Cinema Canada (Sep 1979)

Grandma (Kay Hawtrey) and Mr. David (Barry Morse) on the Elora, Ontario set of Cries in the Night is he exactly what he seems?” The script, I think deliberately, leaves a lot for the actors to do and it’s noticeable that a great many good scripts of this kind, in this genre, also leave a lot for the artist to do.” With distribution deals not completed, William Fruet and associate pro ducer Patrick Doyle wouldn’t reveal the budget, but other sources inside the company put it at around 1.5 million. The film is also undergoing a little change, but that, too, remains and official secret. Andrew Dowler The Squad p. André Link, Marie-José Raymond, d. Claude Fournier, asst. d. Avdé Chiriaess, Michéle St-Arnaud sc. Claude Fournier, from an original idea of John Dunning and André Link ph. Daniel Fournier art. d. Anne Pritchard cost. Francois Laplante lp. Harry Reems, Jeff Bowes, Daniel Pilon, Jean Lapointe, Fiona Red, Gilles LaTulippe, Nicole Morin, Monique Lepage, p.c. Squad Film Ltd. The Squad, due to wrap Sept. 7, began shooting July 21. “We’re on schedule,” says veteran Quebec director, Claude Fournier. Then he chortles, “And within budget — this far anyway.” Marie Josée Raymond, producer, production manager and Fournier’s partner in Rose Films and real life, permits spontaneity to poke through her cool, artful elegance to explain their success. ““We’ve got a great crew! It’s a lot of hard work but a very pleasant shoot.” On set, crew and cast morale is high. Atop Mont Royale, against a “Giotto. Sky,” soundman Richard Nichol delays a take to find a “dead” spot for his in Claude Fournier’s Harry Reems. stars latest comedy The Squad Nagra. Bent in the cold wind, he shuffles the machine around, aware everyone is waiting. Instead of curses, someone yells, “Don’t look for water; look for oil.’ Soon, a pleased Fournier jigs atop a rented truck. Later, when stunning black newcomer, 6 ft. plus Maggie Crooks (Fast Annie) is prone on a patrol car front seat, one foot out the back window, the other out the front, she'll be asked for some foot expressions. Her curling and uncurling toes straighten the kinkiest hair of most male onlookers. Someone mutters her legs are so long they meet at her chest; it’s a sight when 5 ft 4 in. Fournier stands before her. The Squad’s budget is closer to $1 million than the rumoured $800,000, according to Irene Litinsky of Cinepix/ DAL films. They, the CFDC€, L’Institut Québecois du Cinéma, and Rose films are financing, though percentages are confidential. Private investors are involved, too; all $5,000 units were snapped up within four days of the offering. Daniel Pilon (Frank, “a cop who gets paid to get laid”) says the film is “bawdy but not dirty.” Purportedly a fast-paced comedy, it was co-authored by Raymond and Fournier. Mr. Clean (Harry Reems) is invited to rid Montreal of sin, having done so to Toronto. The morality squad he heads is corrupt and inept. Each cop’s misadventures are depicted as he works under Clean’s strait-laced supervision. In one sequence, Reems and Swanson clumsily search a skyscraper foyer for clues. Suddenly, Reems points down. Reems: ‘‘Pick it up.” Swanson: “But it’s only a piece of lint, sir.” Reems: “Pick it up. We’ve got to start somewhere.” (Exasperated, Swanson wraps it in an oversized plaid handkerchief.) Reems (taking Swanson aside): ‘““We want the cold hand of the law in this man’s pocket.” The “man” is Harry the Flasher (Gilles LaTulippe, praised by ll). In the sequence prior, Deborah Weinstein has fainted after slipping a hand into the Flasher’s pocket. The pocket has no pouch and everyone knows what’s under a flasher’s Aquascutum. Much research has been done, since the authors originally had written a serious vice-squad corruption drama. It was DAL’s John Dunning and André Link’s suggestion that led to a transformation into comedy, which Fournier has done before (Deux Femmes en Or; La Pomme, la Queue et les Pepins; and Je Suis Loin de toi, Mignonne). Cinema Canada/7