''A Great Big Thing'' is a Canadian-American comedy-drama film, directed by

Eric Till Eric Till (born 24 November 1929) is an English people, English film and television film director, director working in Canada, the United States, and Europe since the 1960s. His 1977 film ''It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet'' was entered into the 10t ...

and released in 1968.

Gerald Pratley Gerald Arthur Pratley (September 3, 1923 – March 14, 2011) was a Canadian film critic and historian. Piers Handling"Gerald Arthur Pratley" ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', September 18, 2011. A longtime film critic for the Canadian Broadcasting Cor ...

, ''A Century of Canadian Cinema''. Lynx Images, 2003. . p. 90. The film stars

Reni Santoni Renaldo Santoni (April 21, 1938 – August 1, 2020) was an American film, television and voice actor. He was noted for playing Poppie on the television sitcom ''Seinfeld'', Tony Gonzales in ''Cobra'', and Chico González in ''Dirty Harry''. ...

as Vinny Shea, an aimless young man and aspiring writer who gets into various misadventures around

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while trying to write his first novel.Kaspars Dzeguze, "Canadian feature film overcomes an unfortunate title". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', February 4, 1970. The film's cast also included Louise Latraverse,

Paul Sand Paul Sand (born March 5, 1932) is an American actor and comedian. Background Sand was born Pablo Sanchez in Santa Monica, California, in 1932, the son of Ernest Rivera Sanchez, an aerospace tool designer, and Sonia Borodiansky (aka Sonia Stone ...

, Marcy Plotnick,

Gerard Parkes Gerard Parkes (October 16, 1924 – October 19, 2014) was an Irish-Canadian actor. He was born in Dublin and moved to Toronto in 1956. He is known for playing Doc on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television series ''Fraggle Rock'' and ...

, François Yves Carpentier,

Roberta Maxwell Roberta Farnham Maxwell (born June 17, 1941) is a Canadian actress. Biography Maxwell began studying for the stage in her early teens. She joined John Clark for two years as the child co-host of his '' Junior Magazine'' series for CBC Televis ...

Leon Pownall Leon Pownall (April 26, 1943 – June 2, 2006) was a Welsh-Canadian actor and director. He was born in Wrexham, Wales and moved to Hamilton, Ontario with his family in 1957. He performed at the Stratford Festival during the 1960s and returned se ...

and

Heath Lamberts Heath Lamberts, (December 15, 1941 – February 22, 2005) was a Canadian dramatic and comedic actor of stage, film, and television.Robert Crew, "Lamberts, 63, stage's mirth master". '' Toronto Star'', February 23, 2005. Early life and educ ...

. Screenwriter Terence Heffernan had originally submitted the film's screenplay to the

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drama anthology series ''

Festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

'', but after Till signed on as director, he instead opted to make the film independently with the participation of the American Argo Films studio. The film premiered in 1968 at the

18th Berlin International Film Festival The 18th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 21 June to 2 July 1968. The Golden Bear was awarded to '' Who Saw Him Die?'' directed by Jan Troell. Jury The following people were announced as being on the jury for the festiva ...

as part of Young Canadian Film, a non-competitive program highlighting recent films by new and emerging

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

film directors.

, "In and Out of Cinema". ''

Cinema Canada ''Cinema Canada'' (1972–1989) is a defunct Canadian film magazine, which served as the trade journal of record for the Canadian film and television sector. The magazine had its origins in the Canadian Society of Cinematographers (CSC), which be ...

'', September 1968. It had its Canadian premiere in 1970 at

's Ontario Film Institute.

References

External links

* 1968 films 1968 comedy-drama films American comedy-drama films Canadian comedy-drama films Films directed by Eric Till 1960s English-language films English-language Canadian films 1968 directorial debut films 1960s American films 1960s Canadian films English-language comedy-drama films {{1960s-US-film-stub