Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

Ross Macdonald Ross Macdonald was the main pseudonym used by the American-Canadian writer of crime fiction Kenneth Millar (; December 13, 1915 – July 11, 1983). He is best known for his series of hardboiled novels set in Southern California and featur ...

Michael Sarrazin Michael Sarrazin (May 22, 1940 – April 17, 2011)

Susan Clark Susan Clark (born Nora Golding; March 8, 1943) is a Canadian actress, known for her movie roles such as ''Coogan's Bluff'' and '' Colossus: The Forbin Project'', and for her role as Katherine Papadopolis on the American television sitcom ''Web ...

) helps him attempt to make sense of it all.

Anthony Perkins Anthony Perkins (April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an American actor, director, and singer. Perkins is best remembered for his role as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's suspense thriller '' Psycho'', which made him an influential ...

plays a blackmailer;

Al Waxman Albert Samuel Waxman, (March 2, 1935 – January 18, 2001) was a Canadian actor and director of over 1,000 productions on radio, television, film, and stage. He is best known for his starring roles in the television series ''King of Kensington' ...

,

Maury Chaykin Maury Alan Chaykin (July 27, 1949 – July 27, 2010) was an American–Canadian actor, best known for his portrayal of detective Nero Wolfe, as well as for his work as a character actor in many films and television programs. Personal lif ...

,

Kenneth Welsh Kenneth Welsh, (March 30, 1942 – May 5, 2022) was a Canadian film and television actor. He was best known as the multi-faceted villain Windom Earle in ''Twin Peaks'', for his roles in the films ''The Day After Tomorrow'', '' Adoration'', ''Su ...

and

Michael Ironside Frederick Reginald Ironside (born February 12, 1950), known as Michael Ironside, is a Canadian actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He is known for playing villains and "tough guy" heroes, and has also portrayed sympathetic characters. E ...

appear in minor roles. Several cast members of the Canadian comedy show '' SCTV'' appear in this film, all playing small dramatic roles. (Director George Bloomfield had directed ''SCTV'' from 1977 through 1979, and brought the cast into the fold.)

John Candy John Franklin Candy (October 31, 1950 – March 4, 1994) was a Canadian actor and comedian known mainly for his work in Hollywood films. Candy rose to fame in the 1970s as a member of the Toronto branch of the Second City and its '' SCTV'' ser ...

,

Joe Flaherty Joseph Flaherty (born June 21, 1941) is an American actor, writer, and comedian. He is best known for his work on the Canadian sketch comedy '' SCTV'' from 1976 to 1984 (on which he also served as a writer), and as Harold Weir on ''Freaks and G ...

,

Eugene Levy Eugene Levy (born December 17, 1946) is a Canadian actor and comedian. From 1976 until 1984, he appeared in the Canadian television sketch comedy series '' SCTV''. He has also appeared in the '' American Pie'' series of films and the Canadian ...

,

Catherine O'Hara Catherine Anne O'Hara (born March 4, 1954) is a Canadian-American actress. She is known for her comedy work on ''Second City Television'' (1976–84) and ''Schitt's Creek'' (2015–2020) and in films such as '' After Hours'' (1985), ''Beetleju ...

(her second film), and

Dave Thomas Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * Dave (film), ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * Dave (musical), ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital ...

(his film debut) all have minor or bit parts; of the ''SCTV'' players, only O'Hara is in more than one scene, and Levy is visible for less than five seconds. A similar flock of ''SCTV'' cast members had small roles in Bloomfield's previous feature '' Nothing Personal'', which was released just six weeks earlier than ''Deadly Companion''. Some later video releases of the film misleadingly give some or all of the ''SCTV'' cast top billing. In the actual film credits, no ''SCTV'' member is billed higher than 11th.

