{"id":17335,"date":"2018-02-09T03:32:05","date_gmt":"2018-02-09T08:32:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=17335"},"modified":"2020-04-25T11:59:48","modified_gmt":"2020-04-25T15:59:48","slug":"film-bloody-brood-the-1959","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=17335","title":{"rendered":"BR: Bloody Brood, The (1959)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Film<\/strong>: Very Good<\/p>\n

Transfer<\/strong>: \u00a0Excellent<\/p>\n

Extras<\/strong>: Excellent<\/p>\n

Label:\u00a0<\/strong> KINO Lorber<\/a> \/ Unobstructed View<\/a><\/p>\n

Region:<\/strong> All<\/p>\n

Released:<\/strong>\u00a0 October 15, 2019<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong>\u00a0 Drama \/ Crime<\/p>\n

Synopsis:<\/strong>\u00a0A young man infiltrates a hipster crowd to find the killer of his young brother.<\/p>\n

Special Features:<\/strong>\u00a0 Audio commentary with film historian Jason Pichonsky and film historian \/ Canuxploitation founder Paul Corupe \/ Featurette: “Beatniks and Broken Glass: Remembering the Bloody Brood” (16:02) \/ 2 short films: “FDR Hyde Park” (16:15) + “Freedom to Read” (14:12) \/ Theatrical Re-release Trailer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Review:<\/strong><\/p>\n

After setting up Canada\u2019s first commercial video production house, Julian Roffman (The Mask<\/a><\/strong>) took another crack at feature film directing, and the gamble was this unusual crime film that riffs the Leopold-Loeb murders<\/a> in which two beatniks murder a kid for kicks. As the private investigation, by the dead boy\u2019s brother Cliff (Jack Betts), rattles the nerves of the murderous pair, nervous Nellie Francis (Ron Hartmann) becomes paranoid, and over-confident schemer and bully Nico (Peter Falk) seems to relish the challenge of getting close to his enemy, and whether Cliff’s vengeance will land on his doorstep.<\/p>\n

As a low budget venture, The Bloody Brood<\/strong> is cleverly kept indoors; being a late night \/ late morning story where characters interact, so much of the scenes occur in the beat club where Nico is entertained by his flock of gullible poets, sculptors, dancers, models, and wannabes. The rare forays outdoors include a fight scene by a car lot (see stills at the very end), and a dim and deep delivery corridor for the finale, but the lack of exteriors adds to the claustrophobic atmosphere of the film.<\/p>\n

Nico’s pretentious followers are more caricatures \u2013 the script by Anne Howard Bailey, Ben Kerner, Elwood Ullman, and Des Hardman \u2013 offers silly poetic beat babble and earnest dialogue \u2013 but that may have been the ultimate intention, as Nico is later revealed to be a poseur himself, colluding with the club owner to lure young adults, and sell heroine as a chic form of rebellion as the kids believe they\u2019re out-classing their square 9-5 parents.<\/p>\n

If the period argot and posturing date the film, it\u2019s perhaps because it\u2019s played straight \u2013 a stark difference from the overt satirical elements in Roger Corman\u2019s A Bucket of Blood<\/strong> (1959) in which a schnook yearns to be an artist, and kills to create striking sculptures \u2013 but Brood<\/strong>\u2019s dramatic tone pays off when later scenes have Cliff calling out Nico\u2019s girlfriend Ellie (Barbara Lord) as a hypocrite, playing airy rebel by night when she works long hours at a TV studio as an assistant to bombastic commercial director Francis.<\/p>\n

Francis\u2019 own clumsily hidden duplicity is called out in the opening scene \u2013 he\u2019s immediately branded one of the \u2018eggheads\u2019 who\u2019s sold his soul to the older square generation \u2013 but Ellie has a few inches of credibility, admitting to being a little lost in a soulless career, and using Nico\u2019s group and impromptu house parties to ‘feel free’ and maybe grasp a new purpose.<\/p>\n

Ever-formal Nico wears fitted suits, and he resembles a Don when he drapes a very nice coat over his shoulders during a bargaining session with two leather jacketed thugs, both of whom could easily slit his throat and snatch his roll of cash.<\/p>\n

When Ellie visits a beat-up Cliff during a lunch break, her casual evening sweaters are replaced with an almost Victorian wardrobe that seems to infer a free spirit trapped in a regimented world with thick glass ceilings, and Cliff\u2019s first attempt to infiltrate the group has him similarly dressing casual, yet his Sears outfit makes it clear he\u2019s either a wannabe, or a perhaps an undercover cop, watching Nico work his minions from the sidelines.<\/p>\n

