Claude-Henri Grignon

At 20, Donalda is the most beautiful girl in Sainte-Adèle. Young, intelligent, and dynamic, she has always been in love with Alexis, the log driver, a feisty adventurer whose life is a perpetual storm. But Seraphin is also in love with Donalda, and he will do anything to have her.

Les Belles Histoires des pays d'en haut is a Canadian television drama series, which aired on Radio-Canada from 1956 to 1970. One of the longest-running programs in the history of Canadian television, the series produced 81 episodes during its 14-year run and was one of the first influential téléromans. Written by Claude-Henri Grignon as an adaptation of his 1933 novel Un Homme et son péché and initially set in the 1880s, the series starred Jean-Pierre Masson as Séraphin Poudrier, the wealthy but miserly mayor of the village of Sainte-Adèle, Quebec, and Andrée Champagne as Donalda Laloge-Poudrier, the young daughter of a village resident who is given in marriage to Séraphin as payment for a family debt even though she remains in love with her suitor Alexis Labranche.

The story takes place during the colonization of the Laurentian region in Quebec towards the end of the 19th century (approx. 1885-90), near Sainte-Adèle. An unscrupulous man, Séraphin Poudrier, dominates the small community using his wealth. Mayor of the village, he will marry Donalda Laloge, after her father, unable to repay his debt, gives her to him in marriage. Donalda, a gentle and submissive woman who was promised to the handsome Alexis Labranche, rather, he will live his life according to the wishes of this petty and contemptuous miser, but will never let his situation get him down.

In the summer of 1890, Curé Labelle pushed for colonization. To flee Séraphin and the woman he loved, Donalda, Alexis got married and settled on a piece of land. Everyone joins forces to take their revenge on the hateful Séraphin.

Filmed in French, this Canadian film was based on a popular Quebec-based radio serial. The man of the title is miserable miser Seraphim (Hector Charland). Misanthropic to the point of insanity, Seraphim takes great pleasure in destroying the lives of everyone with whom he comes in contact. His current target is Alexis (Guy Provost), the ex-lover of Seraphim's long-suffering wife Donalda (Nicole Germain). Taking into consideration its daytime-drama source, it's understandable that Un Homme et Son Peche is plotted and paced like a soap opera. Star Hector Charland had previously spent 10 years portraying Seraphim on radio, so he's got plenty of "mean" at his disposal for this big-screen spin-off.