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| Rebecca Jenkins and Luke Reilly perform a song in "Bye Bye Blues". Source: Photograph by Telefilm Canada https://www.timescolonist.com/ (May be subject to copyright) |
It was greeted with some fanfare when it premiered in 1989 but, due to legal hassles, went largely unseen for decades.
I was lucky enough to see “Bye Bye Blues” as part of a Canadian Forces film festival and, to add to the evening, it was on the big screen at the beautiful Empress Theatre in downtown Fort Macleod.
And it was well worth the trip.
Off to war
"Bye Bye Blues" is set on the home front in a small Alberta town. Daisy Cooper, played by Rebecca Jenkins, bids farewell to her husband Teddy, played by Michael Ontkean, who is off to war. She soon learns he has been captured in Hong Kong, but has no idea whether he is dead or alive.
"Bye Bye Blues" is set on the home front in a small Alberta town. Daisy Cooper, played by Rebecca Jenkins, bids farewell to her husband Teddy, played by Michael Ontkean, who is off to war. She soon learns he has been captured in Hong Kong, but has no idea whether he is dead or alive.
Meanwhile, she struggles to support her two children in their small Alberta town. To make ends meet, she joins a swing band and starts touring in community halls in the area. At first she is also living with her in-laws but, as she earns more money, she gets a house of her own.
If this isn’t all enough, one of her band members takes an interest in her too.
It all ends when her husband is alive after all, and comes home. Daisy then returns to her life as the dutiful wife, as the times demand, and the band moves on.
The movie ends with strains of the song, “Bye, Bye Blues” playing. It was just one of the original songs written for the movie.
Making of a movie
“Bye Bye Blues” came out in 1989, and I was pretty sure I saw them making it at the Princess Theatre on Whyte Avenue in Edmonton in 1987 or 1988, in my first year in university. I certainly remember the movie playing in the theatre in 1989. Some scenes were also filmed in and around Drumheller. I spend a week every summer in Drumheller and, although it was 30 years earlier, some of the locations, especially the Badlands, looked familiar.
“Bye Bye Blues” came out in 1989, and I was pretty sure I saw them making it at the Princess Theatre on Whyte Avenue in Edmonton in 1987 or 1988, in my first year in university. I certainly remember the movie playing in the theatre in 1989. Some scenes were also filmed in and around Drumheller. I spend a week every summer in Drumheller and, although it was 30 years earlier, some of the locations, especially the Badlands, looked familiar.
“Bye Bye Blues” was the first feature film made by director Anne Wheeler, a breakout for her, and it is based on the experiences of her mother. She was an up and coming filmmaker and I recall the buzz around her being an Alberta talent.
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| Luke Reilly and Rebecca Jenkins share a moment in "Bye Bye Blues" Source: https://www.whosdatedwho.com (May be subject to copyright) |
The cast
There are several cast members who stand out for me.
Rebecca Jenkins is the lead, turning in an amazing performance as Daisy Cooper. She really does carry the show. Moreover, I did not know until doing some research for this blog that she actually did all her own singing which is pretty amazing too.
Michael Ontkean was, at the time, one of the most recognizable stars in "Bye Bye Blues". A Canadian actor, I first saw him in a show when I was really young called, “The Rookies”, where he played alongside a young Kate Jackson, Georg Stanford Brown, and Sam Melville. He would also play Ned Braden, the straight man on a hockey team of lunatics, in the movie “Slap Shot”. After “Bye Bye Blues”, Ontkean returned to Hollywood where he played Sheriff Harry Truman in “Twin Peaks”.
Stuart Margolin, who played one of the bnd members, is an American actor I remember best as con man Angel Martin, the some-time friend and former cellmate of Jim Rockford in “The Rockford Files”. It was a role he won two Emmys for. Margolin actually moved to Canada, and appeared in a variety of Canadian productions including the series “Mom P.I.”. He also reprised his role as Angel Martin in the “Rockford Files” reunion movies in the 1990s.
Kate Reid was another familiar face. She was a Caandian actress who appeared in a variety of shows in Canada as well as the U.S. including a role as Ray Krebs’ aunt in “Dallas”.
Genie Awards
“Bye Bye Blues” was nominated for 12 Genie Awards, handed out from 1980 to 2012 to honour the best in Canadian cinema. The movie won three Genies: Rebecca Jenkins for best actress; Robyn Stevan for best supporting actress, as Frances Cooper, Daisy’s sister-in-law; and Bill Henderson for best original song for, “When I Sing”. The movie was also nominated for best motion picture; Anne Wheeler for best director and best original screenplay; Michael Ontkean and Wayne Robson, who played Pete of the band, for best actor in a supporting role; John Blackie for best art direction; Maureen Hiscox for best costume design; Christopher Tate for best editing; Paul Massey, Peter Kelly and Garrell Clark for best overall sound; and Alison Fisher, Penny Hozy, Bruno DeGazio, Peter Thilaye and Alison Grace for best sound editing.
