I just revisited a classic piece of Canadian cinema from my childhood called Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveler. (Seems like it belongs in the same pantheon as The Peanut Butter Solution, if you’re familiar with that illustrious piece of filmmaking.) My sister and I watched it together, and both of us were relieved it wasn’t as terrible in our adulthoods as we’d feared. (That’s been the fate of about half of the Fairy Tale Theater With Shelly Duval s I’ve seen since I made it through puberty.)But the biggest surprise came during the credits. There’s a recurring bit role of an androgynous little songwriter/rocker boi. S/he even plays a gig at the local mall (squeal!). So the credits are rolling, and what name unfurls before us? Rufus Wainwright. He had to be 10 or 12. And his younger, equally talented sister, Martha, wrote and performed the other big song on the film, though she doesn’t get screentime to do it. (They’re the Canadian-born children of Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, doentchyaknoew?)Anywho, that’s some music trivia for you. Here’s a montage of Rufus’ key scenes in the film. I hope you enjoy them as much as the 9-year-old versions of me and my sister do.
Guess Who?
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