''The Ernie Game'' is a 1967 Canadian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Don Owen.

Plot

The film centres on Ernie Turner and his attempts to survive in the world after he's released from an asylum. He grows increasingly alienated and his fragile mental state declines, moving between two women, ex-girlfriend and current lover.

Cast

* Alexis Kanner as Ernie Turner *

Jackie Burroughs Jacqueline Burroughs (2 February 1939 – 22 September 2010) was a British-born Canadian actress. Burroughs starred in over 100 films and television shows over her career, including ''Heavy Metal (film), Heavy Metal'', ''The Care Bears Movie'', ...

as Gail * Anna Cameron as Social worker *

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

as Singer * Corinne Copnick as Landlady * Rolland D'Amour as Neighbour * Judith Gault as Donna * Derek May as Ernie's accomplice * Louis Negin as Ernie's friend

Production

''The Ernie Game'' was directed and written by Don Owen, and was shot by Martin Duckworth and Jean-Claude Labrecque using 35 mm film.

Kensington Market Kensington Market is a distinctive multicultural neighbourhood in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Market is an older neighbourhood and one of the city's best-known. In November 2006, it was designated a National Historic Sites of Canada, ...

and

did the soundtrack for the movie. Owen wrote the script based on material written by Bernard Cole Spencer. The characters of Gail (

) and Donna (Judith Gault) previously appeared in Owen's shorter drama film '' Notes for a Film About Donna and Gail'', although the role of Donna was played by a different actress in the earlier film. The film, a co-production between the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

and

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

, was filmed in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

from 16 January to 1 April 1967. Owen claimed that he had to fight with the NFB in order for the movie to be made and this was the last film he made for the NFB. It was completed with a budget of $320,561 (), after initially being budgeted at $265,621.

Release

The movie aired on

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

on 8 November 1967, and was theatrically distributed by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

for two weeks starting on 17 October 1968. The movie was a commercial failure. Delays by Kensington Market while writing the score, which was completed two weeks before its television premiere, prevented it from appearing at the

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center. Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, NYFF i ...

and Montreal International Film Festival.

Reception

Maclean's ''Maclean's'' is a Canadian magazine founded in 1905 which reports on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, trends and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian ...

'' stated that the film was the "best fiction movie Canada ever made" and '' Variety'' stated that it was the "best Canadian feature film made to date". However,

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 ...

of the '' Toronto Telegram'' stated that it was "an utter failure" and Patrick Scott of the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'' stated that it was "the largest pile of garbage committed to film since the invention of the nickelodeon". Senator Edgar Fournier opposed ''The Ernie Game'' and '' Waiting for Caroline'' for being "indecent, immoral and repulsive" and both going overbudget. It was called "One of the most innovative examples of personal cinema to come from

English Canada English Canada comprises that part of the population within Canada, whether of British origin or otherwise, that speaks English. The term ''English Canada'' is also used for any of the following: *Describing all the provinces of Canada ...

in the Sixties" by the Cinematheque Ontario. It was shown at the 18th Berlin International Film Festival and screened in the Director's Fortnight stream at the

1969 Cannes Film Festival The 22nd Cannes Film Festival took place from 8 to 23 May 1969. Italian filmmaker Luchino Visconti served as jury president for the main competition. The ''Grand Prix du Festival International du Film'', then the fetival's main prize, was awarde ...

.Charles-Henri Ramond
"Les films québécois à Cannes à travers l’histoire"
''Films du Québec'', 28 April 2019.

Accolades

References

Works cited

* * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ernie Game, The 1967 films 1967 drama films Canadian drama films English-language Canadian films Films directed by Don Owen National Film Board of Canada films Best Picture Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Films shot in Montreal Films set in Montreal Films about mental health Leonard Cohen 1960s English-language films 1960s Canadian films English-language drama films