Marilla

Marilla & Me

by Colleen Dewhurst

An excerpt from Colleen Dewhurst's Autobiography

Dewhurst died in 1991, leaving unfinished the autobiography she had been writing for nearly two decades. Arthur Tom Viola, her friend and assistant at Actor's Equity Association, completed her work by combining her unfinished manuscript, notes and untranscribed tapes with interviews of family friends and colleagues.

As a child, I loved the book Anne of Green Gables. It was the first book my mother ever read to me. As I grew older and learned to read, I read all Lucy Maud Montgomery's "Anne" books myself. I had bought the book Anne of Green Gables and read it aloud to my two sons. Little did I know that much later, I would be playing Marilla, who, in the story, with her brother Matthew, takes young Anne into her home.

Clifford Stevens told me that he had received a call from a young man from Toronto, Kevin Sullivan, who said that he wished to do a film adaptation of Anne of Green Gables and I was his Marilla. Mr. Sullivan had been very frank. He was having trouble clearing the rights to the story and was having a difficult time raising the money. Kevin would call every two or three months and report to Clifford on his progress. Clifford is a very tough and discerning agent. He receives many calls about my participation in projects that are in no way near being able to make a definite offer. I am always informed of them even if his concluding line will be, "Believe me, Colleen, this is never going to happen."

This time, however, when telling me about the last call he had received from Kevin, Clifford said that he liked this young man and that he believed that he would succeed. Feeling as he did, Clifford had agreed to inform Kevin any time I was about to sign for another film, in order that he would know when I would not be available to shoot Anne.

In 1984, 1 was in London, shooting an episode of Love Boat - they had made me an offer I couldn't refuse - when Clifford called to say that Anne of Green Gables was "a go" and that he was mailing me a script. I couldn't wait for the package to arrive and when it did, two days later, I read it at once. As it turned out, Mr. Sullivan was not only the producer, but the writer and director as well. I couldn't believe how beautifully he had captured the story and the mood of Lucy Maud Montgomery's writing.

When I met Kevin, I was looking at a 28- year-old man with a nice Irish face who could have been my son. Kevin and his wife, Trudy, who was very much involved in the production and a wonderful friend, were now faced with an awesome task. Anne of Green Gables had, over the years, become symbolic of Canada, and Lucy Maud Montgomery was one of Canada's most universally known writers. Every Canadian child, like myself, knew these books inside and out. And although they are also well known in the States, there is a national pride attached to them by Canadians. As a producer, Kevin had done only a number of documentaries. There was a fear within the Canadian film industry that he was out of his league, facing a monumental challenge, and could only be setting himself up to fail as a producer, writer and director.

Megan Follows played Anne and was incredible from beginning to end. Many times she would be required in the middle of shooting not only to change costume - as we all expect - but to have her makeup changed and her hair redyed and styled, as she would jump back and forth in the shooting schedule from Anne as a young girl to a young woman. One bit of temperament on that set would have finished us all. Megan's unbelievable study and concentration on the role, as well as her willingness to be a team player on Anne of Green Gables, was instrumental to the success of the film.

I was amazed by the talent of each and every one of the players in Anne. They came prepared, but above all, each one seemed to have that extra little spark that distinguishes actors from one another. anyone who has seen Anne of Green Gables knows that after Richard Farnsworth, no actor could ever again be acceptable as Matthew. From the moment the camera touches Mr. Farnsworth's face you know everything about him and you love him.

Once in a while in film you will see a crew begin to move as one. It is as if they develop a sixth sense that tells them that they are working on something special. They are no longer just the crew doing a job; they know they are craftsmen, as responsible for the success of the material as anyone in front of the camera.

Naturally the atmosphere of a set hinges on your director. Kevin's love of the material and his respect for his company of actors and his crew made you feel you were in a quality production. Through the years, I have learned, in theatre as well as film, to determine my trust in a director by listening closely to how he directs the other actors in the scenes with me. When I can see that a director has hit something exactly right with another actor, I know to pay close attention when he speaks to me. Kevin directed effortlessly and made us always feel that we were somehow accomplishing his objective without laying a heavy hand on our performances, sometimes shooting a scene five or six times until we reached the same conclusion that he had started, with. That is a great talent. I had thought that Anne of Green Gables would be a lovely children's film. Shooting it had been a wonderful experience and I hated to leave it behind.
I was doing Seagull at the Kennedy Centre in Washington when Anne was first broadcast on television in Canada. David Staines, a friend who was teaching at the University of Ottawa, called to say that Part I had shown three nights before and Part 11 would be shown the next evening. David had a friend, who also taught at the university, who had agreed to watch a little just because David knew somebody in it. The next day, he told David that he had watched through to the end and would not miss Part 11 the next night. When David called me again, a couple of days later, he said the streets were literally empty during the broadcast of Part 11. It seemed nearly everyone was watching. Later I was told that the only show that had ever received a better rating in Canada was the championship hockey play-offs. In Canada, you don't do better than that.

Playing Marilla in Anne found a whole new audience for me. Children will now stand and stare at me as their mothers say, "Darling, this is Marilla," as I sign my autograph "Colleen Dewhurst, aka Marilla." Even today, I continue to receive mail from people across the world telling me how much they love the film, many assuming I am truly Marilla, asking me to come and visit their farm or ranch, as they have plenty of room.