The Bloody Brood

A man begins to investigate on his own the death of his brother, who died from eating a hamburger laced with ground glass. With the police case stalled because of ineptness, the man's own investigation leads him toward a beatnik hang-out frequented by Nico (Peter Falk), a shady character who supplies drugs to the patrons and philosophizes about the ills of the world.

{{Cast listing|

• Jack Betts as Cliff
• Barbara Lord as Ellie
• Peter Falk as Nico
• Robert Christie as Detective McLeod
• Ron Hartmann as Francis
• Anne Collins as A Model
• Bill Bryden as Studs
• George Sperdakos as Ricky
• Ron Taylor as Dave
• Michael Zenon as Weasel
• William R. Kowalchuk as Roy
• Sammy Sales as Louis
• Kenneth Wickes as Paul the Poet
• Carol Starkman as Blonde Neighbor
• Rolf Colstan as Stephanex

}}

Julian Roffman and Ralph Foster formed Meridian Films in 1954, and Roffman chose to direct its first feature film, The Bloody Brood.{{Cite news |date=27 September 1958 |title=Studio and Screen |page=44 |work=Ottawa Journal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ottawa-journal/126281547/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230612160947/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ottawa-journal/126281547/ |archive-date=12 June 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} The film was shot over the course of sixteen days in May 1959, on a budget of $87,000-90,000, with financial backing from Roffman and Nat Taylor. It was made as the top picture for a double feature.{{sfn|Turner|1987|p=10}}{{sfn|Morris|1970|p=42}} Taylor's wife, Yvonne, was an associated producer. Roffman and Taylor later worked together on The Mask.{{sfn|Vatnsdal|2004|p=34}}

The production interiors were lensed at the Community Theatre, on Woodbine Avenue, in Toronto, a cinema that had been earlier retrofitted for use as a TV studio after 1955.{{cite web |title=Community Theatre in Toronto, CA |url=http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/24843 |website=Cinema Treasures |access-date=25 April 2022}}{{cite web |title=Toronto's old Community Theatre on Woodbine Avenue |url=https://tayloronhistory.com/2015/07/22/old-movie-houses-of-toronto/ |website=Historic Toronto |access-date=25 April 2022 |date=22 July 2015}}{{cite web |title=Bloody Brood (1959) |url=https://kqek.com/mobile/?p=17335 |website=KQEK |access-date=25 April 2022 |date=9 February 2018}}{{cite web |title=Reel Beach: Director Sidney J. Furie, the Community Theatre on Woodbine, Meridian Films and Peter Falk |url=https://beachmetro.com/2018/11/13/reel-beach-director-sidney-j-furie-the-community-theatre-on-woodbine-meridian-films-and-peter-falk/ |website=Beach Metro Community News |access-date=25 April 2022 |date=13 November 2018}} Ralph Foster and Julian Roffman founded Meridian Studios in 1954.[https://worldradiohistory.com/CANADA/Archive-Broadcaster-Canada/60s/60/BCC-1960-01-21.pdf BCC 1960 Canada] worldradiohistory.com/{{cite web |title=Sidney Furie and A Dangerous Age |url=https://torontoist.com/2015/04/historicist-sidney-furie-and-a-dangerous-age/ |website=Torontoist |access-date=25 April 2022 |date=4 April 2015}}{{cite web |title=Community Theatre |url=https://www.torontojourney416.com/community-theatre/ |website=TorontoJourney416 |access-date=25 April 2022 |language=en-CA |date=20 March 2022}}

The film was distributed by Allied Artists and premiered on 26 October 1959, in Toronto.{{sfn|Turner|1987|p=10}} It was banned by the Alberta Censorship Board and the ban was upheld on appeal.{{Cite news |date=9 March 1960 |title=Censors Ban Only 4 Films |page=1 |work=Calgary Herald |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/calgary-herald/126282038/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230612161904/https://www.newspapers.com/article/calgary-herald/126282038/ |archive-date=12 June 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=27 August 1964 |title=Alberta Bans "The Blood Brood" |page=11 |work=Calgary Albertan |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-calgary-albertan/126364070/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230614194238/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-calgary-albertan/126364070/ |archive-date=14 June 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} It was financially unsuccessful.{{sfn|Vatnsdal|2004|p=33}} The National Legion of Decency listed the film in class B as morally objectionable in part for all.{{Cite news |date=30 June 1962 |title=Censors Ban Only 4 Films |page=19 |work=The Tablet |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tablet/126359931/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230613223619/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tablet/126359931/ |archive-date=13 June 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} The MPAA's censorship board called for the film to be edited before its American release.{{Cite news |date=28 October 1960 |title=US Censor Calls Cuts In 'Brood' |page=10 |work=Montreal Gazette |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-gazette/126282328/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230614194830/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-gazette/126282328/ |archive-date=14 June 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Author and film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film two out of four stars, calling it "[A] laughable, thoroughly cynical depiction of the Beat Generation."{{cite book|author1=Leonard Maltin|author2=Spencer Green|author3=Rob Edelman|title=Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hLtaAAAAYAAJ|date=January 2010|publisher=Plume|isbn=978-0-452-29577-3|page=69}} Gerald Pratley, writing in Variety, stated that "Only Roffman's virile direction and deft editing, together with the convincing portrayals of the cast, prevent the entire production from collapsing into comic absurdity".{{sfn|Turner|1987|p=10}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book|editor-last=Morris |editor-first=Peter |title=Canadian Feature Films: 1913-69 Part 1: 1913-40 |publisher=Canadian Film Institute |date=1970 |url=https://archive.org/details/canadianfeaturef0000unse}}
• {{cite book|editor-last=Turner |editor-first=D. John |title=Canadian Feature Film Index: 1913-1985 |publisher=Canadian Film Institute |date=1987 |url=https://archive.org/details/canadianfeaturef0000turn |isbn=0660533642}}
• {{cite book|last=Vatnsdal |first=Caelum |author-link=Caelum Vatnsdal |title=They Came From Within: A History of Canadian Horror Cinema |publisher=Arbeiter Ring Publishing |date=2004 |url=https://archive.org/details/theycamefromwith0000vatn}}

• {{IMDb title|id=0052637|title=The Bloody Brood}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloody Brood}}

Category:1959 films

Category:1959 crime drama films

Category:Canadian detective films

Category:English-language Canadian films

Category:1950s English-language films

Category:Canadian black-and-white films

Category:Canadian crime thriller films

Category:Films shot in Toronto

Category:Films directed by Julian Roffman

Category:1950s Canadian films

Category:English-language crime drama films