Winter Kept Us Warm is a 1965 Canadian romantic drama film written and directed by David Secter. It stars John Labow, Henry Tarvainen, Joy Tepperman, and Janet Amos. It was the first English-language Canadian film shown at the Cannes Film Festival.
Secter, a student at the University of Toronto, made a short film and was a film critic in The Varsity before making his feature film debut with Winter Kept Us Warm. The title of the film comes from a line in T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land. The film was produced on a limited budget of $8,000 and the entire cast worked for free. Although the film is considered English Canada's first queer film, the cast of the film was not made aware of the film's subject matter during casting. Guerrilla filmmaking tactics were used to film around Toronto and a completed script was never made for the film due to the limited amount of time available.
Before the film was completed the Commonwealth Film Festival in Cardiff, United Kingdom, requested that the film be submitted. Seven minutes of footage was sent and the film was approved. Winter Kept Us Warm premiered as the opening film of the Commonwealth Film Festival. It earned back its production costs and the National Film Board of Canada submitted it to the 1966 Cannes Film Festival's Critics' Week.
Plot Peter Saarinen, a freshman, and Doug Harris, a returning student, arrive at the University of Toronto. Peter is hired as a waiter at the dining hall and is mocked by Doug and other members of Hunter House, a fraternity. Doug and Peter meet in the library, where Peter is reading The Waste Land, and Doug apologises for his actions in the dining hall.
Doug and three other men go to a restaurant to pick up girls. Bev, Doug's girlfriend, performs a striptease for Doug's friends before going out for lunch with him. He ignores her and looks at other women while she talks about her new dress.
Peter invites Doug over to his room to eat Finnish pastries. Peter, who is of Finnish descent, shows Doug a phonograph record of Finnish music. Doug invites Peter to his room to play the record since Peter does not have a record player. They go to a Harry Belafonte show, then around Toronto's nightlife.
After Hunter House's Christmas party, Peter gets drunk and passes out in the dining hall. He is taken out of the hall and Doug leaves a dance due to his concern about Peter. Doug hangs out with Peter in his room while he recovers from his hangover and the two later play in the snow.
Peter gets the role of the male lead in the play Ghosts and meets Sandra during rehearsal. Doug learns one of the songs from Peter's Finnish record and sings it for him while playing on a guitar. Bev questions why Doug likes Peter so much considering that Peter is not like the rest of his friends. Doug explains that is why he likes him. Bev is angry when Peter tells her and Doug they cannot come to the cast party.
Sandra and Peter fall in love and start dating. As final exams approach, Doug is unable to hang out with Peter alone due to Sandra. Bev and Doug's relationship is strained, and they meet less often. Doug invites Peter to a fraternity dance, but Peter does not attend, going to a club with Sandra instead. Doug has sex with Bev. Doug insults Sandra after Peter tells him he had sex with her. Peter tells Doug to leave his room, and Doug kicks his testicles.
Doug is surrounded in his room by items Peter gave him and plays the Finnish song he played Peter earlier. He goes to the library, where he reads The Waste Land.
Cast John Labow as Doug Harris Henry Tarvainen as Peter Saarinen Joy Tepperman as Bev Janet Amos as Sandra Iain Ewing as Artie Jack Messinger as Nick Larry Greenspan as Larry Sol Mendelson as Hall Porter George Appleby as House Don
Production Development
David Secter, originally from Winnipeg, was a 4th-year student at University College, University of Toronto when he made Winter Kept Us Warm, his debut feature film. His only prior film experience was the 8 minute short film Love with the Proper Guppy he made on a budget of CAD$31.88. Having been a film reviewer for The Varsity, he has stated that he was inspired by the French New Wave: "A lot of those New Wave guys had started out as critics, and I thought, 'Hey, if they can move from talking about movies to making movies, why can't I?
The film was originally titled Doug and Peter, but Secter renamed it to Winter Kept Us Warm which is another line from The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot. When Secter selected the title he was unaware of rumours about Eliot's sexuality or theories about The Waste Land being a gay romance. He felt that the line properly captured how he wanted to portray connections.
Toronto had an active gay community, with nine gay bars in Toronto in 1964. Other Canadian films in the 1960s, such as À tout prendre, The Fox, and Deliver Us from Evil, dealt with queer subjects as well. Secter noted that homosexuality was a "triple taboo" as it was a sin according to religion, a crime by the state, and labeled as a mental illness.
On 1 November 1964, a meeting was held in Eric Rump's room. Many of the attendees believing they were joining a filmmaking club and did not come to later meetings after being told that it was focused on Secter's film project. Ron B. Thomson, who attended the first meeting, became the film's executive producer. According to Thomson, attendance of the meetings fell to around 20, including actors, film crew, and hangers-on. Secter found most of the cast by placing a classified advertisement in the university's student newspaper The Varsity. Secter went to the Ryerson Polytechnic Institute's photography department to find technicians and found Robert Fresco and Ernest Meershoek, the directors of photography for the film. The entire crew worked for free as volunteers.
