1975 Anne of Avonlea
The 1975 BBC production of Anne of Avonlea is based on the novels Anne of Avonlea and Anne of the Island. A sequel to BBC’s 1972 Anne of Green Gables miniseries, the series consists of six 52-minute episodes. It first aired in the UK in 1975 on January 26th, February 2nd, February 9th, February 16th, February 23rd, and March 2nd, with a second release in 1977 on January 2nd, January 9th, January 16th, January 23rd, January 30th, and February 6th.
This production was released on DVD by Koch Vision in 2006.
Summary
The six episodes of Anne of Avonlea follows the novels fairly faithfully. The first four episodes take place in Avonlea, dealing with the Anne’s teaching experiences, her new neighbour Mr. Harrison, the mishaps of the Avonlea Village Improvement Society which Anne and her friends run, and Anne’s involvement in Miss Lavendar’s romance. The lively twins that Marilla adopts, Davy and Dora Keith, and Anne’s favourite pupil - the perfect, bookish Paul Irving are always in the show. The last two episodes cover Anne’s college career: Anne goes to Redmond College with her friend Jane Andrews, befriend the chatterbox Philippa Gordon, and becomes enamoured with the wealthy Roy Gardner, who falls in love with Anne despite her background as a penniless orphan.
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Episode 1
(AoA ch. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12)
Anne, reading and daydreaming on the verandah of Green Gables, is interrupted when her cantakerous new neighbour, Mr. Harrison, comes to complain that her Jersey cow has gotten into his field. Mrs. Lynde comes over to gossip, and later visits the irate Mr. Harrison herself. Anne and her friends meet at the AVIS. On the way home, Anne sees her cow Dolly in Mr. Harrison’s fields, so Anne and Diana run after the Jersey cow. They catch and sell her right away, but Anne and Marilla discover after tea that she has accidentally sold Mr. Harrison’s Jersey cow. Anne goes over to apologize to Mr. Harrison, and befriends him, but is harrassed by his parrot. Marilla adopts Davy and Dora. Anne begins her first day as a teacher, determined to win over her pupils by love, although Mr. Harrison suggests she could command discipline better by whipping them. All her students like her, except for the bully Anthony Pye. Anne’s patience is tested when she accidentally makes the children throw firecrackers into the stove, causing an explosion in the schoolroom.
Episode 2
(AoA ch. 12, 14, 19, 24, 10)
Anne whips Anthony Pye. She is disappointed in herself for doing so. Marilla and Gilbert have hard work to cheer her up when she goes home. Anne and Gilbert visit Uncle Abe, a weather prophet with a reputation for getting things wrong, and he tells foretells a big storm. Much to Anne’s surprise, Anthony Pye begins to respect her after she whipped him. The AVIS members try to canvass the countryside to fundraise. Anne and Diana visit Mr. Judson Parker to convince him not to rent his fences for medical advertisements, without success. Just like Uncle Abe predicted, a big storm comes one afternoon. Anthony Pye offers to bring Davy and Dora home, and Anne is stranded at Mr. Harrison’s after bringing a student home. Anne becomes good friends with Paul Irving. One afternoon, Anne and Marilla are frightened when Dora seems to have gone missing.
Episode 3
(AoA ch. 10, 14, 16, 17, 21, 25)
After much searching, Anne finds Dora in Mr. Harrison’s barn, and learns that the mischievious Davy has locked her there. Ruby convinces Gilbert to go with her to see if they would be more succesful at convincing Mr. Judson Parker than Anne. In the meantime, Anne and Diana are busy preparing to entertain Anne’s favourite authoress, Mrs. Charlotte E. Morgan, but much to their disappointment, Mrs. Morgan doesn’t show up. Davy accidentally breaks a willow-ware platter that Anne borrowed from Aunt Josephine. Anne takes Davy and Dora for a picnic. Davy is upset when he learns that Anne invited Paul, too, so Paul politely backs out. Daydreaming beside the Lake of Shining Waters, Anne accidentally overhears an incriminating conversation between Mr. Judson Parker and his friend. Later on, Mr. Judson Parker stops Anne on the road to tell her he wouldn’t be renting his fences. Mr. Harrison’s wife suddenly appears, prompted by rumours that he was courting another woman. Anne and Diana stumble upon Echo Lodge during a walk in the woods. Anne decides to spend a day doing housework.
Episode 4
(AoA ch. 20, 18, 24, 30, 26)
Mrs. Morgan shows up while Anne is in workclothes and there isn’t a thing to eat in the house. Diana comes over and Anne discovers that she has dyed her nose red. With Diana’s help, the girls get tea for the visitors and Anne enjoys meeting her favourite authoress. Rachel is concerned about her sick husband. Anne goes to see if she can buy a willow-ware platter to replace the broken one, and accidentally falls into the lean-to roof when she tries to peak into the parlour to see if the platter is there. She writes a story while stranded there. Charlie Sloane later rescues her. Anne is astonished to learn that Diana is engaged to Fred Wright, and is disappointed because he falls short of their “ideal.” Paul’s father returns, and Anne helps him reunite with his old sweetheart Miss Lavendar. A wedding is planned at Echo Lodge and Marilla offers to help. Thomas Lynde dies, Rachel comes to live at Green Gables, and Marilla tells Anne she can go to college.