“Bye Bye Blues” was nominated for 12 Genie Awards, handed out from 1980 to 2012 to honour the best in Canadian cinema. The movie won three Genies: Rebecca Jenkins for best actress; Robyn Stevan for best supporting actress, as Frances Cooper, Daisy’s sister-in-law; and Bill Henderson for best original song for, “When I Sing”. The movie was also nominated for best motion picture; Anne Wheeler for best director and best original screenplay; Michael Ontkean and Wayne Robson, who played Pete of the band, for best actor in a supporting role; John Blackie for best art direction; Maureen Hiscox for best costume design; Christopher Tate for best editing; Paul Massey, Peter Kelly and Garrell Clark for best overall sound; and Alison Fisher, Penny Hozy, Bruno DeGazio, Peter Thilaye and Alison Grace for best sound editing.
The years after
I found it strange that, every so often I thought of “Bye Bye Blues”, but it never seemed to be playing anywhere. It wasn’t on TV, which was strange because, with Canadian content regulations, good Canadian movies are always in demand, and played often. I never saw it in the video store on tape, or later DVD or Blu-ray. It just seemed to vanish.
I found it strange that, every so often I thought of “Bye Bye Blues”, but it never seemed to be playing anywhere. It wasn’t on TV, which was strange because, with Canadian content regulations, good Canadian movies are always in demand, and played often. I never saw it in the video store on tape, or later DVD or Blu-ray. It just seemed to vanish.
So, when I saw it advertised as the opening movie in the Canadian forces film festival, I circled the date on my calendar.
Part of the charm of the festival is that its organizer, Stéphane Guevremont, a military historian from Calgary, introduces each film and discusses each one afterwards.
He explained that “Bye Bye Blues” had been embroiled in legal battles not long after its release. In later research, I discovered no one knew who held copyright, so it could not be shown on TV, in theatres or released on tape, DVD, blu-ray or online.
It was not until Rebecca Jenkins was able to secure the copyright in 2013, that the movie was once again available to the public. This is the same Rebecca Jenkins who starred in the movie. It had been so long, there were only two good prints left of the movie. However, since then, I have seen it on demand and, well, in the theatre.
Parting thoughts
It was 30 years in the making, but I finally saw “Bye Bye Blues”, and it could not have been a more spectacular setting – the beautiful and historic Empress Theatre in Fort Macleod. More than just the setting, the presentations by Stéphane Guevremont added so much. He explained the copyright issues and why the movie was out of circulation for decades. He even thought about inviting Rebecca Jenkins to the showing in Fort Macleod, but realized the film festival is about and for veterans, so his resources she be devoted to them.
It was 30 years in the making, but I finally saw “Bye Bye Blues”, and it could not have been a more spectacular setting – the beautiful and historic Empress Theatre in Fort Macleod. More than just the setting, the presentations by Stéphane Guevremont added so much. He explained the copyright issues and why the movie was out of circulation for decades. He even thought about inviting Rebecca Jenkins to the showing in Fort Macleod, but realized the film festival is about and for veterans, so his resources she be devoted to them.
He also talked about how interesting it would have been to see the years after for Daisy and Teddy Cooper. He said Teddy had been captured in Hong Kong, and those prisoners suffered some of the worst treatment in the war. In one scene late in the movie, after Teddy has come home, we hear him screaming and having nightmares. Guevremont said that was post-traumatic stress disorder. The Hong Kong veterans had some of the worst cases, some ending in violence and suicide. He said it would not have been a good life for Teddy or Daisy.
Beyond that, I thought the movie really stands up well. Partly because it is a period piece, and the 1940s is still the 1940s whether in 2018 or 1989.
The performances are excellent too, especially Jenkins who earned that Genie, and Luke Reilly, who played the trombone player she has sparks with. And the music is amazing. It is all, I believe, original but sounds straight out of the 1940s. It just adds to the atmosphere and story. Hearing “Bye Bye Blues” as the last scene plays is heartbreaking – the highest kind of drama.
“Bye Bye Blues” was also the signature film for writer and director Anne Wheeler. She has strung together an impressive list of incredible television work, including episodes of “North of 60”; “Jake and the Kid”; “Cold Squad”; “DaVinci’s Inquest”; “Mysterious Ways”; “Arctic Air”; “Cracked”; “Bomb Girls”; and “Heartland”. She has also directed several movies, securing Genie nominations for Best Achievement in Direction for “Loyalties” in 1986; “Cowboys Don’t Cry” in 1988; “Bye Bye Blues” in1989; and “Suddenly Naked” in 2001. She was also presented with an honourary degree by the University of Alberta in 1990, and I was there to see her get it. It was my friend Rob Jaques' convocation. And she wrote and directed another one of my favourite Canadian movies, "The War Between Us" in 1995.
More than anything, Anne Wheeler is an inspiration and role model to Canadian writers and filmmakers. She is a hero of mine because she is from Alberta and shows us you don’t have to leave the province or country to make it. She showed us you can tell Canadian stories and they are just as compelling as anything from the U.S. or Europe.
“Bye Bye Blues” is the best example of that, telling a Canadian story about a part of the Second World War that is not often explored – the people at home, waiting for the war to end, and waiting for their loved ones to come home.
We really need to tell more of these stories.
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