Tom McCamus (1/06 Black Widow)
Excerpt from Straight.com 1/19/06: Tom McCamus | Black Widow
Home Screen
by Paul Myers on Jan 19, 2006 at 9:00 am
Last week we happily tipped you off about CBC's Opening Night, a series featuring an eclectic collection of Canuck cultural events each week. Tonight's show (January 19 at 8 p.m.) features another exciting premiere in the form of Black Widow, an operatic film noir based loosely based on Hamilton, Ontario's, infamous Evelyn Dick Torso murder case, which shocked the nation in the late 1940s. Among other oddities, the intriguing 50-minute musical features a song sung by a severed head as it descends into a fiery coal furnace. Director David Mortin assembled a remarkable cast to tell this expressionistic and macabre tale, which he cowrote with Patricia Fogliato. Acclaimed actors Tom McCamus, Julian Richings, and Gary Reineke are joined by emerging recording artist Sarah Slean, offbeat diva Mary Margaret O'Hara, and Rheostatics resident eccentric Martin Tielli in this black-and-white homage to '40s noir.
© Straight.com
Excerpt from CBC 5/4/06: Tom McCamus
Two CBC Television Opening Night programs have won awards at the 43rd International Television Festival Golden Prague competition.
The other winner was Black Widow, a film noir musical drama loosely based on the Evelyn Dick 'Torso' murder case. The production, from Enigmatico Films, won the Czech Crystal in the category of music or dance programs made for television. Sarah Slean, Martin Tielli, Mary Margaret O'Hara and Tom McCamus starred in the stylish black-and-white production.
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First held in 1964, the ITF Golden Prague competition is one of the oldest and most prestigious television festivals in the world. Running April 29 to May 4, the festival featured 147 programs from 28 countries. The competition has four categories: music or dance programs made for TV, music or dance programs adapted for TV, music or dance documentaries and recordings of live performances and theatre for TV.
© CBC
Excerpt from Concordian Online 10/25/06: Tom McCamus
Lights, Camera and Murder...He Wrote: Mortin's Black Widow slays in six Gemini nominations!
Marc Soucy Issue date: 10/25/06 Section: Entertainment
Director David Mortin had twisted visions of murder. He made accomplices out of Canadian recording artists, Sarah Slean, Martin Tielli, Mary Margaret O'Hara and actor Tom McCamus and delivered the film noir musical Black Widow. Mortin resurrected the 1940s sensational Torso Murder Case, loosely basing his production on this "ripped from the headlines" true crime story.
"We wanted to mythologize the Evelyn Dick story, we didn't want to make a biography" he explained. "The film is greatly inspired by the idea of creating a classic femme fatale character and portraying the past through a somewhat distorted lens."
The noir musical was screened in film festivals across Canada in autumn of 2005 and aired on CBC's Opening Night Series in Jan. 2006. Now David Mortin's Black Widow is impressively a six time nominee at the 21st Annual Gemini Awards.
"My producing partners and I are entirely blown away! Six nominations were way beyond our hopes and expectations!" the director exclaimed.
The Gemini Awards celebrate Canadian Cinema and Television by presenting nominations in 87 award categories. Black Widow is recognized in six categories, notably for, "Best Original Music Score for a Program", "Best Costume Design", "Best Photography in a Performing Arts Program", and "Best Performance in a Performing Arts Program", by singer songwriter, Sarah Slean.
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David Mortin's Black Widow is scheduled for a repeat broadcast early 2007. The Gemini Gala airs Nov. 4.
© The Concordian
Excerpt from Marey Margaret O'Hara 3/07: Tom McCamus
Black Widow
Black Widow is being re-broadcast nationally on CBC Television Sunday, April 1st, 2007 at 1:00 pm.
BLACK WIDOW stars several of Canada’s most fascinating recording artists, including Sarah Slean, Martin Tielli, and Mary Margaret O’Hara, as well as acclaimed stage and screen actors Tom McCamus, Julian Richings and Gary Reineke. Shot in black and white in a visually expressionistic style, BLACK WIDOW is a playfully macabre homage to film noir cinema of the 1940’s. The movie is based on a true story about a woman (Sarah Slean) from Hamilton, Ontario who, with the help of her mother (Mary Margaret O'Hara), murders her husband (Tielli) and their baby. Produced by Enigmatico Films and Holland Park Productions, in association with CBC Television. Written by Patricia Fogliato & David Mortin. Directed by David Mortin. Distributed by Rhombus International. 50 minutes.
© Mary Margaret O'Hara.com
Excerpt from POV Magazine 1/15/15: Tom McCamus
Lost Atlantis The Golden Age of TV Arts in Canada
By Moze Mossanen • Published January 15th, 2015
I’m thinking in particular of David Mortin’s clever Black Widow, an original musical drama based on the Evelyn Dick murder case that aired on CBC’s Opening Night in 2006. With a glorious cast that includes many outstanding Canadian talents like Mary Margaret O’Hara, Sarah Slean, Tom McCamus and Gary Reinke, the film is both a macabre and delicious look into the worlds of desire and deceit.
© POV Magazine