In spite of the script\u2019s weaknesses \u2013 the idea a detective would hand over a suspect list with contact info to a vengeful brother, and let him do dangerous leg work is absurd – the basic structure is sound, and both the musical direction by Louis Applebaum and jazz cues and source music by Harry Freedman (Isabel<\/strong>, Act of the Heart<\/strong>, The Pyx<\/strong>) are pretty solid. Eugene Shufftan\u2019s cinematography is very noirish, and it\u2019s unsurprising the veteran from Metropolis<\/strong> (1927) and Port of Shadows<\/a><\/strong> (1938) would soon earn an Oscar Award for his sublime B&W cinematography in The Hustler<\/strong> (1961).<\/p>\n

Falk\u2019s noted film debut in a leading role (which preceded his Oscar-Nominated performances in Murder, Inc. <\/strong>and Pocketful of Miracles<\/strong>) shows his charisma for playing characters who watch, absorb, assess, and execute a carefully coordinated strategy \u2013 something he\u2019d refine to perfection in the long-running series Columbo<\/strong>, but perhaps the most menacing aspect of the story is its most everlasting: of human cruelty stemming from boredom.<\/p>\n

Inspired by an actual case, Nico and Francis kill Cliff\u2019s younger, studious brother by feeding him a hamburger laced with broken glass, and watch him writhe to death as he calls Cliff for help. (The pair\u2019s behaviour is foreshadowed when they not only deny medical aide to an old paperman in the opening scene, but Nico takes back the dollar tip he\u2019d given the doomed man moments earlier.)<\/p>\n

Nico regards his followers as morons and squares as scum, making the death of a decent kid all the more terrible, and Falk makes it clear Nico likes the amusement, the power, and is willing to make a slow kill as regular feature at future parties, perhaps with the intention of making it a group effort if his control can increase past twitchy Francis. (It\u2019s worth noting that Nico\u2019s senior benefactor tells him to reel back on his performance as an arbitrator of cool, fearing he\u2019ll become an annoying beatnik himself.)<\/p>\n

Although planned as a career builder and attempt to show Hollywood and disinterested Canadian distributors that Roffman and Canadians as a whole could make perfectly slick films, Brood<\/strong> failed to gain much traction, perhaps because it had to be filmed quickly and meet the theatrical release date set by U.S. distributor Allied Artists, an indie whose bread & butter during the late fifties lay in exploitation and C-grade fodder like World Without End<\/strong> (1956), Roger Corman\u2019s Attack of the Crab Monsters <\/strong>(1957) and Not of This Earth<\/strong> (1957), and the delightfully sleazy shockers The Hypnotic Eye<\/strong> (1960), Confessions of an Opium Eater<\/strong> (1962), and The Strangler<\/strong> (1964).<\/p>\n

The studio did make less goofy and risqu\u00e9 materials and occasional reared its head for A-level productions (Friendly Persuasion<\/strong>, and later El Cid <\/strong>and Papillon<\/strong>), but certainly the poster campaign presents a lurid tale of Deceit! Murder! And Naughty Women! (The re-release trailer, presumably hacked together by Sutton Films, is awful, with shoddily slapped together material selling the film as another outrageous performance by then two-time Oscar Nominee Falk.)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to brand Brood<\/strong> as a na\u00efve or earnest social problem film, but there\u2019s surprising depth in the work; even the weaker performances have aged rather well. (The lone exception is the bongo drummer, who rarely hits the skins, and is way<\/em> off beat from whatever temp track or final source cue was used in the mix.)<\/p>\n

Roffman\u2019s film has been available in various grey \/ bootleg VHS and DVD editions, but it\u2019s been worth the wait to see an uncut version restored for both Blu-ray, DVD, and future theatrical screenings, such as the premiere in the fall of 2019 at the TIFF Bell Lightbox,\u00a0as part of the UNESCO World Day for Audiovisual Heritage. (See end for link to the post-screening Q&A between Peter Roffman and Jason Pichonsky.)<\/p>\n

Much like their successful efforts to bring a proper legal edition of the 3D classic The Mask<\/strong> to home video and theatrical venues, film historian Jason Pichonsky and Peter Roffman worked with KINO Lorber again to produce the definitive edition of Brood<\/strong>, packed with an informative commentary, a making-of featurette, and two rare shorts directed by Julian Roffman.<\/p>\n

