The Wordsmith (1979)

Penned by Mordecai Richler and set in wartime Montreal, this touching telefilm stars Saul Rubinek as Mervyn Kaplansky, a young writer from Toronto who boards with a family on St. Urbain Street only to find his aspirations undermined by the colourful yet desperate characters that surround him. Rubinek delivers a very touching performance as the boyish idealistic writer, and he is backed by a strong supporting cast that includes Harvey Atkin, Janet Ward and Peter Boretski.