This is one of the great under-rated films in Canadian Cinema history, its also just an under-rated under appreciated film period.
If memory serves, the switchboard operator played by a very young, if stunning - in a very simple way- Margot Kidder, was her first time cast in a movie.
For those into film history and those Canadian films that could be considered remarkable, it is in my view the English Canadian counter-point to the highly recognized (validly) Quebequois film "Mon Oncle Antionne" by the late, if awesome Claude Jutra. There was an unfairness that while "Mon Oncle Antoinne" deservingly in my view, was always in the "top Ten French Language Canadian Films", "Best Damn Fiddler" was never thought of for inclusion in the Top Ten English language counterpart lists. That's just wrong.