Pichonsky is joined by Rue Morgue writer and Canuxploitation.com<\/a> founder and CanCon historian Paul Corupe, and the pair trace the film\u2019s genesis as a script initially developed for Hal Roach Studios, and Roffman later teaming up with producer Ralph Foster, and distributor \/ Canadian Film Weekly publisher N.A. Taylor, the future co-founder of Cineplex<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The historians present a lively and very detailed account of the film, its talent pool, and sparse locations. There’s also an unexpected discussion of A Cool Sound from Hell<\/strong>, a very similar themed film shot by a young Sidney J. Furey (The Ipcress File<\/strong>, The Entity<\/strong>) at Roffman and Foster’s Meridian studios at Frater and Woodbine. Furey whisked the film to England, where it had limited distribution; the movie was never released in Canada until a restoration by the BFI, and a lone screening at TIFF before it was taken\u00a0 back to England.)<\/p>\n

Peter Roffman offers a short anecdote in the commentary on Falk\u2019s casting, and is the main interview source in the featurette which contextualizes the production in Roffman\u2019s unusual career as writer, producer, cinematographer, director in Canada and the U.S.<\/p>\n

As better detailed in The Mask<\/strong>‘s Blu-ray bio featurette, Roffman went from news cameraman during WWII to NFB filmmaker, producer and assistant director in Hollywood, TV producer-director, blacklisted filmmaker, and CanCon champion who in the late 1950s set up Meridian Films and made a string of successful TV ads and industrial productions.<\/p>\n

The two short films offer striking snapshots of his skills within the documentary format. The oldest is FDR at Hyde Park<\/strong>, a very reverent portrait of the American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt<\/a> which screened for several years as an added attraction in NYC. Written by Norman Rosten and longtime Roffman collaborator Bern Kerner, the doc is part experimental, relying on objects, rooms, and locations to trace FDR\u2019s birth as a \u201cplump and pink and nice\u201d baby to active college boy; being stricken with what was then branded as infantile paralysis; and his lengthy political career in state and federal positions.<\/p>\n

Roffman, who also doubled as cinematographer, blends lush diffused images of the Hyde park compound with elegant slow tracking shots of the house interior. The camera often swings to a window to give an impression of what FDR saw during his bedroom convalescence, and from his modest office where he steered the country through the New Deal, WWII, and the founding of the United Nations. There are no voices save for the soothing tone of the great Norman Rose, and no humans except in stills, paintings, and sketches. Perhaps the two most effective uses of FDR effigies are a series of highly dramatic lap dissolves of a brass bust, and the finale which closes on an unfinished portrait, frozen after its seated subject passed away in 1945.<\/p>\n

The documentary is neither propaganda nor outright adulation, but a feting of a figure whose character and beliefs impacted people in various economic and social strata; and the UN, which became an important bulwark against Communist aggression, and in later years, controversial for lacking the impact and full-on positive role in tackling crises, aggression, and bridging gaps among member states.<\/p>\n

Peter Roffman\u2019s commentary extends to most of the short\u2019s running time, and he rightly regards the doc as very special, and cites it as among his father\u2019s favourite and best work, which also includes co-directing with John Fernhout And So They Live<\/a><\/strong> (1940), a very Griersonian portrait of an isolated Appalachian community; and the NFB short Nahanni<\/a><\/strong> (1962), which he produced and directed without credit.<\/p>\n

Depending on one\u2019s tastes, composer Irving Landau\u2019s score for FDR at Hyde Park<\/strong> is either shrill and overstated, or a lush orchestral suite tracing FDR\u2019s life events, and adding extra poignancy to frozen objects within his house, such as his desk, the dining room, and the ramp and wheelchair he used.<\/p>\n

The second short film is a kind of propaganda piece designed to refute anti-Communist rhetoric. Freedom to Read<\/strong> (1954) was commissioned by Columbia University to mark their centenary and defend the banning of library books with a provocative drama designed as a teaching tool and spawn discussions among affected organizations.<\/p>\n

Citing the credo \u201cThe only weapon against bad ideas is better ideas,\u201d the drama begins when a librarian finds a lingering patron, and her short \u2018Can help you?\u2019 reveals the twerp\u2019s intention to ban works deemed fifth column, traitorous, and un-American. He soon departs with the intention of arguing his case at the board’s next meeting, and the librarian considers her defence strategy as she sorts through the piles of books the twerp presumably set aside as examples of wrong thinking, including works by Voltaire, Milton, and others.<\/p>\n

