''Love & Larceny'' is a Canadian television film, directed by

Robert Iscove Robert Iscove is a Canadian film and television director, television producer and a choreographer. Filmography * ''Love and Larceny (1985 film), Love and Larceny'' (1985, TV) * ''The Lawrenceville Stories'' (1987-1989, miniseries) * ''Shattered ...

and broadcast by

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

in 1985.David Barber, "Illusions of grandeur". ''

Kingston Whig-Standard ''The Kingston Whig-Standard'' is a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It is published five days a week, from Tuesday to Saturday. It publishes a mix of community, national and international news and is currently owned by Postmedia. It has ...

'', September 21, 1985. Based on a true story, the film stars

Jennifer Dale Jennifer Ciurluini (born January 16, 1956 in Toronto), known professionally as Jennifer Dale, is a Canadian actress. Biography She is the sister of Canadian actress Cynthia Dale. From 1980 to 1986 she was married to Robert Lantos; they have t ...

Betsy Bigley Cassie L. Chadwick (10 October 1857 – 10 October 1907) was the most well-known pseudonym used by Canadian con artist Elizabeth Bigley, who defrauded several American banks out of millions of dollars during the late 1800s and early 1900s by c ...

, a Canadian

con woman A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have de ...

who successfully defrauded American banks of millions of dollars by posing as the illegitimate daughter of

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

. The film's cast also included

Alf Humphreys Alfred E. Humphreys (August 9, 1953 – January 31, 2018) was a Canadian actor. Early life Humphreys was born in Haileybury, Ontario, Canada. He was the son of Leslie and Gabrielle Humphreys. Career Humphreys was a dramatic actor who first acte ...

Brent Carver Brent Carver (November 17, 1951 – August 4, 2020) was a Canadian actor best known internationally for performances in both London's West End and on Broadway in '' Kiss of the Spider Woman'' as Molina, for which he won the Tony Award for Best L ...

Ken Pogue Kenneth Pogue (July 26, 1934 – December 15, 2015) was a Canadian actor. Career His first motion picture role in 1973 was in '' The Neptune Factor''. He almost drowned in scuba gear. He worked on stage at the Crest Theatre, Stratford Shakespe ...

Sheila McCarthy Sheila McCarthy (born January 1, 1956) is a Canadian actress and singer. She has worked in film, television, and on stage. McCarthy is one of Canada's most honoured actors, having won two Genie Awards (film), two Gemini Awards (television), an A ...

Ross Petty Ross Petty (born August 29, 1946) is a Canadian actor and theatre producer. He is best known for his eponymous production company, which staged what were promoted as "family musical" theatre productions in the British pantomime tradition in Toront ...

Douglas Rain Douglas James Rain (March 13, 1928 – November 11, 2018) was a Canadian actor and narrator. Although primarily a stage actor, he is perhaps best known for his voicing of the HAL 9000 computer in the film '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968) and i ...

Patricia Hamilton Patricia Hamilton (born 27 April 1937 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada) is a Canadian actress, perhaps best known for playing Rachel Lynde in the television mini-series '' Anne of Green Gables'', its sequels: '' Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel'' ...

, Susan Wright, Hugh Webster, Peter Dvorsky and

Kenneth Welsh Kenneth Welsh, (March 30, 1942 – May 5, 2022) was a Canadian film and television actor. He was best known as the multi-faceted villain Windom Earle in ''Twin Peaks'', for his roles in the films ''The Day After Tomorrow'', '' Adoration'', ''Su ...

. The film aired on CBC Television on October 6, 1985. The film won the

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...

for Best TV Movie at the

1st Gemini Awards The 1st Gemini Awards were held in Toronto on 4 December 1986 to honour achievements in Canadian television. Gémeaux Award, the French version of the Gemini Awards were held for the first time this year as well. The 1985 television miniseries ...

in 1986. It was also nominated, but did not win, for Best Supporting Actor (Rain), Best Production Design or Art Direction (Milton Parcher), Best Costume Design (Suzanne Mess) and Best Music Composition for a Single Program, Dramatic Underscore (Eric Robertson). A sequel film, ''Grand Larceny'', was released in 1991 and focused on Bigley's escape from prison by faking her death. Douglas Bowie, the writer of both films, also later collaborated with David Archibald on a stage musical version of Bigley's story, also titled ''Love and Larceny''.Noreen Rasbach, "Betsy Bigley deserved better". ''

'', July 31, 2004.

References

External links

* 1985 television films 1985 films English-language Canadian films Canadian biographical drama films Canadian crime drama films 1980s biographical drama films CBC Television original films Gemini and Canadian Screen Award for Best Television Film or Miniseries winners Biographical films about fraudsters Cultural depictions of fraudsters Canadian drama television films 1980s Canadian films {{Canada-tv-film-stub