''Sleeping Dogs Lie'' is a 1998 film produced by Sullivan Entertainment and based on the true-life story of

Ambrose Small Ambrose Joseph Small (January 11, 1866 – disappeared December 2, 1919) was a Canadian theatre magnate who owned several Ontario-based theatres including the Grand Opera House in Toronto, the Grand Opera House in Kingston, the Grand Theatre i ...

, a Toronto millionaire who went missing after selling his chain of burlesque theatres for $1.7 million to Loew's movie theatres. The film is inspired by the book ''The Strange Case of Ambrose Small'' by Fred McClement. It stars

Wendy Crewson Wendy Jane Crewson (born May 9, 1956) is a Canadian actress and producer. She began her career appearing on Canadian television, before her breakthrough role in 1991 dramatic film ''The Doctor''. Crewson has appeared in many Hollywood films, inc ...

as ''Mrs. Theresa Small''. The character of Ambrose Small also appears as a major character in the

Michael Ondaatje Philip Michael Ondaatje (; born 12 September 1943) is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian poet, fiction writer and essayist. Ondaatje's literary career began with his poetry in 1967, publishing ''The Dainty Monsters'', and then in 1970 the critically a ...

novel, ''

In the Skin of a Lion ''In the Skin of a Lion'' is a novel by Canadian–Sri Lankan writer Michael Ondaatje. It was first published in 1987 by McClelland and Stewart. The novel fictionalizes the lives of the immigrants who played a large role in the building of the ...

''.

Synopsis

It's 1919 and wealthy

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

magnate Ambrose Small (

Art Hindle Arthur Hindle (born July 21, 1948) is a Canadian actor and television director. He won the Gemini Award for Best Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role for his portrayal of news director Mike Fennell on the CTV drama ''E.N.G.'' (1989-94). ...

) has just sold his chain of theatres for over a million dollars. But he doesn't get a chance to enjoy it. Shortly after his wife Theresa (

) deposits the cheque in the

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

, Ambrose mysteriously disappears without a trace. Ambrose's disappearance sets off a

powder keg A powder keg is a barrel of gunpowder. The powder keg was the primary method for storing and transporting large quantities of black powder until the 1870s and the adoption of the modern cased cartridge (firearms), cartridge. The barrels had to be ...

of accusations directed at Theresa and young detective Cole Willis (Joel Keller) is brought in for her protection. Cole is immediately infatuated with the beautiful and alluring widow and finds himself caught up in the growing scandal involving

sex Sex is the biological trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing organism produces male or female gametes. During sexual reproduction, a male and a female gamete fuse to form a zygote, which develops into an offspring that inheri ...

drugs A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestio ...

and seedy

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

. Cole must wade through the lies, deceit and corruption that surround Theresa Small in order to find out if she is capable of murder.

Cast

as Theresa Small * Joel S. Keller as Detective Cole Willis * Leon Pownall as Inspector Mitchell *

Shawn Doyle Shawn Doyle (born September 19, 1968) is a Canadian actor known for his roles in ''The Expanse'', '' The Eleventh Hour'', ''Big Love'', '' 24'', ''Desperate Housewives'', and '' Star Trek: Discovery''. Early life and education Doyle was born an ...

as Hammond * Leslie Yeo as Daniel Small * Shannon Lawson as Vivian Doughty * Cedric Smith as J.J. Gallagher *

as Ambrose Small *

Eric Peterson Eric Neal Peterson (born October 2, 1946) is a Canadian stage, television, and film actor, known for his roles in three major Canadian television series – '' Street Legal'' (1987–1994), '' Corner Gas'' (live-action 2004–2009 and fi ...

as Jack Doughty * Michael Murphy as Edgar Tratt * Yoav Deckelbaum as Yosef Dolgoy * Susannah Hoffmann as Shayna Francov * Richard Blackburn as Thomas Flynn * Michael Caruana as Walter * Brad Garrick as Tink * Rodger Barton as Marsh *

Nicky Guadagni Nicky Guadagni (born August 1, 1952) is a Canadian actress who has worked on stage, radio, film and television. Life and career Originally from Montreal, Nicky Guadagni majored in drama at Dawson College and went on to train at the Royal Academy ...

as Sister Rosaria * Marcia Bennett as Megan * Richard McMillan as Rainville * Alexandre Beaulieu as Marjorie

External links

*
Sullivanmovies.com
- Official Sleeping Dogs Lie Page

References

1998 films 1998 drama films English-language Canadian films Canadian drama television films 1998 television films 1990s Canadian films Films about missing people Films set in Toronto {{1990s-drama-film-stub Films set in 1919