A Beachcombers Christmas, a movie filmed on the Coast last summer, opened to a receptive audience at the Gibsons Cinema last Saturday, two weeks before its national airing on CBC TV.
A nearly full house at the 5:45 p.m. screening laughed and applauded at the latest two-hour adventures of the gang from Molly's Reach that featured a hockey game.
"I was pleased to hear the audience laughing in all the right places," said producer Nick Orchard after the show. Orchard and co-producer Jackson Davies urged the public to pass the message on to friends.
CBC has not yet given the go-ahead for another Beachcombers special until they assess the audience interest in this one.
"We have to have a lot of people watching this show," said Orchard. "They'll be watching the numbers."
Audience reaction was positive.
"The theme and flow seemed authentic small-town Canadiana yet not hokey," said Gibsons resident Cindy Buis.
Among the audience were two excited 12 year olds, Allegra Tandy and Emily Pierron of Gibsons, extras on the set, who strapped on skates for the first time to play the part of musicians at a hockey half-time show. They hoped to recognize themselves on film. They were among about 30 members of the audience who stood up when asked if they had worked on the filming.
"It was neat to work with you," said Davies who was on hand along with Orchard and several of the cast. The story, directed by Anne Wheeler and written by Chaz Gillis rather than past script writer and creator Marc Strange, involves a couple of con artists from the city who try to cheat Gibsons' folk out of funds raised by a hockey game between the local goofy amateur team and an old pros team. The game is saved by the timely appearance of professional players: women's Olympic goalie Manon Rheaume and the crowd-pleasing enforcer Tiger Williams, among others. "I guess you didn't know when you filmed it that this would be the only hockey we'd see this winter," said one fan to Davies after the show. The plot also involves a love triangle between pretty Deanna Milligan (who is trying to run Molly's Reach with her line-of-credit robbing father Dave Thomas) her old boyfriend and her local swain, the hunky Cameron Bancroft. Kendall Cross returns as Katt, the slightly edgy float plane pilot. Graham Greene also stars as the newspaper editor. Improv comedian Dan Joffre adds a new element of physical comedy to add to Davies' dorky style.
A Beachcombers Christmas airs on CBC TV at 8 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 6.
