Canada's Sweetheart: The Saga of Hal C. Banks

Canada's Sweetheart: The Saga of Hal C. Banks
Directed by	Donald Brittain
Produced by	Donald Brittain Adam Symansky
Written by	Donald Brittain Richard Nielsen
Starring	Peter Boretski Donald Brittain Maury Chaykin Jason Dean
Music by	Eldon Rathburn
Cinematography	Andreas Poulsson
Editing by	Rita Roy Richard Todd
Release date(s)	8 September 1985 (1985-09-08)
Running time	115 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	English

Canada's Sweetheart: The Saga of Hal C. Banks is a Canadian docudrama, written and produced by Donald Brittain. It aired in 1985 on CBC Television.

The film was about Hal C. Banks, a controversial American labour union leader who came to Canada in 1949 to lead a sectarian fight between rival shipping unions. Banks left Canada in 1962 after being brought up on criminal charges.

Banks appeared before the Norris Commission, which was set up to investigate his strongarm tactics and links to beatings of opposition unions, and non signed shipping companies. In particular was the ULS and the Maritime Union run by his former lieutenant Michael Sheehan, who had testified before the Norris Commission against Banks, and led the push to loosen the SIU grip on the Great Lakes.

Maury Chaykin played the role of Banks in dramatic reenactments.

Awards

Winner of five awards, including Gemini Awards for best screenplay and best direction.[1]

External links

• NFB Web page
• Canada's Sweetheart: The Saga of Hal C. Banks at the Internet Movie Database
• Canadian Film Encyclopedia [A publication of The Film Reference Library/a division of the Toronto International Film Festival Group]