A Little Fellow from Gambo

A Little Fellow from Gambo: The Joey Smallwood Story
Directed byJulian Biggs
Written byJulian Biggs
Produced byJulian Biggs
StarringJoey Smallwood
Narrated byBudd Knapp
CinematographyPaul Leach
Edited byBud Neate
Ken Page (sound)
Music byEldon Rathburn
Production
company
Release date
  • 1970 (1970)
Running time
56 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

A Little Fellow from Gambo: The Joey Smallwood Story is a 1970 documentary film directed by Julian Biggs for the National Film Board of Canada in 1970.[1]

The film is a lively portrait of Joey Smallwood, the first premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, a controversial and powerful politician who became known as the "last living Father of Confederation" for his role in negotiating the admission of Newfoundland and Labrador as a Canadian province in 1949.[2] Following Smallwood during a two-and-a-half-month period that included a stormy Liberal leadership convention, the film reveals a man misunderstood even by his close associates.[3]

The film, which was screened at the 1971 Stratford Film Festival,[4] won three Canadian Film Awards at the 22nd Canadian Film Awards, for Best Public Affairs Film, Best Direction in a Non-Feature (Biggs) and Best Actor in a Non-Feature (Smallwood).[5]

The choice of Smallwood, who was simply being himself in a documentary film, as the recipient of an acting award was justified by the award organizers on the grounds that Smallwood's flamboyant and charismatic personality made him a "distinguished natural actor".[5]

  1. ^ Chris R. Morgan, "The best streaming service is the National Film Board of Canada". The Outline, June 4, 2019.
  2. ^ "NFB film director Julian Biggs dies". Cinema Canada, Vol. 6 (February/March 1973). p. 16.
  3. ^ "A Little Fellow from Gambo - The Joey Smallwood Story". nfb.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  4. ^ Martin Knelman, "20 films to be shown af Stratford film festival". The Globe and Mail, September 4, 1971.
  5. ^ a b Martin Knelman, "Goin Down the Road best movie: Film awards plagued by unscripted hilarity". The Globe and Mail, October 5, 1970.