Grierson and Gouzenko

Directed by Martin Kinch

This rarely-screened teleplay written by Rick Salutin offers a dramatic glimpse into Canada’s Red Scare that pre-dated the rise of McCarthyism in the United States. John Grierson and his National Film Board of Canada become targets of an anti-Communist blacklist in the immediate post-war years, after Soviet clerk Igor Gouzenko produced documents revealing a spy ring operating in Canada. With a cast featuring Eric Peterson as Grierson, Saul Rubinek as Gouzenko, and Aaron Schwartz as Communist Party MP Fred Rose, this forgotten piece of Canadian history is brought to life in a very compelling CBC drama.