Face Off (1971 film)

Plot

Hockey player Billy Duke (Art Hindle) joins the Toronto Maple Leafs, and must adapt to the big leagues with assistance from his room-mate (George Armstrong, a Leafs player portraying himself). Meanwhile, Duke is involved in a relationship with rock singer Sherri Lee Nelson (Trudy Young) who objects to Duke's often rough hockey playing.

Cast

National Hockey League players such as George Armstrong, Paul Henderson and Darryl Sittler of the Toronto Maple Leafs appeared in Face-Off as did sports commentators such as George Gross and Scott Young. Leafs owner Harold Ballard also appeared as a doctor for the on-screen Leafs. Players from other NHL teams also made appearances in the film such as Jean Béliveau, Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull and Derek Sanderson.

Production

The film was produced by Basset's Agincourt International studio and was financially supported by the Canadian Film Development Corporation.

Product placements, besides the presence of the Toronto Maple Leafs brand, included visible use of Molson brand beer and scenes filmed at Eaton's and the Inn on the Park hotel.

Release

The film's debut was in Toronto on 12 November 1971 and released the following week throughout Canada at 20 theatres which was then the widest distribution of a Canadian feature film.

Reception

The film generally received negative reviews. Martin Knelman of The Globe and Mail found the production "downright head-clutchingly terrible." Regina's Leader-Post cited "terrible acting and inane dialogue". Dave Billington of The Gazette (Montreal) also panned the production noting that "most of the ingredients of a good film were there and they were sacrificed to box office expediency." The Windsor Star was also critical noting such deficiences as "a sluggish pace and fumbling character development."

Face-Off grossed $600,000 at the box office by early 1973. Although a substantial box office income for a Canadian film, the Canadian Film Development Corporation did not expect to fully recoup its investment unless the film earned twice that amount.

Upon the 2011 DVD release of Face-Off, Sun Media's Bruce Kirkland acknowledged the "cheesy" production but noted the historic value of filmed scenes which included professional hockey players which he deemed of superior quality compared to the "crappy TV archives" of NHL footage of that time.

Video release

Face-Off was restored from an extant 35 mm print and released in Blu-ray format by Video Services Corp on 15 November 2011. Only 10,000 discs were produced, due to complications in obtaining permission from the NHL for the hockey footage used in the film. The DVD release includes the Second City Television parody of the film, "Power Play", which featured John Candy as Billy.