Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables follows an orphan girl sent by mistake to a farm on Prince Edward Island at the turn of the century. Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, an elderly brother and sister, had asked for a boy to help with the work at Green Gables. Instead, eleven-year-old Anne Shirley arrives, and the two take her in. Her imagination and talkative nature bring her both trouble and affection as she grows up in the community.

The 1985 television film was directed by Kevin Sullivan, who also produced it with Ian McDougall. It was his first feature, followed two years later by Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel. Megan Follows plays Anne, with Colleen Dewhurst as Marilla, Richard Farnsworth as Matthew, Patricia Hamilton as Rachel Lynde, Marilyn Lightstone as Miss Muriel Stacey and Schuyler Grant as Diana Barry; 42 performers are credited. The story comes from Lucy Maud Montgomery's novel, and the production was shot on Prince Edward Island.

The film runs 199 minutes. On TMDB it has a rating of 8.1 out of 10 from 261 votes, while a small group of six critics' reviews gives it 5 out of 10, a gap that suggests the film has found more favour with viewers than with reviewers.