Episode 5
(AotI ch. 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 14, 16, 24, 25)
Anne leaves Green Gables for college. Jane Andrews meets her at Kingsport and they go to their boarding house. The next day, they meet Philippa Gordon while wandering in the graveyard. Davy and Dora resent Mrs. Lynde’s treatment. The girls look for housing for next term, and find Patty’s Place. When Anne returns home for holidays, she learns that Ruby Gillis is dying. Ruby especially asks for Anne’s help. Anne, Jane and Philippa have much fun setting up Patty’s Place, including trying to chloroform a stray cat because Jane’s Aunt Jimsie comes to keep house. Phil meets Jonas Blake. Charlie proposes to Anne. Marilla visits Ruby in her deathbed, and comforts her with a letter from Anne. Anne is caught in a rainstorm and meets Roy Gardner when they both seek shelter in the park pavillion. He sends her roses soon after.
Episode 6
(AotI ch. 29, 21, 38, 40, 41)
Jonas courts Philippa and Roy Gardner courts Anne. Jane fails and drops out to go for a trip out west. Anne is elated that her story is accepted. Roy continues to send Anne flowers when she goes home for vacation, but his elegant mother also comes to Green Gables to question Anne - an orphan- ’s background and pedigree. Diana gets married. Jonas proposes to Philippa. At Marilla’s request, Gilbert takes Anne to investigate and visit her birthplace. Roy proposes to Anne after graduation, but she suddenly refuses. She is wretched at her own behaviour, although Philippa and Jonas try to comfort her. When she returns to Green Gables, Davy lets slip that Gilbert Blythe is dying of typhoid. Anne rushes through the night to see him, and learns that he will recover and that she loves him.
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Personal Comments
I think the acting is very good but the casting is very off - Marilla looks more like Mrs. Lynde and vice versa, Diana and Anne almost look like they should be switched (although Kim Braden is very pretty, too conventionally pretty I think). Anne and Marilla just don’t “look” like who they are to me. the sets are limited, but they do manage to do good shots with (what looks like) limited props and locations. there is a lot of focus on humour and pathos, and in general it’s just “very British.” it also looks like a tv serial, which is exactly what it is… and in general, the gentle warmth and atmosphere of Sullivan’s films is missing.
The comedy’s very slapstick and sometimes vicious and brash (Uncle Abe’s drunken scenes, or the sexual innuendoes Diana and Fred kissing wantonly in the grass, and Charlie’s hands on Anne’s butt), there’s no subtlety to it. Kim Braden’s little smile bothers me (in a princessy, Anne-Hathaway sort of way) and she doesn’t pull off the dreaminess as well as Megan. Davy is too “pretty boy” too - he’s supposed to be snubbed nosed and freckled. Gilbert’s mini-sideburns are SO bad.
I wonder if Sullivan saw this version. Some of Anne’s poses (eg., under the tree) are alike in the two movies and aren’t necessarily described that way in the books.
I do like how they use “Nelly in the Hazel Dell” as the theme song.
I like what they’ve done with Davy and Dora for the most part. Davy and Dora have a lot of screen-time, which emphasizes that this production was targetted at familes. Dora gets more character than she ever did in the books. I always thought that Anne’s favouritism for Paul Irving and her way of making Davy jealous wasn’t the best way in bringing up a child, and the movie addresses that pretty well. Interestingly, Marilla manages Davy much better than Anne does in this movie - anne seems in general really simpering, hesitant, and useless, not at all like the sparkling dreamy girl she is in the books or in Sullivan’s sequel. Paul is too much of a know-it-all and not dreamy and earnest enough, either.
Marilla has a lot of screen-time, and is generally presented as very capable of organizing others’ affairs. Her friendship with Rachel Lynde is given a lot of emphasis.
Miss Lavendar is a total loony and I don’t like what they’ve done with her at all. She’s supposed to be sweet and dreamy, not wealthy and useless and insensitive and forgetful. The set for echo lodge is really ugly - it’s supposed to be a little low-eaved stone house, not a fortress tower. Charlotta the forth looks like a Charlotta the forth, but the actress seems very inexperienced.
I wonder why they changed Charlotta’s name to “Charlotte,” as well as a load of others - Mr. Harrison was never named “Johnny,” and Mary Keith’s brother is named Richard, not john or whatever they renamed him as.
Basically, I think BBC’s version has almost no imagination (it follows the books but lacks spirit) and Sullivan’s has too much (such that in later productions his imagination runs away with him.)
