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I Know a Secret (1984)

I Know a Secret is a twenty-three minute film that was produced by Atlantis Films and that first aired on 26 January 1984 as part of Sons and Daughters, CBC’s umbrella miniseries of six half-hour dramas that “focus on young people and the pains and pleasures of growing up” (“Programs” 13). Filmed in Prince Edward Island and set there in 1931, I Know a Secret is a sensitively-directed story of a young girl who years to know a secret so that she will win the friendship of the local children. When Dovie claims that Jane was switched at birth with the daughter of Six-Toed Jimmy, Jane must reassess her identity and learn to feel good about who she is. The film, based on a short story Montgomery published in Good Housekeeping in 1935, was written by Amy Jo Cooper and directed by Bruce Pittman.

The cast included Fiona McGillivray (Jane Lawrence), Andrea Swartz (Dovie), Danny Higham (Eddie), Laurel Smyth (Mother), Maureen A. Hume (Aunt Helen), and Sean McCann (Six-Toed Jimmy).

Fiona McGillivray, who played the protagonist in this film, would later have a small role in Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel. Amy Jo Cooper would eventually write two novelizations of episodes of Road to Avonlea. Bruce Pittman would later direct two early episodes of Road to Avonlea.

Further Reading

The Globe and Mail Broadcast Week. “Programs Aim for Children’s Minds.” 24 September 1983, 13.

Credits

Opening Credits

Atlantis Films Limited presents

a film based upon a
short story by
LUCY MAUD MONTGOMERY

Prince Edward Island
1931

I KNOW A SECRET

with
FIONA McGILLIVRAY [Jane Lawrence]
ANDREA SWARTZ [Dovie]   DANNY HIGHAM [Eddie]

LAUREL SMYTH [Mother]   MAUREEN A. HUME [Aunt Helen]
and SEAN McCANN [Six-Toed Jimmy]

Screenplay by AMY JO COOPER
Director of Photography: ALAR KIVILO
Edited by MARGARET VAN EERDEWIJK
Produced by MICHAEL MACMILLAN, SEATON McLEAN, JANICE PLATT
Directed by BRUCE PITTMAN

Ending Credits

Cast
Jane Lawrence: FIONA McGILLIVRAY
Dovie: ANDREA SWARTZ
Eddie: DANNY HIGHAM
Mother: LAUREL SMYTH
Aunt Helen: MAUREEN A. HUME
Six-Toed Jimmy: SEAN McCANN
Ellen: MELISSA JOHNSTON
The Children: BARBARA MOONEY, CARL VICTOR, WAYNE MOONEY, LARRY VICTOR, JANICE MOONEY

Produced with the participation
of the
CANADIAN FILM DEVELOPMENT
CORPORATION

Music Composed by LARRY CROSLEY

Production Manager: GILLIAN RICHARDSON

Assistant Director: RICHARD FLOWER

Wardrobe Master: ARTHUR ROWSELL
Properties and Sets: PETER FLETCHER
Sound Mixer: JOHN MEGILL
Boom Operator: MICHAEL LaCROIX
Assistant Camera: ELISE SWERHONE
Gaffer: JOHN ROY
Best Boy: JOHN HERZOG
Key Grip: MARK MANCHESTER
Second Grip: JIM (J.C.) CRAIG
Continuity: NANCY EAGLES
Assistant Props: AILEEN BROPHY
Assistant Editor: BRUCE LANGE
Production Assistant: ALAN BOOTH
Production Assistant: IAN HENDERSON
Stills Photographer: IAN McGEAGH
Production Secretary: BETH FANJOY
Asst. Production Secretary: CINDY HAMON-HILL
Rerecording Mixer: MIKE HOOGENBOOM
Laboratory: FILM HOUSE GROUP
Neg Cutter: MAY BISHOF
Titles: META MEDIA

The producers wish to thank the
Prince Edward Island Department
of Tourism, Industry and Energy,
Points East Productions, and the people
of Annandale, Cape Traverse
and Park Corner, P.E.I.

Produced by
ATLANTIS FILMS LIMITED
in association with the
CANADIAN BROADCASTING
CORPORATION

© 1982 Atlantis Films Limited. All Rights Reserved.



Published on 11 August 2007; last updated on 21 March 2024. Please contact the site owner with additions, corrections, questions, and suggestions.