The fundraising goal for the film was $5,000. The Students' Administration Council offered $750, but Secter stated that this was offered as a loan and would require him to give up distribution rights. The council later gave him $500 with no other requirements. He received $800 from University College, Toronto. The film received a $750 grant from the University of Toronto Students' Union, along with permission to film several key scenes at Hart House. The Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council, and the National Film Board of Canada declined to give grants. The final cost of the film was $8,000 ().
Casting
Although the film is considered English Canada's first gay film, the cast of the film was not made aware of the film's queer subject matter. There were no auditions for the film. Secter noted that the actors were fine with nudity as it was not strange on campus; men still swam nude at Hart House at the time.
The first two actors cast to play Doug withdrew from the project. Secter saw John Labow in a Hart House production of Look Back in Anger. Labow was selected on 18 November and rehearsals with Henry Tarvainen started that afternoon.
Robert Gill, the artistic director of Hart House Theatre, suggested to Janet Amos that she become involved in Winter Kept Us Warm. Joy Tepperman learned of the film from Amos, who was cast as a girlfriend, and asked Secter if she could also be cast as a girlfriend. A second girlfriend did not exist in the script at that point and Doug was initially envisioned as a womanizer. Fielding convinced him to make the character and Secter had her involved in developing it.
Lorne Michaels was initially cast as Nick, but withdrew from the project. He provided assistance with the script. Jack Messinger was selected to replace Michaels. Messinger's leg broke during production and it was incorporated into the film.
Filming Winter Kept Us Warm was the first feature film shot at the University of Toronto. There were difficulties with acquiring permission as there was no centralized system and Secter had to ask permission at every location he went to. A 5-page treatment outlining the story and listing the required locations was submitted to Douglas LePan, but rejected the request on 30 October 1964, citing its homoerotic elements.
Secter later stated that he was so inexperienced that he did not know until the first day of filming that the clapperboard was used to synch audio and was instead used to make sure everybody knew he was filming. On 22 November, a scene of Doug and Peter meeting in the library was shot for use in gaining financial support. Filming started at 3pm and was planned to end at midnight, but lasted until 7am. The next scene, which features Doug and Peter interacting in a dining room, was shot on 8 December and featured over 100 extras.
Filming started without a script as Secter was pressed for time. He needed to be a student to use university locations and would be graduating the next year. No complete script was made for the film. John Clute and Ian Porter, who appeared in the cast party scene, wrote dialogue for the film.
Most of the shots in the film were done in a single take. The scenes at the library were shot after it closed for the night and the scenes at the dining hall were filmed between mealtimes. Guerrilla filmmaking was used for the winter carnival scenes. The apartment of a cast member's sister was used for Sandra's house and the cast party took place in a basement flat rented by Secter.
Secter obtained partially used film reels from other production companies as a way to cut costs. Bob Crone, the founder of Toronto film lab and post-production facility Film House, agreed to let the production run up a debt. This was the first production that Film House was involved with. of film negatives were lost and never found.
Editing On 27 April 1965, Secter received a letter from the Commonwealth Film Festival in Cardiff, United Kingdom, requesting that Winter Kept Us Warm be submitted for consideration. He initially did not reply as the film was not finished, but the festival made and sent multiple phone calls and telegrams. The only portion of the film that had been edited was a 7-minute sample shown to prospective investors, so Secter sent them the sample. Their decision to include the film was confirmed on 16 July, much to the shock of Secter.
Secter had wanted to edit the film himself, but had to change his plans after the film was confirmed for the Commonwealth Film Festival. A three hour rough cut was created by July. Michael Foytényi was brought onto the project at the recommendation of Secter's acting teacher John Hirsch. Foytényi, realizing that the project was too big for him to do on his own, brought on George Appleby. Appleby edited 35–40% of the film by himself according to Secter.
When editing began, the ending for the film had not yet been determined. Secter considered having Doug reconcile with Bev, but instead chose to end the film with Doug reading The Waste Land alone in the library. Filming started again in July and ended on 21 August.
Music
Paul Hoffert, a University of Toronto science major, was the film's composer. He was a professional musician and did work for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Hoffert worked for free, but requested a budget for professional musicians. The soundtrack consisted of Rob McConnell on the trombone, Moe Koffman on the flute, Eugene Amaro on the alto sax and flute, Ron Laurie on the cello, Ed Bickert on the guitar, Stan Zadak and Doug Willson on the acoustic double bass, and Ed Thigpen and Stan Perry on the drums.
Release Secter was unable to find funding to travel to Cardiff and instead travelled with Fresco on a charter flight to Edinburgh alongside a rugby union. Winter Kept Us Warm premiered as the opening film of the Commonwealth Film Festival on 27 September 1965. As the film was on 16 mm film, a special apparatus had to be used due to the theatre normally only showing 35 mm film.