Pioneer Canadian Actors: The Stories Behind Legends of the Silver Screen

Ian C. Nelson, Librarian Emeritus, former Assistant Director of
Libraries (University of Saskatchewan) and dramaturge (Festival de la
Dramaturgie des Prairies).

In two sets of mini-biographies, Stone Wallace runs through a recitation
of films and roles making up the careers of 22 Canadian actors (pioneers
and current celebrities) at breakneck speed. With few direct quotes, he
generally equates success with box-office take and salary. The
contemporary pieces especially are but one step up from a bare
filmography strung together with minimalist descriptions written in
promotional-style prose. A few read like strung-together facts and
tidbits from their IMDB or other website listings. Unsupported and
generally unexplained epithets abound, delivered as if from some august
critic’s chair. One would need the authority of a Roger Ebert backed
by a popular media platform to carry off this style.

Outside of a spoken context, these compact sketches—filled with non
sequiturs, unchecked inconsistencies, and illogical streams of
verbiage—frankly appear facile. Although there are cross-references
back and forth within each volume, there is no thesis regarding any
quintessential Canadian qualities or characteristics of these actors
(other than the happenstance of birth or heritage), and there is only a
brief nod (“It’s a wrap”) to those whose careers have been made
“in their homeland” compared to others with “expanded
opportunities in the U.S.” The actors covered range from Mary
Pickford, Norma Shearer, and Fay Wray through Donald and Kiefer
Sutherland, Kim Cattrall, and Gordon Pinsent. Wallace generally focuses
on screen careers, with some family and marital information thrown in.
He steers well clear, however, of tabloid sensationalism; in fact he
rarely gives more than passing reference to reported scandals and
difficult times.

In both volumes the pages listed as “Notes on Sources” are simply
lists without commentary: overall, websites predominate.

Since both books pull together information easily found on the
Internet, one might—at a stretch—want to keep them near the TV next
to Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide.