Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel

Anne of Green Gables (Buy The Series) | The Sequel | The Continuing Story | A New Beginning
Anne Shirley | Gilbert Blythe | Marilla Cuthbert | Matthew Cuthbert | Diana Barry Wright | Rachel Lynde
Miss Muriel Stacey | Aunt Josephine | Mrs. Harris | Morgan Harris | Jack Garrison Jr. | Amelia Thomas

This is the enchanting sequel to the Emmy Award-winning “Anne of Green Gables”. “Anne of Green Gables – The Sequel” tells the continuing story of Anne Shirley as she makes the transition from a romantic, impetuous orphan who mistakenly arrives at Green Gables, to an outspoken, adventurous, accomplished young woman.

Now an attractive 18 year old and the teacher at Avonlea School, Anne has dutifully remained at Green Gables with Marilla Cuthbert. Her ambition to become a celebrated author is put aside, while she leads a quiet and simple life in Avonlea.

Gilbert Blythe, Anne’s old school rival has become her good friend and confidant. Gilbert is now 20 years old, about to enter medical school, and desperately in love with Anne. He tries in vain to convince her to marry him. However, as imaginative and romantic as ever, Anne dreams of someday meeting her ideal man. Gilbert she feels, is not that man.

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Anne is disappointed and hurt when she learns that her once “bosom friend”, Diana Barry, has decided to marry chubby, unromantic Fred Wright. She laments, “Why does everyone have to grow up and marry and change?” Anne sadly realizes that things will never be the same once Diana marries.

When the opportunity arises to teach at an exclusive private girls’ school in Kingsport, Nova Scotia, Marilla persuades Anne to take the job and follow her dreams. As her desire to see and do more with her life clouds her changing relationship with her friends Gilbert Blythe and Diana Barry, Anne is convinced she must leave. She does so without ever reconciling with Gilbert.

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Anne may now be all grown up, but she still has a knack for finding trouble, and her misadventures follow her to Kingsport where she learns that the town aristocrats, The Pringles, are completely opposed to her. On the first day of school she manages to insult the school principal, Miss Brooke; she mistakenly orders a bag of firecrackers thrown into the fire; and attempts a bicycle rescue by crashing through the roof of a locked tool shed.

Her students, most of them Pringle girls, make every effort to disrupt Anne’s classes. Anne, however, perseveres and finds an ally in one of her students, Emmeline Harris.
Anne becomes intrinsically involved with the entire Harris clan including Emmeline’s invalid grandmother Mrs. Harris, and with her handsome widowed father Morgan Harris. Through the course of the school year Anne succeeds in winning over the Kingsport establishment as well as gaining the respect of her students and the friendship of Miss Brooke.

Homesick for Green Gables and Marilla, Anne returns to Prince Edward Island when summer arrives. Gilbert Blythe has also returned; but he has scarlet fever and is deathly ill. Gilbert’s sudden illness forces Anne to re-evaluate her true feelings for him.

I don’t want diamond sunbursts, or marble halls. I just want you. – Anne Shirley

Over the summer Gilbert slowly recovers from his illness. He comes to Anne once more and this time she accepts him as her own and gives her heart completely.

After a chance encounter with Gilbert, who is now engaged and in medical school in Halifax, Anne begins to re-evaluate what is important to her.  A surprise question from Morgan Harris makes Anne realize how much she misses home and she returns to Green Gables soon after the school term has ended.  Upon returning, she learns further news about Gilbert and must decide how much he truly means to her.

Cast & Crew

Production Notes

• The line Hattie Pringle says about not wanting to bruise herself fainting on stage is said by the character Amy in the novel “Little Women”.
• Though the American title of the film is “Anne of Avonlea”, it is only partially based on that L.M. Montgomery book – the second in the Anne series. The film is, in fact, based on parts from the second, third and fourth books in the series (out of eight).
• This film takes pieces from several subsequent books because Kevin Sullivan thought there wasn’t “enough dramatic material for a film” in the sequel “Anne of Avonlea” alone.
• Kevin Sullivan says that Anne’s hairstyles kept getting bigger and more eccentric as filming went on. One of her hairstyles that he found to be particularly extravagant was when Anne and Gilbert walk along the lane discussing “Avril’s Atonement”. The hairstyle Anne sports towards the end of the movie when she goes to visit Gilbert when he’s sick was Sullivan’s least favorite.
• For the cow scene in which Anne and Diana fall into the mud, the costume department made four dresses. However, Megan Follows did the stunt in one take, and the others were not needed.
• If you look closely at the doors in the Green Gables kitchen, they are closed in every scene. This is due to the fact that for this movie they only rebuilt the kitchen, and there is nothing behind those doors.
• It took quite a few takes to get Diana’s bed to break correctly when Anne and Diana fall on it during the bedroom scene before Diana’s wedding.
• Cameo: Hagood Hardy plays the organ during Diana’s wedding.
• While shooting the scene where Anne says goodbye to Marilla and Rachel before she leaves for Kingsport, Colleen Dewhurst was wearing jeans under her dress because she had to catch a plane in an hour.
• One of the first scenes shot with Dame Wendy Hiller was the picnic scene. She had just recently had an operation, and while climbing into the buggy for the scene, her hip was displaced. Everyone was confused and nervous, wondering if she had had a heart attack. When Sullivan got over to her, she said, “Get me a whiskey, dear boy.” Unfortunately, her humorous mood was short-lived and she wanted to return to England at once, without finishing the film. Sullivan had to work hard to get her to stay.
• It was Dame Wendy Hiller’s idea to add the scenes concerning Mrs. Harris’s death. She wanted a dénouement for her character. She and Sullivan discussed it and thought Mrs. Harris should “expire”. Her death allowed Anne the opportunity to “free Pauline”.