using a signal bell and walkie-talkies, ing title Acts of Love) deserves to be advised those on the premises to shut- seen in its entirety, and not just 'de­ Love up during shooting. At one point, while scribed' to potential distributors. filming took place in the stateroom, a This is clearly a writer's film, and few dozen crew members in the room Perlmutter feels it is important to be above had to eat their lunch and move true to the scripts: she is not worried when a film has nine separate stories around in total silence. about offending some movie-goers. ""If (each with a different cast), nine screen­ The setting two weeks later couldn't someone doesn't like the story by, say, writers, and four directors, things move have been more of a contrast. Filming of Gael Greene, thats okay," she says, elab­ quickly during production. If ever film­ Mai Zetterling's "Love From the Market orating that with nine scripts, it would making deserved to be described as place" (not all of the segments have yet probably be impossible to ensure that a 'collaborative art, it does in this in­ been titled) was taking place in the the film is all things to all people. A rare stance. ancient and notorious Wheat Sheaf and admirable attitude. The film in question is Love, the first Tavern. This was the fourth episode to feature to be produced by Renee Perl- be done. For the sake of convenience, Gerry Flahive • mutter, formerly a script developer at and because the same crew worked on Quadrant Films (and incidentally, wife all of the segments (except for director of its president David Perlmutter). Shot of photography Norman Leigh, who was Love in Toronto over nine weeks from October replaced part-way through production p.c. CoupFilmsfl980) p. ReneePerlmuttersuperv. to December, Love is an anthology film by Reg Morris), the nine stories were d. Annette Cohen assoc. d. Martin Walters p. man. William Zborowsky asst to p. Pamela Keary acdts consisting of nine segments, of eight to shot one at a time, in nine successive sup. Edythe Hall prod, acc't Penny Royce book­ fourteen minutes each, all of which five-day weeks. keeper Judy Roseberg coord. Alice Farrier off. examine some aspect or form of love. The scene being filmed was supposed p.a. Steve Marshall art d. Claude Bonniere asst • Keeping a hawk-like eye out for her art d- Barbara Tranter, Dan Davis p,a.-art Kathe- What makes this film most intriguing to take place in a smokey poolroo^ / rine Vansjttart loc/unit man. Michael Muller d. prey, Georgie Collins as the Ghostkeepei however, is that it represents probably tavern populated by some slightly seedy Annette Cohen, Nancy Dowd, Liv UUman, Mai the most concentrated and most signifi­ regulars. You would expect knowing Zetterling sc Nancy Dowd, Antonia Eraser, Penelope Gilliatt, Gael Greene, Germaine Greer, Joni Mitchell, cant utilization of female writing and the Wheat Sheaf, that this would be an Edna O'Brien, Liv Ullman, Mai Zetterling asst d. Ghostkeeper directing talent ever seen in a feature exercise in cinema verite. But no. Martin Walters (1st), Don Brough (2nd), Richard film production; each and every screen­ Smoke-generating devices, looking Flower (2nd), John Webb (3rd) script sup. Blanche Ghostkeeper, a low-budget thriller with writer and director is a well-known and something like medieval watering cans, McDermaid ward des. Linda Matheson assts. ward. Mary McCready (1st) make-up Valli Slutsky a small cast and crew, was filmed in Lake accomplished woman. were used to create the right atmo­ hairdresser David Beecroft set dec. Jacques Veil- Louise, Alberta, from November 30th to spheric 'look, necessitating the use of leux prop, master Cy Langevin props Denis Perlmutter read the script written by December 23 rd. A visit to the set re­ gas masks by some of the crew mem­ Kirkham d.o.p. Norman Leigh cam. op. Matt Nancy Dowd (Coming Home and Slap- vealed that the company (primarily Al bers. The extras looked correct, but Tundo 1st asst cam. (focus) Gordon Langevin shot), Lady Antonia Fraser, Germaine 2nd asst cam. (loader) Wendy Walgate gaffer bertan) was struggUng; to complete the when it came time to run through a Greer, Gael Greene, Joni Mitchell, Edna Chris Holmes best boy Tony Eldridge key grip project under arduous conditions - re­ billiards scene (doing something each Glen Goodchild grip Wayne Goodchild laborer O'Brien, Penelope Gilliatt (Sunday, cord low temperatures and record Bloody Sunday), Mai Zetterling and Liv of these guys had probably done every Brad Blackv^ood sd. Owen Langevin boom Randy Miltigan transp. capt Jim Kennedy head driver snowfalls, plus the limitations of a three- day after work for years), some of them Ullmann, at Cannes in 1979. She snapped Frank Tenaglio driver Gary Flanagan head car­ week shoot. were stilted - proving, it s hard to play penter Weits Jekel head painter Derek Stephen­ it up, and later convinced Ullmann, The $650,000 package