''The Paper People'' is a Canadian dramatic television film, directed by David Gardner and released in 1967."The Paper People: pretentious, sickeningly arty-- and boring". ''

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 ...

'', December 7, 1967. The first television film ever produced entirely in-house by

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

without an outside coproducer, the film centres on Jamie Taylor ( Marc Strange), an artist working on a project in which he builds

papier-mâché upright=1.3, Mardi Gras papier-mâché masks, Haiti upright=1.3, Papier-mâché Catrinas, traditional figures for day of the dead celebrations in Mexico Papier-mâché (, ; , literally "chewed paper") is a composite material consisting of p ...

models of people and then films the models being set on fire, and Janet Webb (Marigold Charlesworth), a journalist profiling Jamie in a documentary. The cast also included Lucy Warner,

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 ...

Brett Somers Brett Somers (born Audrey Dawn Johnston; July 11, 1924 – September 15, 2007) was a Canadian-American game-show personality, actress, and singer. Brett was best known as a panelist on the 1970s game show ''Match Game'' and for her recurring ro ...

and Robin Ward. The film was shot in the summer of 1967, in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and Oakville,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. The film aired on December 13, 1967 as an episode of the anthology series ''

Festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

''. It received mixed reviews, with Sheila Keiran of ''

'' panning it as pretentious, arty and boring, while Lorne Parton of ''

The Province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they are British Columbia's only ...

'' called it one of the better films to be released in any format, television or theatrical, that year. The broadcast sparked some controversy, however, with some commentators stating that the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

should not be investing in films that would clearly only appeal to a limited audience."The Perfection of Gesture: Timothy Findley and Canadian Theatre"
''Theatre Research in Canada'', Volume 12, Number 1 (Spring 1991).

References

External links

* 1967 films Canadian drama television films CBC Television original films Works by Timothy Findley Films shot in Toronto Films set in Toronto English-language Canadian films 1960s English-language films 1960s Canadian films {{1960s-Canada-film-stub