''The Bloody Brood'' is a 1959 Canadian

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by Julian Roffman.

Premise

A man begins to investigate on his own the death of his brother, who died from eating a hamburger laced with ground glass. With the police case stalled because of ineptness, the man's own investigation leads him toward a

beatnik Beatniks were members of a social movement in the mid-20th century, who subscribed to an anti- materialistic lifestyle. They rejected the conformity and consumerism of mainstream American culture and expressed themselves through various forms ...

hang-out frequented by Nico (Peter Falk), a shady character who supplies drugs to the patrons and philosophizes about the ills of the world.

Cast

Production

Julian Roffman and Ralph Foster formed Meridian Films in 1954, and Roffman chose to direct its first feature film, ''The Bloody Brood''. The film was shot over the course of sixteen days in May 1959, on a budget of $87,000-90,000, with financial backing from Roffman and

Nat Taylor Nathan A. Taylor (1906 – February 29, 2004) was a Canadian inventor and film producer who co-founded Cineplex with Garth Drabinsky. Biography Taylor was born and raised in a Canadian Jews, Jewish family in Toronto, Ontario and began his busines ...

. It was made as the top picture for a

double feature The double feature is a Film, motion picture industry phenomenon in which theaters would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which the presentation of one feature film would be followed by various short subjec ...

. Taylor's wife, Yvonne, was an associated producer. Roffman and Taylor later worked together on '' The Mask''. The production interiors were lensed at the

Community Theatre Community theatre refers to any Theatre, theatrical performance made in relation to particular Community, communities—its usage includes theatre made by, with, and for a community. It may refer to a production that is made entirely by a communit ...

, on Woodbine Avenue, in Toronto, a cinema that had been earlier retrofitted for use as a TV studio after 1955. Ralph Foster and Julian Roffman founded Meridian Studios in 1954.

Release

The film was distributed by Allied Artists and premiered on 26 October 1959, in Toronto. It was banned by the Alberta Censorship Board and the ban was upheld on appeal. It was financially unsuccessful. The

National Legion of Decency The National Legion of Decency, also known as the Catholic Legion of Decency, was an American Catholic group founded in 1934 by the Archbishop of Cincinnati, John T. McNicholas, as an organization dedicated to identifying objectionable content i ...

listed the film in class B as morally objectionable in part for all. The

MPAA The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, the mini-major Amazon MGM Studios, as well as the video streaming services Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. F ...

's censorship board called for the film to be edited before its American release.

Reception

Author and film critic

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic, film historian, and author. He is known for his book of film capsule reviews, '' Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'', published from 1969 to 2014. Maltin was the film criti ...

awarded the film two out of four stars, calling it " laughable, thoroughly cynical depiction of the Beat Generation."

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 ...

, writing in ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', stated that "Only Roffman's virile direction and deft editing, together with the convincing portrayals of the cast, prevent the entire production from collapsing into comic absurdity".

References

Works cited

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bloody Brood 1959 films 1959 crime drama films Canadian detective films English-language Canadian films 1950s English-language films Canadian black-and-white films Canadian crime thriller films Films shot in Toronto Films directed by Julian Roffman 1950s Canadian films English-language crime drama films