[1] Written by Jeannine Locke and directed by Rob Iscove, the film is set in 1921 and stars Janet-Laine Green as Sally Driscoll, a woman who is touring Western Canada as a representative of the travelling Chautauqua organization; arriving in the small town of Fairville, Alberta, she finds the town unprepared for the upcoming event but meets and falls in love with Neil McCallum (Terence Kelly), a widowed farmer who is running as a United Farmers of Alberta candidate in the imminent 1921 Alberta general election.
[2] The cast also includes Jackie Burroughs as Mrs. Ferguson, a pioneer woman in the community whose hard life has made her much older in appearance and spirit than her actual age.
From close-up to long-shot, the sight consistently echoes the sense - the pinched and burnished faces of men tied too closely to the land, the nocturnal lamp of the community hall the only reprieve in a sea of blackness.
"[3] Mike Boone of the Montreal Gazette praised the performances of Green, Kelly and Burroughs, writing that "the romance of Chautauqua Girl will doubtless set hearts to fluttering in television land, but the film is infinitely richer and more complex than your standard boy-meets-girl romantic fluff".
Chautauqua Girl puts the network back on course toward offering viewers quality drama that is distinctively Canadian in style and theme.