1975 movie tells story of the businessman who fell in love with Sudbury

The city fathers of Sudbury had a problem to solve.

How to shake the image of a polluted mining town and get the rest of Canada to instead see a cosmopolitan bilingual centre with a blend of natural wonders and excellent business opportunities.

In many ways, this could describe Sudbury in 2016.

But it was certainly true in 1975, with stories of acid rain, mining layoffs and labour strife filling the national headlines. 

And the economic development corporation of the day decided the solution was to make a movie.

But not just the typical promotional video of the city. They wanted to tell a fictional story of a southern Ontario businessman who falls in love with Sudbury.

They made The Tree Has Grown, starring professional actors, as well as some locals portraying versions of themselves.

So please, look, listen and enjoy this artifact from the mid-1970s, complete with funky music and long sideburns.

Morning North8:20The Folo: The Tree Has Grown

Back in 1975, Sudbury decided to boost the local economy by making a fictional movie about how great it is to live and do business in what was then a scorched earth mining town. We look back on the Tree Has Grown and the Sudburians who played themselves.