Ivan Reitman passed away unexpectedly at the age of 75 within the last week. Reitman's career had amazing films where he produced, directed, or both. The obituaries were filled with the names of those films.
We don't want to rehash those here. You can find plenty of stories that mention those films.
Reitman was born in 1946 and grew up in what we now know as the Slovak Republic. His family arrived in Canada as refugees when Reitman was 4 years old.
Orientation was a short film written, produced, and directed by Reitman in 1968. That film had some inspiration for Animal House (1978).
Reitman started a small film distribution company called New Cinema of Canada.
Reitman was a producer of Columbus of Sex (1969), an X-rated film. Reitman and Dan Goldberg were convicted in June 1970 for publishing obscene material.
We listed this film in our look at Canadian films we wanted to find. "Before Ivan Reitman became famous for Meatballs, Stripes, and Ghostbusters, Reitman and Dan Goldberg made a film where they were convicted under Canada's decency laws and put on probation. Given Canada's standards back then, the film can't be all that bad. I still want to know."
Foxy Lady (1971) followed as a love story involving Hero and Leander. The film had minor roles from some unknown actors such as Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin. The latter made her screen debut in that film. Like Reitman, Martin was an immigrant having grown up in the United States.
This was before Levy and Martin were in the theatre production of Godspell (1972).
Reitman didn't forget about Levy and Martin, casting them as the leads for Cannibal Girls (1973). The original story was his, though the cast improvised the dialogue. Reitman produced and directed the film.
Canadian film review: Cannibal Girls
Godspell Toronto production was a big break for a lot of great Canadian talent
Reitman produced Shivers (1975) and Rabid (1977) from an unknown David Cronenberg. He also produced The House by the Lake (1976), Ilsa the Tigress of Siberia (1977), and Blackout (1978).
This brings us to Meatballs (1979), a film where Reitman was the director. Meatballs might be that poster child in an era of Canadian films meant to not look Canadian with Canada as a tax shelter haven. Reitman worked with Bill Murray in the lead; the actor would go on to work with Reitman in Stripes and Ghostbusters.
The film won the Golden Reel Award as the highest-grossing Canadian film of the year.
The world outside Canada first discovered Reitman with Meatballs but clearly he made a mark in film for the previous decade.
Top 10 Canadian films I still want to see
The obituaries for Reitman made notice of his son Jason. Jason Reitman is one of 4 Canadian directors with at least 2 Best Director nominations. Reitman was nominated for Juno (2007) and Up in the Air (2009).
Unfortunately, the obituaries generally ignored Catherine Reitman, the producer, director, writer, and star of Workin' Moms on CBC and Netflix (in the United States).
Reitman's children and their success is also part of his legacy.
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The CBC News video explains how a parking lot owned by Reitman’s father in the 1960s ultimately became the spot for the TIFF Bell Lightbox. Reitman was an early supporter of the Toronto International Film Festival. The Bell Lightbox is at the northwest corner of King Street and John Street in downtown Toronto. The area at the base of the building was named Reitman Square.
That is a beautiful legacy. Thank you Reitman family and to Ivan, the start of something wonderful for Canadian film.
photo credit: Cannibal Girls film
video credit: CBC News
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