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 Judith Gault as Donna Jackie Burroughs as Gail Leonard Cohen as Singer Derek May as Ernie's accomplice Louis Negin as Ernie's friend, Max Anna Cameron as Social worker Corinne Copnick as Landlady Rolland D'Amour as Neighbour
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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. Owen wrote the script based on material written by Bernard Cole Spencer.
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.Joan Fox, "The Ernie Game: more to admire than like". The Globe and Mail, 9 November 1967.
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. It was completed with a budget of (equivalent to $million in ), after initially being budgeted at $265,621 (equivalent to $million in ).
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. 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.
Reception and legacy 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. In 2008, it was called "One of the most innovative examples of personal cinema to come from English 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.Charles-Henri Ramond, "Les films québécois à Cannes à travers l’histoire". Films du Québec, 28 April 2019.
Accolades Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Canadian Film Awards October 4, 1968 Best Feature Film The Ernie Game Best Director Don Owen Barcelona International Film Festival 1968 Honourable Mention The Ernie Game
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Trailer