The two leads excepted, the acting is stilted, but as anti-propaganda during the Communist witch hunts that ruined careers and lives \u2013 Roffman had to return to Canada soon after being blacklisted – it\u2019s fascinating. As the librarian articulates her stance that \u201cAmericans have a right to read all sides,\u201d the twerp makes his short retort directly to the camera, and the drama freezes with an onscreen caption for the projectionist to halt the film so the group can discuss \u201cHow can a library best save our freedom?\u201d<\/p>\n

Not unlike the dissolves between objects, Roffman\u2019s montages include footage of books, names, and etched or painted figures, and as precious as the film may appear, it still works as a contrast between reason and fear-mongering.<\/p>\n

Switching back to Brood<\/strong>, star Peter Falk soon found a stable career playing TV\u2019s Det. Columbo over several decades, while Jack Betts had a recurring role on Checkmate<\/strong> (1961-1962) and Perry Mason <\/strong>(1961-1966), and like many actors trapped in episodic TV, hopped over to Europe and starred in a variety of spaghetti westerns, playing Django and Sabata under the name Hunt Powers before he returned to American TV and the occasional feature film. Ron Hartmann appeared in countless TV productions and the occasional feature film, including The Reincarnate<\/strong> (1971), which was largely directed by Roffman.<\/p>\n

Although Julian Roffman wasn\u2019t happy with Barbara Lord\u2019s performance, she\u2019s actually fine playing a character withholding emotions, because she\u2019s trapped in a kind of limbo. Lord appeared in a few more TV series before stepping away in 1961, and returning for appearances on Hunter<\/strong> (1988) and Beauty and the Beast<\/strong> (1989).<\/p>\n

Twisty dancer Anne Collings made her debut in the Toronto-set anthology Now That April\u2019s Here<\/strong> (1958) and co-starred as the sort-of doomed secretary in The Mask<\/strong>. Aside from several TV credits in the U.S. and Canada, Collings\u2019 other formal feature films include Seven Alone <\/strong>(1974), and Escape from Angola<\/strong> (1976) from executive producer Ivan Torns, for whom Roffman directed episodes of Flipper<\/strong> (1964-1967) and Daktari<\/strong> (1966-1968).<\/p>\n

Films formally produced under the Meridian Films shingle include The Bloody Brood <\/strong>(1959), the short documentary You Can Go a Long Way<\/strong> (1961), Explosion<\/strong> (1969), and The Reincarnate<\/strong> (1971).<\/p>\n

A podcast interview with Peter Roffman<\/a> on the publication of Dear Guelda: The Death and Life of Pioneering Canadian Filmmaker Julian Roffman<\/a><\/strong> is available, as well as a podcast interview with film historian and restorationist Jason Pichonsky<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(Sort of) Postscript<\/strong><\/p>\n

Few details of Roffman’s Meridian Films outfit exists in print and archival media, but as recounted in Dear Guelda<\/strong>,\u00a0the production studio occupied the Community Theatre<\/a>, and an adjacent building that either contained or later evolved into a garage.<\/p>\n

In terms of interior sets, the office where Nico’s benefactor cautions his protege to avoiding becoming one of his pretentious flock is the same office set used by the psychiatrist in The Mask<\/strong>; part of the Meridian studio proper and an equipment rack was likely used in the scene showing Ellie and Francis filing a commercial.<\/p>\n

The film’s exteriors are very limited – there’s only the phone booth where Cliff’s brother makes his final call, the fight by a car dealership, and the long tunnel in the finale – but among the three locations the dealership is still easy to identify, since the buildings at the corner of Frater and Woodbine remain pretty much intact.<\/p>\n

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Wide shot of extant corner, with old playhouse centre, and garage (right) + brown buildind (extreme right).<\/p><\/div>\n

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Main fight area by brown building. Note metal parking signs on wall, and beige cladding of building front.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Same brown building, same beige cladding.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Tighter angle. Note sign and edge of front cladding.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Camera farther back, showing street, but sign and beige cladding still visible.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Camera flipped to the other end of the axis, still showing brown building.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Reverse angle, showing street, as Cliff makes a break for the alley between the brown building and the parked cars on the dealer lot.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Reverse angle as the two thugs run past 2 parked cars after knocking down Cliff. Note that downward L-pipe to the far right that’s part of the brick building which the thugs pass before leaping into the garden of a classic 1920s Toronto row house.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Current alley, with room for 2 parked cars, and at end possible rear of same house. Faintly visible is that downward L-pipe at the end of the brick building.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Front of the 1920s row house.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2018; revised 2020 by Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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