A war is won in Europe, and a British playwright writes his first novel. Set in a small, fictional British town, the book is adapted into a movie by Pinewood and another British film studio, starring a Shakespearean actor and the daughter of the British prime minister.

Yet All Over the Town premiered in Brampton, not Britain.

While women ably proved that they could do so-called “men’s work” during the war, most were pushed out of the workforce at the end of the conflict, to allow men to return to their previous workplaces. In the 1947 novel and 1949 film All Over the Town, the character of Sally Thorpe bucks the trend and is allowed to stay on the job. What ensues is basically a workplace comedy, including a walkout by staff at the newspaper over editorial policies.

The movie wasn’t a classic.

The saving grace for the film, according to the New York Times, was lead actress Sarah Churchill. She had been an actor before the war, but her father Winston’s wartime leadership helped boost her marketability to foreign audiences in the U.S. and Canada.

Sarah’s first visit to Canada was as part of a publicity tour for the movie. While she headlined a ball at Toronto’s Royal York Hotel, the film didn’t debut in the big city. Instead, she waited for a fundraiser in Brampton, organized by the newly formed Brampton Kinsmen Club.

The premiere was at the Odeon Theatre, on Main Street North. (Originally the “Capitol,” it was most recently known as the Heritage Theatre.) She arrived in town by “motor parade,” heralded in by the Brampton Citizens’ Band. Several hundred residents flocked outside to see her, autograph book in hand, as she spoke on the radio.

Flustered while making a speech, she quipped her lack of ability was unusual, as “there is one member of the family who is supposed to be quite good at it.”

The event was a benefit for United Emergency Fund for Britain, and to equip a room at Peel Memorial Hospital.

A few weeks later, the film had its American premiere in late May, in New York City.