was assembled Dowd, and Zetterling to direct their yourself Director Zetterling, seemingly son ed. Don Ginsberg observer d. Larry Moore p. sup. Elizabeth Bntterfield cast Claire Walker, by three Calgary-based men : Harry Cole a model of patience, finally Said after own segments (Zetterling also handled Deirdre Bowen extras Brent Meyer, Dwayne Mc­ as producer, Doug MacLeod as line pro­ about seven run-throughs "C'mon fellas, those by Mitchell and O'Brien): Canadian Lean (Computer Extra Casting) pub. David Mo- ducer and production manager, and this isn't Shakespeare." CaughnaLp. TonyKalem, Nicholas Campbell, Scott Annette Cohen served as director on the Jim Makichuk as director. MacLegd and Producer Perlmutter raised the pro­ Denton, Susan Fletcher, Sonja Smits, David Main, other four, and as supervising director Cindy Girling Robin Ward, Candace O'Connor, Makichuk also collaborated on the script duction money through the sale of thirty of the ovei^film. Patrick Brymer, Moses Znaimer, Marilyn Light- The story may sound familiar: three $90,000 units, and is aiming at a spring stone, Linda Renhoffer, Kathy Garran, Sally Higgins, A huge Toronto mansion, nearly the young people are terrorized in a desert­ size of a small European hotel, served as finish of ppstproduction work. Domestic Malcolm Smith, Daisy White, Louisia Martin, Barry and international sales of the film will Stevens, Joni Mitchell, Winston Rekert, Benjamin ed ski lodge by an old woman and her the production's base of operations Gordon, Lariy Dane, Elizabeth Sheppard, Janet- monstrous entourage, with lots of blood, not be attempted until it is completed - Laine Green, Charles JoUiffe, Rita Tuckett, Maureen (some costumes and sets were made gore, and other such scenic effects. there), and as the site of several seg­ Perlmutter feels that Love (originally Fitzgerald, Gordon Thomson. given the racier and perhaps mislead­ A chance look at the call sheet con­ ments. Upon stepping through the baro­ firmed this. Props required included a nial front door, one found a house chain saw and axe. A three-foot long T- furnished largely by cables, lights, fold­ • Mai Zetterling directs her^nooker players in one segment of Love bone in the kitchen of Deer Lodge (the ing tables and chairs, arid, in one room, hotel vkrhere the action was filmed) a full-size mock-up of an ocean liner turned out to be another vital prop. stateroom, complete with fake portholes However, when asked if this project is and low ceiling. It was filled with twenty the archetypical quick'n'gory horror or so technicians, assistants, and actors, flick, MacLeod (a thirtyish, golden-hair leaving only a little more space than the ed graduate of educational television, Marx Brothers had onboard ship in commercials and features) was quick to Monkey Business. The room had'forced defend its positive elements. perspective', achieved, as art director "This is not a shocker in the sense of Claude Bonniere told me, simply by being a blood-and-guts film," he said widening it at one end. "although there is a reasonable dash'of Scenes from Penelope Gilliatts screen­ that.-. But there is also very sensitive play - about an elderly couple's ro­ photography and an interesting story mance - directed by Annette Cohen, line." were being shot that day. Robin Ward and Candace O'Connor, looking terribly MacLeod praised d.o.p. John Holbrook British in their upper-class clothes, for experimenting with low lights and were perched precariously on a bed in a fast lenses in the use of natural light "to corner of the stateroom, doing their wonderful effect." He described the lo­ Thespian best to be comfortably intimate cation as "an art director's dream," the while the crew was hunched up near script having been written around the them. The near mob of technicians, how­ availability of Deer Lodge. ever, poUtely ignored Cohen's whispered MacLeod had remembered the rustic conferences with the actors between beauty of the Lodge from his student takes. days as a cook in the kitchen. Now, he had returned as a film producer, with The switch in this story is that, al­ the cooperation of Rick Crosby, whose though the characters are elderly, they family has owned the hotel for three appear to each other, because of their generations. intense love, as they were in their court­ ing days - hence, no 'age' make-up or "You can get up in the morning and plastic wrinkles on the actors. see the shoots!" enthused MacLeod and, certainly, the icy grandeur of th? The sensitive sound equipment snow-covered Rockies supported his which could easily pick up whispered comment He added that they were ex­ fines of dialogue, presented something ploiting the location to maximum ad' of a problem, for this particular house vantage in terms of lighting, - by using had extremely communicative and kerosene, candles and natural Ught forthright stairs, bannisters, floorboards, doors, and plumbing.