Cast

*

Michael Sarrazin Michael Sarrazin (May 22, 1940 – April 17, 2011)

Susan Clark Susan Clark (born Nora Golding; March 8, 1943) is a Canadian actress, known for her movie roles such as ''Coogan's Bluff'' and '' Colossus: The Forbin Project'', and for her role as Katherine Papadopolis on the American television sitcom ''Web ...

as Paula West *

Anthony Perkins Anthony Perkins (April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an American actor, director, and singer. Perkins is best remembered for his role as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's suspense thriller '' Psycho'', which made him an influential ...

as Lawrence Miles *

Howard Duff Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

as Lester Harlen *

Kate Reid Daphne Katherine Reid (4 November 1930 – 27 March 1993) was an English-born Canadian stage, film, and television actress. She played more than one thousand roles, most notably onstage in ''Death of a Salesman'', in the 1980 film ''Atlantic Ci ...

as Mrs. Swanscutt *

Al Waxman Albert Samuel Waxman, (March 2, 1935 – January 18, 2001) was a Canadian actor and director of over 1,000 productions on radio, television, film, and stage. He is best known for his starring roles in the television series ''King of Kensington' ...

as Dellassandro *

Elizabeth Shepherd Elizabeth Shepherd (born 12 August 1936) is an English character actress whose long career has encompassed the stage and both the big and small screens. Her television work has been especially prolific. Shepherd's surname has been variously ren ...

as Frances *

Kenneth Welsh Kenneth Welsh, (March 30, 1942 – May 5, 2022) was a Canadian film and television actor. He was best known as the multi-faceted villain Windom Earle in ''Twin Peaks'', for his roles in the films ''The Day After Tomorrow'', '' Adoration'', ''Su ...

as Dr. Klifter *

John Candy John Franklin Candy (October 31, 1950 – March 4, 1994) was a Canadian actor and comedian known mainly for his work in Hollywood films. Candy rose to fame in the 1970s as a member of the Toronto branch of the Second City and its '' SCTV'' ser ...

as John *

Michael Ironside Frederick Reginald Ironside (born February 12, 1950), known as Michael Ironside, is a Canadian actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He is known for playing villains and "tough guy" heroes, and has also portrayed sympathetic characters. E ...

as Edgar

Production

A 1979 article in ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' on the film's production revealed that the script process was chaotic, saying that the film was "directed by George Bloomfield from a script by three Toronto writers who have adapted a Ross McDonald novel. The cast is in turn adapting the work of the three writers. 'This is one of those things that's in progress,' Miss Clark says, plonking herself on the floor in the corridor, 'so it's a big question mark. The three writers seemed to be coming from three different places. We have improvised: the locations have stayed the same, and so has the intent of the individual scenes, but...'" Bloomfield said that Anthony Perkins "had a ball" with his debauched character: "He brought a tremendous amount to it. I suspect that Tony was a person who had a very free-flowing fantasy life, which he drew on." Perkins came up with the idea of filming a sex scene with both characters wearing sunglasses in bed. Susan Clark said, "He was very alive and always able to find some quirk in the character. But the man himself was very private, very mischievous. He would throw a line one way in rehearsal — then do a different inflection to see if you were really listening during the take."

Reception

''Spies and Sleuths'' called the movie "a muddle film that cannot untie its tangled skein of a plot, although a Perkins performance is always worth watching." ''Starburst (magazine), Starburst'' wrote, "This convoluted thriller is not without its merits (not least some clever dialogue and well observed performances by, among others, Anthony Perkins.) The trouble is, Bloomfield has not learned from the brilliant ''Point Blank (1967 film), Point Blank'' that an oblique, difficult narrative ''can'' be gripping (even if one is only gradually aware of what's going on) — here the effect is wearingly muddlesome."

References

External links

* * {{rotten-tomatoes, double_negative
''Deadly Companion''/''Double Negative''
on Allmovie 1980 films 1980 thriller films Canadian thriller films Films based on American novels Films directed by George Bloomfield English-language Canadian films 1980s English-language films 1980s Canadian films

Plot

Cast

Production

Reception

References

External links