''Between Friends'' is a 1973 Canadian

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

directed by

Donald Shebib Donald Everett Shebib (27 January 1938 – 5 November 2023) was a Canadian film and television director. Shebib was a central figure in the development of English Canadian cinema who made several short documentaries for the National Film Board ...

. It was entered into the

23rd Berlin International Film Festival The 23rd Berlin International Film Festival was held from 22 June to 3 July 1973. The Golden Bear was awarded to '' Distant Thunder'', directed by Satyajit Ray. Juries The following people were announced as being on the jury for the festival: ...

, and was featured in the Canadian Cinema television series which aired on CBC Television in 1974.

Plot

A botched mine robbery in

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on p ...

involves the troubled quartet of Chino (Chuck Shamata), his American surfing buddy Toby (Michael Parks), his girlfriend's father (Henry Beckman) and Coker (Hugh Webster). While the robbery is being planned, Chino's girlfriend Ellie (Bonnie Bedelia) becomes attracted to Toby.

Cast

Michael Parks Michael Parks (born Harry Samuel Parks; April 24, 1940 – May 9, 2017) was an American singer and actor who made numerous film and television appearances, notably starring in the 1969–1970 series '' Then Came Bronson.'' He was widely known ...

as Toby *

Bonnie Bedelia Bonnie Bedelia (born Bonnie Bedelia Culkin; March 25, 1948) is an American actress. After beginning her career in theatre in the 1960s, Bedelia starred in the CBS daytime soap opera '' Love of Life'' and made her film debut in '' The Gypsy Moths ...

as Ellie * Chuck Shamata as Chino * Henry Beckman as Will * Hugh Webster as Coker

Reception

Though ''Between Friends'' was a commercial failure for director Shebib, it is "easily his most critically applauded film", some critics going so far as to call it his masterpiece. Wyndham Wise called it "a taut, serious dramatic study of loyalty, Canada/US relations and the limitations of male bonding", and asserted the failed heist sequence rivals any American

film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...

. The film was a finalist for Best Picture at the Canadian Film Awards in 1973,"Fine lineup for Film Awards". ''

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 ...

'', 9 October 1973. losing to ''

Slipstream A slipstream is a region behind a moving object in which a wake of fluid (typically air or water) is moving at velocities comparable to that of the moving object, relative to the ambient fluid through which the object is moving. The term slips ...

''.

References

External links

* {{Donald Shebib 1973 films 1973 crime drama films 1970s English-language films Canadian crime drama films Canadian independent films English-language Canadian films Films directed by Donald Shebib Films shot in Greater Sudbury Films set in Northern Ontario Greater Sudbury in fiction 1970s Canadian films English-language crime drama films 1973 independent films