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''Face-Off'' is a 1971 Canadian feature film produced by John F. Bassett starring Art Hindle, Trudy Young and
John Vernon John Keith Vernon (born Adolphus Raymondus Vernon Agopsowicz; February 24, 1932 February 1, 2005) was a Canadian actor. He made a career in Hollywood after achieving initial television stardom in Canada. He was best known for playing Dean Wormer ...
. The story line concerns a rookie
Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...
ice hockey player and his romance with a musician. Several National Hockey League players also appeared in the film.


Plot

Hockey player Billy Duke joins the
Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...
, and must adapt to the big league game with assistance from his room-mate, George Armstrong. Meanwhile, Duke starts a relationship with rock singer Sherri Lee Nelson, who objects to Duke's often rough hockey playing. As the two become more involved, Leafs' coach Fred Wares worries that Sherri is causing Duke to lose his on-ice focus.


Cast

The main cast, per the opening credits, are: The 1970–71 Toronto Maple Leafs served as Billy Duke's
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
(NHL) team, with players appearing in real game footage as well as many scripted scenes throughout the film. Leafs player Jim McKenny wore #18 with the team that season, thus served as #18 "Billy Duke" in actual game footage. Some Leafs players had scripted lines of dialogue, including:
Paul Henderson Paul Garnet Henderson (born January 28, 1943) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. A left winger, Henderson played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs and Atlanta Flame ...
, dances with Sherri at New Year's party, "You're a real swinger"; Jim Dorey, fights with Billy in the dressing room, "Who the hell do you think you are";
Ron Ellis Ronald John Edward Ellis (January 8, 1945 – May 11, 2024) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. Ellis played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ellis won the Stanley Cup in 1967, and took part in th ...
, gets some medical attention in the dressing room, "Hey Billy boy - aren't you going to ask us how we lost those three games";
Rick Ley Richard Norman Ley (born November 2, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) and World Hockey Association (WHA). Playing career Ley was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the thir ...
, teases Billy in the dressing room, "What's the secret of faking a 10-day layoff?"; while George Armstrong is a credited performer, with numerous speaking lines. Players from other NHL teams also made appearances, in filmed scenes or actual game footage, including
Jean Béliveau Joseph Jean Arthur Béliveau (August 31, 1931 – December 2, 2014) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played parts of 20 seasons with the National Hockey League's (NHL) Montreal Canadiens from 1950 to 1971. Inducted into the Hoc ...
,
Gordie Howe Gordon Howe (March 31, 1928 – June 10, 2016) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. From 1946 to 1980, he played 26 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) and six seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA); his first 25 seaso ...
and
Bobby Hull Robert Marvin Hull (January 3, 1939 – January 30, 2023) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. His blond hair, skating speed, end-to-end rushes, and ability to shoot t ...
. Game film included, and the closing credits acknowledged, the 1970–71 Boston Bruins, 1970–71 Montreal Canadiens, 1970–71 Los Angeles Kings, 1970–71 Chicago Black Hawks, 1970–71 Detroit Red Wings, 1970–71 Philadelphia Flyers, 1970–71 California Golden Seals, 1970–71 Vancouver Canucks and 1970–71 New York Rangers. Some members of the actual press corps that covered the Leafs and the NHL had lines in the film, including George Gross, Scott Young and Fergie Olver (misspelled "Oliver"). The long-time medical trainer for the Leafs, Joe Sgro, had scripted lines as the "Leaf Trainer", appearing in one scene with a silent Leafs owner
Harold Ballard Harold Edwin Ballard (born Edwin Harold Ballard, July 30, 1903 – April 11, 1990) was a Canadian businessman and sportsman. Ballard was an owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL) as well as their home arena, Maple ...
as "Leaf Doctor".


Production

The film was produced by Basset's Agincourt International studio and was financially supported by the Canadian Film Development Corporation. Product placements, besides the presence of the Toronto Maple Leafs brand, included visible use of
Molson The Molson Brewery is a Canada-based brewery based in Montreal and was established in 1786 by the Molson family. In 2005, Molson merged with the Adolph Coors Company to become Molson Coors. Molson Coors maintains some of its Canadian operati ...
brand beer and scenes filmed at
Eaton's The T. Eaton Company Limited, later known as Eaton's, was a Canadian department store chain that was once the largest in the country. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an immigrant from what is now Northern Ireland. Eaton's g ...
and the Inn on the Park hotel. The Eaton's connection included then-racecar-driver George Eaton, future chief executive officer of Eaton's, playing the role of Max in the film.


Release

The film's debut was in Toronto on 12 November 1971 and released the following week throughout Canada at 20 theatres which was then the widest distribution of a Canadian feature film. The film was distributed in 1971 by Alliance Film Distribution in Canada, and
Cannon Films The Cannon Group, Inc. was an American group of companies, including Cannon Films, which produced films from 1967 to 1994. The extensive group also owned, amongst others, a large international cinema chain and a video film company that investe ...
in the U.S.


Reception

The film generally received negative reviews. Martin Knelman of ''The Globe and Mail'' found the production "downright head-clutchingly terrible." Regina's ''
Leader-Post The ''Regina Leader-Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper published in Regina, Saskatchewan, owned by Postmedia Network. Founding The newspaper was first published as ''The Leader'' in 1883 by Nicholas Flood Davin, soon after Edgar Dewdney, Lieuten ...
'' cited "terrible acting and inane dialogue". Dave Billington of ''The Gazette'' (Montreal) also panned the production noting that "most of the ingredients of a good film were there and they were sacrificed to box office expediency." The ''Windsor Star'' was also critical noting such deficiences as "a sluggish pace and fumbling character development." ''Face-Off'' grossed $600,000 in Canada ($ million today) at the box office by early 1973, the highest-grossing Canadian English language film in Canada. Although a substantial box office income for a Canadian film, the Canadian Film Development Corporation did not expect to fully recoup its investment unless the film earned twice that amount. Upon the 2011 DVD release of ''Face-Off'',
Sun Media Sun Media Corporation was the owner of several tabloid and broadsheet newspapers in Canada and the 49% owner of the now defunct Sun News Network. It was a subsidiary of Quebecor Media. On October 6, 2014, Quebecor Media announced the sale of ...
's Bruce Kirkland acknowledged the "cheesy" production but noted the historic value of filmed scenes which included professional hockey players which he deemed of superior quality compared to the "crappy TV archives" of NHL footage of that time.


Video release

''Face-Off'' was restored from an extant 35 mm print and released in Blu-ray format by Video Services Corp on 15 November 2011. Only 10,000 discs were produced, due to complications in obtaining permission from the NHL for the hockey footage used in the film. The DVD release includes the ''
Second City Television ''Second City Television'', commonly shortened to ''SCTV'' and later known as ''SCTV Network'' and ''SCTV Channel'', is a Canadian television sketch comedy show about a fictional television station that ran intermittently between 1976 and 1984 ...
'' parody of the film, "Power Play", which featured
John Candy John Franklin Candy (October 31, 1950 – March 4, 1994) was a Canadian actor and comedian who is best known for his work in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood films. Candy first rose to national prominence in the 1970s as a member of the Tor ...
as Billy.


See also

* List of films about ice hockey


References


External links

*
''Face-Off'' at VSC (DVD release)
{{Toronto Maple Leafs Canadian sports drama films English-language Canadian films Films set in Toronto Canadian ice hockey films Golan-Globus films Films directed by George McCowan 1970s sports drama films 1971 drama films Toronto Maple Leafs 1970s English-language films 1970s Canadian films English-language sports drama films