The Making of a President

The story

In wartime Sault Ste. Marie, the mayor invites the president of the Jewish congregation to speak at the town’s upcoming ecumenical war bonds rally. However, the president has just quit and nobody wants the thankless job. A funny and endearing drama featuring Melvyn Douglas, Nehemiah Persoff, Paul Soles and a 15-year-old Mike Myers. Based on a semi-autobiographical short story by Order of Canada winner Morley Torgov. Collie-haired Myers, in one of his first TV roles, is more behaved than usual as a skateboard-riding young piano prodigy. Hollywood veteran Douglas does most of the heavy lifting as a Jewish elder trying the impossible — recruiting a new president who can, in Torgov’s words, handle himself “among the goyim” at an upcoming town war bond rally. The town’s new tailor (Soles) — thought of as a bit of a peacock — is seen as the perfect candidate. (CBC TV-Movie 1978)