Inside the Four Foot

This week's scene is from a rather unknown Canadian film from 1978. You are going to have to excuse me for a bit here while I indulge myself. I grew up in a curling family, my father was at one time one of the top 100 curlers in the world. In fact, he was responsible for the reform of the hog-line rule in the mid 70s. (I swear!  You can look it up!) So perhaps you can see why this particular film is special to me. I doubt that there was a curling household in Canada that didn't have a well worn copy of Inside the Four Foot on betamax.

I'm not going to kid you, this isn't a particularly great movie, but this particular scene has always affected me. I found a digital transfer of Inside the Four Foot online just last week and watched it for the first time in probably 25 years. It has not aged well. However, I was surprised to recognize a face I didn't know back then. As it turns out this was the debut film for Bailey McGettigan, later to be known as Minister Sledge in the long running Brit-com Big Wig.

Seven Sundays a Month

For the inaugural scene I thought it would be appropriate to begin with a scene that is on the lips of everyone these days as it just won bloody near everything last weekend at the 75th Annual MODA Awards.  Of course I am talking about Seven Sundays a Month, the festival darling that peaked at just the right time to clean up this past awards season.

When I say it won everything, I'm hardly kidding.  If it was nominated, it won.  Except (and I am fully cognizant of the irony here, that is partly why I chose it) for Marcy Wigglesworth in the Best Screenplay category.  But literally everything else, 17 statuettes went out to everyone from the coveted Best Feature award, right down to Hans Fritxbischler who took home his record 6th award in the Best Assistant Make-up Assistant's Janitor's Alternate Assistant.

Anyhow, unless you've been living under a rock, you know the details, so lets get on with it...

This scene, performed by the luminous Kate Percival and astounding newcomer Jake Wansome, was consistently the clip shown most often from this tear-jerker during its Cinderella-story run on awards season. I'm certain it will leave you wondering why didn't Wigglesworth win for screenplay, and make it an even dozen and a half?