The Ernie Game

The Ernie Game
Directed by	Don Owen
Written by	Don Owen
Produced by	Gordon Burwash
Starring	Alexis Kanner Judith Gault Jackie Burroughs
Cinematography	Jean-Claude Labrecque Martin Duckworth
Edited by	Roy Ayton
Music by	Kensington Market Leonard Cohen
Production companies	National Film Board of Canada Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Distributed by	CBC Television Columbia Pictures
Release date	8 November 1967 (1967-11-08)
Running time	89 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	English
Budget	$320,561

The Ernie Game is a 1967 Canadian drama film 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^[1]
• Jackie Burroughs as Gail^[1]
• Anna Cameron as Social worker^[1]
• Leonard Cohen as Singer^[1]
• Corinne Copnick as Landlady^[1]
• Rolland D'Amour as Neighbour^[1]
• Judith Gault as Donna^[1]
• Derek May as Ernie's accomplice^[1]
• Louis Negin as Ernie's friend^[1]

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 and Leonard Cohen did the soundtrack for the movie.^[1][2][3][4] Owen wrote the script based on material written by Bernard Cole Spencer.^[5]

The characters of Gail (Jackie Burroughs) 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.^[6]

The film, a co-production between the National Film Board of Canada and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, was filmed in Montreal 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.^[7][4] It was completed with a budget of $320,561 (equivalent to $2,782,328 in 2023), after initially being budgeted at $265,621.^[8][9]

Release

The movie aired on CBC Television on 8 November 1967, and was theatrically distributed by Columbia Pictures for two weeks starting on 17 October 1968. The movie was a commercial failure.^[10][4] 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 and Montreal International Film Festival.^[11]

Reception

Maclean's 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 of the Toronto Telegram stated that it was "an utter failure" and Patrick Scott of the Toronto Star 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.^{[7][8][12][4]} It was called "One of the most innovative examples of personal cinema to come from English Canada in the Sixties" by the Cinematheque Ontario.^[13]

It was shown at the 18th Berlin International Film Festival and screened in the Director's Fortnight stream at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival.^[14]

Accolades

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
Canadian Film Awards	October 4, 1968	Best Feature Film	The Ernie Game	Won	[4]
		Best Director	Don Owen	Won
Barcelona International Film Festival	1968	Honourable Mention	The Ernie Game	Won	[4]

References

1. "The Ernie Game". National Film Board of Canada. Archived from the original on 30 September 2022.
2. "Canadian Film Encyclopedia The Ernie Game". Toronto International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021.
3. "Two popular Canadians at pavilion". Montreal Star. 21 July 1967. p. 43. Archived from the original on 30 October 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Handling 1976, p. 18.
5. "The Ernie Game joint production". Ottawa Citizen. 4 February 1967. p. 93. Archived from the original on 30 October 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Joan Fox, "The Ernie Game: more to admire than like". The Globe and Mail, 9 November 1967.
7. Evans 1991, p. 122.
8. Edwards 1973, p. 37.
9. "Senator Slaps Caroline". Vancouver Sun. 20 December 1967. p. 1. Archived from the original on 31 October 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "An old strength is rediscovered". Montreal Star. 18 October 1967. p. 80. Archived from the original on 30 October 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "Bookings are light - and they like it". Ottawa Citizen. 24 November 1967. p. 29. Archived from the original on 30 October 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "The Caroline mystique". The Province. 24 November 1967. p. 42. Archived from the original on 30 October 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
13. Gravestock, Steve (Fall 2008). "A FORTNIGHT AT CANNES: FORTY YEARS OF THE QUINZAINE". Cinematheque Ontario. Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
14. Charles-Henri Ramond, "Les films québécois à Cannes à travers l’histoire". Films du Québec, 28 April 2019.

Works cited

• Evans, Gary (1991). In the National Interest: A Chronicle of the National Film Board of Canada from 1949 to 1989. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0802027849.
• Edwards, Natale (1973). "Who's Don Owen? What's he done, and what's he doing now?". Cinema Canada. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020.
• Handling, Piers (1976). Canadian Feature Films: 1913-1969; Part 3: 1964-1969. Canadian Film Institute.

External links

• Watch The Ernie Game on the NFB website
• The Ernie Game at IMDb