then approached Dief’s wife. At the time, his wife was in the hospital dying. She was supportive. One of the last things she did before she died was to ask Dief to take the case. After she died, Dief went to BC and won the case.
I’m not sure why this story has kept a hold on me all these years. There was a “Law & Order” episode where the lawyer Adam Schiff is placed in a similar situation.
Maybe it is that he was able to save the life of someone he didn’t really know, while he was unable to save the life of someone so close to him.
This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog
No comments:
Post a Comment