Coverage: The Death of Danny Dodge

Manitoulin Expositor

Front Page Article

Danny Dodge intrigue in development as TV_docudrama

Mindemoya duo hopes to use local actors, resources for film about auto scion's strange end

by Jim Moodie

KAGAWONG-It's a story that's been told in newspapers, magazines and books, not to mention at numerous websites and, in appropriately ominous tones, around a few crackling campfires. Now a young artist hopes to translate the tragic tale of Danny Dodge to the screen.

Marcus Mohr, an aspiring filmmaker from Mindemoya, has been hard at work on a script for a 30-minute docu-drama on the auto-family scion and his strange death near Kagawong in 1938. If everything falls into place, he plans to start shooting the historical short as soon as this summer.

As many Islanders have heard-and a few, like Austin Hunt, remember-Danny was less than two weeks into his honeymoon with local bride Laurine MacDonald when a bizarre explosion occurred at his Maple Point resort; three weeks later, a pair of local fishermen reeled in his lifeless form from the waters of the North Channel. It was declared an accidental death by drowning.

Although Mr. Mohr grew up on Manitoulin, he didn't actually learn about this mysterious chapter of Island lore until just "a couple of years ago, when I was reading a book at Chapters." But he was instantly intrigued, and started reading up more on the controversial event.

Last year, he wrote a film treatment and secured a $3,000 grant through CTV to develop a screenplay. He's been working on the script ever since, while simultaneously seeking production money through the Ontario Arts Council (OAC).

"If the OAC funding comes through, I'll probably go ahead and start filming this summer," he said. "Post-production would be done over the winter of 2009/2010."

Helping him out on the project is fellow-Islander Cody McDermid, whom Mr. Mohr describes as his "assistant director and writer."

The two envision the movie as a half-hour special that would be broadcast on television-CTV has first rights to the product, although they don't own it, noted Mr. Mohr-and would utilize local actors and resources for its creation.

Since the event happened over 70 years ago, the story will be told mostly through dramatic recreation, said Mr. Mohr, with "narration to hold it all together." He's confident that the roles of the historical characters can be ably filled by thespians from Manitoulin.

The pair is also exploring a partnership with the Old Mill Heritage Centre in Kagawong, as the museum-in concert with the current owner of the Dodge property-has recently amassed some valuable information regarding the Dodge era on Manitoulin, following a trip to Meadow Brook Hall, a mansion-turned-museum in Detroit that commemorates the famous car clan.

Rick Nelson, curator of the Old Mill, said the board of the Billings museum has invited the duo to their next meeting on March 2 to discuss a possible arrangement, whereby information might be shared in return for some degree of influence and stake in the project.

"The board is a bit sensitive to stuff that's unique to our museum," he said. "If we get involved we'd like to be a full partner."

Mr. Mohr is eager to forge an alliance with the Kagawong museum, as he wants the film to be as accurate and informative as possible. His initial instinct, he admits, was to pursue the murder-mystery angle of the story and provide a possible scenario for foul play, but his plan now is to stick to the official version and mention lingering questions in passing.

"There was a provincial inquest, and it was suspicious-I don't think anybody would argue that," he said. "But we will just mention some of the theories; we won't state them as fact."

While Mr. Mohr has sketched out his script, he's still collecting any material he can to ensure the story is told properly. "I just got a confirmation the other day that the Archives of Ontario are going to send me some files concerning the inquest, so hopefully I'll have that soon," he noted. "My walls here are plastered with photocopies of newspaper articles. It kind of looks like a scene from A Beautiful Mind, where (asocial math genius John Nash) is drawing circles and connecting dots."

Should the project go ahead, it would be Mr. Mohr's first foray into filmmaking, although it wouldn't be a complete departure for the 27-year-old creative type. He studied animation at college, and is an accomplished painter and sculptor. One of his works earned a prize at last year's LaCloche Art Show.

He currently resides in Sudbury, and when he's not writing movie scripts, he's paying his bills by working at Sudbury Memorial Works. "It's where I do all my sculpting, because they have the equipment," he noted.

As for fashioning a believable facsimile of the 1938 scene on Manitoulin for his film, Mr. Mohr admitted this poses something of a challenge, although perhaps not as daunting a one as you might think.

"There's a place here in Sudbury called Stage and Street which has a lot of period stuff, like Flapper dresses and hats, that you can rent," he said. "And the clothes that men wore in those days isn't really all that different from now."

A film about Danny Dodge wouldn't be complete without a car-the son of automotive magnate John Dodge was famous for bombing around on Manitoulin in a slick set of wheels-but Mr. Mohr figures he's got that covered through a local car buff who owns a 1941 Dodge.

The trickiest part will be coming up with something to stand in for the speedboat that the doomed cottager drove in those days. The boat is critical, because it was during a frantic trip by water to reach the hospital in Little Current that Mr. Dodge fell (or leapt, or was pushed) overboard and met his mysterious end.

Not too many watercraft of that era and style are floating around Manitoulin these days, so Mr. Mohr expects he may have to use a less authentic boat and do "some creative camera shoots and cutting" to dodge, so to speak, around the deficiency.

Still, he's eager to hear from anyone on the Island who might have a boat that would vaguely approximate the one that Danny Dodge owned in the 1930s, or might otherwise be able to contribute props or information for the project.

The filmmaker can be contacted by email at mmohr_ca@hotmail.com. His website is www.marcusmohr.net.

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