''Paperback Hero'' is a 1973 Canadian film, directed by Peter Pearson, which starred

Keir Dullea Keir Atwood Dullea (; born May 30, 1936) is an American actor. He played astronaut David Bowman in the 1968 film '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' and its 1984 sequel, '' 2010: The Year We Make Contact''. His other film roles include '' David and Lisa ...

and

Elizabeth Ashley Elizabeth Ann Cole, known professionally as Elizabeth Ashley (born August 30, 1939) is an American actress of theatre, film, and television. She has been nominated for three Tony Awards, winning once in 1962 for ''Take Her, She's Mine''. Ashley ...

. It is set in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

and portrays the life of a big-fish minor-league

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

player in a little-pond town. The movie was filmed in

Delisle, Saskatchewan Delisle () is a town in south central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located southwest of Saskatoon beside Highway 7. History The origins of the town go back to original settlement which was on the Old Bone Trail. It derived its name from th ...

. It was originally titled ''Last of the Big Guns'', but was renamed to reflect the lyrics of Gordon Lightfoot's "

If You Could Read My Mind "If You Could Read My Mind" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot. Lightfoot wrote the lyrics while he was reflecting on his own divorce. It reached 1 on the Canadian Singles Chart on commercial release in 1970 and charted in ...

", which was featured on the soundtrack. It won the

Canadian Film Awards The Canadian Film Awards were the leading Canadian cinema awards from 1949 until 1978. These honours were conducted annually, except in 1974 when a number of Quebec directors withdrew their participation and prompted a cancellation. In the 1970s ...

in 1973 for Film Editing, Overall Sound, and Cinematography. It was later screened at the 1984 Festival of Festivals as part of Front & Centre, a special retrospective program of artistically and culturally significant films from throughout the history of Canadian cinema. It was selected in 2006 for TIFF's Canadian Open Vault program, which preserves examples of notable Canadian cinema.

References

External links

* 1973 films English-language Canadian films Canadian ice hockey films Films shot in Saskatchewan Films set in Saskatchewan 1970s English-language films 1970s Canadian films {{1970s-Canada-film-stub