I Heard The Owl Call My Name [1973] [DVD]

Adapted without condescension or overt sentimentality by director Daryl Duke, from the novel by Margaret Craven, this superior TV movie makes powerful use of the British Columbian coastscape to emphasise the grinding poverty of the native Indians who dwell there and the enormity of the task facing Tom Courtenay, as the inexperienced Anglican priest sent to minister to them.

With humble support from Dean Jagger, as the bishop who sustains the novice's faith, as ignorance and isolation sap his morale, Courtenay achieves a sincerity and compassion that stands in stark contrast to his more cynical kitchen-sink persona.