Movie Years: A Nostalgic Remembrance of Canada's Film-Making Capital, Trenton, Ontario, 1917-1934

by Peggy Dymond Leavey

Where in Canada's history of film-making does the Trenton Story fit? The first films made in this country were produced at the turn of the century and were designed to attract British Immigration to Canada. In 1913 Canada's first known feature film, "Evangeline' was produced in Nova Scotia by the Canadian Bioscope Company of Halifax.

Genres: Canada

Paperback

About the author

Peggy was the second of five children in a family where the favourite gift at Christmas and birthdays was always a book. Born in Toronto, Peggy spent her growing up years moving from place to place, due to her father’s frequent RCAF postings.
Early in life, Peggy discovered a love of writing, and cver the years she'd been submitting stories for publication with little success. But in 1976, with her youngest child starting school, she enrolled in a creative writing course. Since then, she has contributed to several books of local history, has published short stories, poems and plays for children, as well as numerous articles for newspapers and magazines.
She is the author of nine novels for young readers, a book of non-fiction for adults and three biographies of famous Canadian women.
In 2000, Peggy’s third children's book, “Sky Lake Summer”, was nominated for the Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award, the Silver Birch Award, the Canadian Library Association’s Book of the Year for Children Award, and the CNIB’s audio tape version of “Sky Lake Summer” was nominated for a Tiny Torgi Award.
Her book “The Deep End Gang” was nominated in 2004 for an Arthur Ellis Crime Writers’ Award (juvenile fiction) and the Silver Birch Award, where it was voted an Honour Book and Finalist. Scholastic Canada recently bought reprint rights to the novel as part of their Grade 4-6 reading package.
Peggy’s sixth book, “The Path through the Trees,” was nominated for the 2007 Silver Birch Award and the 2007 Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award.
Her biography of Laura Secord was shortlisted for the 2013 Speaker's Book Award. Her latest biography, "Molly Brant, Mohawk Loyalist & Diplomat" is due to be released by Dundurn Press in April, 2015.
Peggy and her husband have three adult children and eight grandchildren. Peggy is now retired, after working many years as a librarian. She now spends much of her day writing.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are in any way interested in film history, Peggy Dymond Leavey's THE MOVIE YEARS is a must-read—a vivid and insightful exploration of Trenton, Ontario's little-known and often overlooked moviemaking past.

Despite the perception, neither Toronto nor Vancouver were the first places in Canada to be nicknamed Hollywood North. In fact, it was the small Canadian town of Trenton, located on the shores of Lake Ontario, just across the water from Rochester, NY. Indeed, from 1917 to 1934, Trenton was home to a movie studio with many Broadway and Hollywood stars journeying to the small town to make movies, including the then-celebrated Tyrone Power Sr. Among the productions was 1928's CARRY ON SERGEANT, the most expensive silent film in Canadian history. But it wasn't until the publication of Leavey's deeply researched and wonderfully written book that the true extent of Trenton's role came to light. In fact, it was only after Leavey's landmark tome was published that the town officially recognized its filmmaking past and the rest of Canada began to take note.

Should you ever visit the town, find your way to Film Street and the small monument that marks the spot where the movie studio once stood. Without Leavey's THE MOVIE YEARS, it is unlikely this monument would be standing today.