‘THIS TIME’
Charles Martin Smith returns to acting in local-filmed movie
Charles Martin Smith has made his return to acting in a sweet little film that filmed in Brantford and Brant County.
The actor, best known for such movies as “American Graffiti” (1973) and “The Untouchables” (1987), plays an alcoholic veteran and hearse driver named Red Burns in the independent production, “This Time.”
His character gets involved in taking a 16-year-old girl named Grace Mitchum (Anwen O’Driscoll) to Los Angeles to dispose of her father’s ashes, but he has also been paid by her stepfather (Sergio Di Zio) to take her to a conversion therapy facility because Grace is gay. Which one will he honour is part of the drama.
Grace hopes to meet up with Liza
Minnelli, who her wayward father writes about in a journal Grace rescues from the garbage. There is a nice twist ending.
Smith has been directing since 2008 and came to “This Time” partly because of his friendship with director Robert Vaughn. He appeared in “Dolphin Tale 2” (2014), which he also directed.
But, you won’t see “This Time’’ in mainstream theatres just yet. Vaughn and his wife, Jennifer Gibson, who plays Grace’s mother and is a producer of the film, are showing it in private screenings to LGBTQ or allied groups as a way of support. The movie screened in Hamilton last Sunday at The Westdale Theatre for Free Mom Hugs Southern Ontario, which promotes acceptances of the LGBTQ community. “This Time” is next set to play in Sarnia.
The filmmakers also hope to find a distributor, but the movie will arrive on Super Channel in May. “This Time” played at 10 film festivals last year. O’Driscoll (CBC’s
“Burden of Truth”) won best actress at the Florence Film Festival and Vaughn (2014’s “The Christmas Parade,” which filmed in Hamilton) won best director at the Orlando International Film Festival.
“When we were making the movie, so many of our crew were members of the LGBTQ community,” said Gibson (”Map of the Stars,” 2014) about launching the private screenings.
“Some said they would have liked to see a movie like ours while they were growing up. Others said they would never have seen a movie like this because they grew up in a small town. This seemed like a good idea
to give it to the public.”
Said Vaughn: “We’re proud of the movie and we’re happy to show it at The Westdale. It’s a labour of love.”
The local area played Texas and Arizona. The filmmakers shot a lot at the 97 General Store, which is on old Highway 97 near Valens. It played a store, but also a jail, a lookout parking area and the office for an RV dealership. Driving stunts were done near it.
The movie also shot at the Hill and Robertson Funeral Home in Brantford and Camp 31 restaurant in Paris. The Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts plays a hotel and a casino and the Brantford Tourism Centre plays the conversion therapy centre. A Brantford club plays a drag bar. In Cambridge, the production shot at Trinity Anglican Church. The film was written by actor Allie Jennings (”Little Women” 2018).
The local area played Texas and Arizona. The filmmakers shot a lot at the 97 General Store, which is on old Highway 97 near Valens
The thriller “Hidden Away” has wrapped up filming across the city.
No actors have been publicly linked to the movie, but it was directed by Sean Cisterna.
The Orillia native has helmed such pictures as “From the Vine” (2019) with Joe Pantoliano (”The Sopranos”).
The movie is reportedly about a man who collects dolls and kidnaps a woman and hides her away.
It sounds reminiscent of the 1965 movie “The Collector” with Terence Stamp and Samantha Eggar.
The movie shot at the Scottish Rite, Optimist Park in Ancaster, an art moderne home on Longwood Road North known as the Hambly House, the Digital Canaries studio on Kenilworth Avenue North, a plaza on Hatton Drive in Ancaster, an Elgin Place home in Ancaster and a Melville Street home in Dundas.