His Lordship may not be happy with the portrayal, but Canada’s bigger than life publishing mogul and his wife receive the TV Movie treatment from CTV on Monday night.
In Shades of Black the director Alex Chapple, traces the career paths of Conrad Black and Barbara Amiel, from their early days as ink stained wretches, to the current days featuring a battalion of legal teams looking for a way out of their current tribulations in the USA (making them to some wretches of a different hue).
Along the way Black becomes a Lord and Amiel his happy consort, as they rise to the heights of the newspaper business, only to see things unravel in a most public fashion.
Apparently borrowing some artistic points from Citizen Kane, Shades of Black takes its aim at one of the most controversial Canadians to come along in a very long time. And while Citizen Kane would eventually be counted as one of the great films of our time, Shades of Black is not likely to have the academy on the phone any time soon.
The movie itself is described as a bit of a soap opera that sat in the CTV vaults for over a year while the network tried to figure out what exactly to do with their commissioned piece. It portrays Black as hosting a rather sufficient ego over the years as he ruled his empire to his own fashion. While it remains vague as to his legal troubles of the day (no doubt vetted by some very high priced network lawyers).
It features Albert Schultz as Black, Lara Flynn Boyle as Barbara Amiel and Jason Priestley as a reporter who seems to serve as a narrator of sorts to the Tai of Black. We imagine that if his Lordship actually watches the program then he and Madame Amiel will get a chuckle about a common everyday reporter being granted such an exclusive intercession into their lives.
The Blacks were the fodder for the mainstream and satirical press for years, Frank magazine sold many an issue merely by throwing up a picture of the Lord and his lady on the front page, as anxious media types would scour the pages for the latest scandal mongering tidbit.
It’s not often that the high and the mighty of Canadian society find themselves featured in a two hour movie, what will be interesting to see is whether television can truly capture the air that circulates in that exclusive bastion of Canada.
He doesn’t murmur Rosebud at the end, but perhaps they filmed a few scenes in Rosedale to at least keep the flame of Kane alive in the Canadian version of the publisher who met his comeuppance.
The trials and tribulations of his Lordship debut at 8 pm Monday on your local CTV affiliate. If you find that you have better things to do or wish a more substantial review of His Lordship's life, this piece from the archives of the New Yorker make for a wonderful research paper.
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