Glenn Gould's Toronto - The Complete Film (1979) 1/6

Here it is -- the complete film. All 48 minutes of it. I said I would make it my mission to find it, bracing for a years-long, nationwide search through labyrinthian WorldCats & expensive 16mm-to-DVD transfers. So desperate, I offered to trade my 2nd favorite Zippo for it.
In the end, the film was unceremoniously dumped in my lap by two fellow Gouldian KZbinrs, a native Torontonian & an expat living in Switzerland, both of whom saw my original upload of the stunted 25-minute version, went through the time & expense to make me copies of the full version & to mail them to the States. All thanks go to them, who by request shall remain nameless. These Patron Saints of Buried Gould refused renumeration, so in their honor (& in Glenn's memory) I made a donation to the Humane Society.
"Glenn Gould's Toronto" can now be seen as it was meant to be seen. For many people (including myself) this is the first time they've seen the entire film since it was first screened on the CBC in 1979. Let me assure you, the missing bits are true gems.
To any Gouldian, this film needs no introduction. "Glenn Gould's Toronto" is the Holy Grail of Gould films. The first (and last) time I saw it was when I rented it from the Toledo Public Library in 1994. Ive been looking for the film ever since; it is long out-of-print, and nowhere to be found (except for brief excerpts) anywhere online...until now.
I will dispense with any witty descriptions so as not to ruin the astonishment you will experience upon seeing the film for the first time. Suffice it to say, you have never seen this Glenn Gould doing those things, nor would you ever have imagined it.
Written by Glenn Gould. Directed by John McGreevy. Part of the Cities series of films. Nominated for three Genie Awards (the Canadian Oscars): Outstanding Documentary (McGreevy), Outstanding Independent Film (McGreevy), Outstanding Non-Dramatic Script (Glenn Gould). (Apparently, some piece of shit film nobody cares about beat it in all three categories. Of course, losing a "Genie" seems to be a badge of honor. Kate Lynch won the "Genie" for Best Actress that year for her masterful performance in..."Meatballs." I kid you not.)

[@OutOnTheTiles]

Bring back this Toronto please.

[@melefth]

Thank you so much for this. Love Gould. Loved Toronto when I spend a few months there in 1982. Love the film.

[@NoCountryForLarry]

To all those wondering, the first piece is the "Annie's Dream" movement from Strauss's Enoch Arden

[@KKIcons]

Wow, this is really a precious clip of him playing it, then, since he didn't record that elsewhere. And moreover, he seems to be playing it in character, looks like Nigel Twitt-thornwaite?

[@kaypapademas]

Of all the biographies on Glenn Gould, both written and on film, I like to think that Glenn Gould's Toronto is his true, living biography. It would have been something to find his original 45,000 lines that he wrote for this film. I love this film. Thanks again!

[@cormacbrissett4881]

I have just finished Kevin Bazzana's biography of Gould. What a treat to find this film online after reading about its production. Thank you for for this.

[@hurricane_hazel]

It is a treasure.

[@giuliogermanico]

very precious, preziosissimo materiale! thank you.

[@jeffreybalmer]

Excellent. I remember seeing this when it first aired. Always wanted to be able to see it again. Thanks so much.

[@aaronlawrence666]

Thanks for posting this. It’s amazing to see the city in that era. Glenn Gould’s observations are right on and he is hilarious at times. Thoroughly enjoyed this.

[@pianosbloxworld4460]

Glenn: America calls their society a big melting pot America: YEAH!!!! We blend in! Glenn: It gets very hot and humid in Canada, but we do not melt. Me: What an achievement, since you wear a coat, Glenn.

[@jonathandore7521]

After reading the delightful script in Faber's "Glenn Gould Reader" I was always disappointed this wasn't released in Sony's so-called "complete" Glenn Gould edition twenty years ago -- maybe more due to CBC's incompetence than theirs. Many thanks to erp65 and your two anonymous benefactors for finally making it available.

[@chrish12345]

What comes across so clearly is the complete utter isolation of Gould in his 'home' town, he was obviously so different from virtually everyone else and seemed quite content to have it this way, but it does seem bizzare - he seems to be an onlooker like he's watching tv with the sound turned off or in some parallel universe.

[@galtieric1]

It's fantastic. My favorite parts are the Beethoven impersonation, the Toronto mayor's art criticism, every silver lining has a cloud, and a concert tour is the musical equivalent of a penitentiary sentence.

[@SusanHopkinson]

Wonderful! Thanks for the memories - I saw this decades ago and never forgot it. Such brilliant wit and talent are rare.

[@simonzhao2154]

Thank you so much for posting this! Everything about this film is unbelievable, the city, the music, and above all Glenn Gould in his hometown presenting hilariously to the camera. Awesome video, and many many thanks.

[@CCMusicianPerformer]

Wonderful film. Thank you for sharing Eric. Added to Glenn Gould playlist with Love & Gratitude:)

[@olmaleo]

Thank you so much! Finally the complete version! This is a majestic upload. Yuppiiiii!

[@mattbod]

Thanks very much: this is a gem of a film!

[@OldRabit]

Wow...Thank you for this treasure!!

[@thruthenight]

great, thank you again!

[@Chromexus]

Rd Laing's Glasglow was also in it. In 1979 I was a music student who had just discovered Gould. Our cable channel carried CBC and I caught the original broadcast. It was the beginning of an intensive study of the man's genius. I was disappointed to find it was not included in the sony-cbc project and am very grateful for this upload.

[@galtieric1]

Also, the way he looks when the rifles/canons fire.

[@joyceharrison1682]

Thanks for posting this! I'm visiting Toronto right now. It is not at all this way anymore. : ( I remember A&A Records and Sam the Record Man on Yonge St. and how the Royal York wasn't dwarfed by tall buildings all around.

[@bhuvidya]

thank you so so much

[@DesertAnnie]

To: erp65 ... What a wonderfully serendipitous surprise to run across these videos you have so generously presented here. Thank you so much for putting them together and sharing them with us! Your efforts are highly appreciated by this fellow "Gould-Digger"! ;-)

[@rkgrant]

thanks for this...very kind

[@victoria_atmosphere9290]

Loved the 'Cities' series and this one in particular as I'm from Tranna. Thanks for posting

[@GTXTi-db5xu]

Thank you for this, it is a gem.

[@jghkxgjvv7072]

wow. historic.

[@BrianBruise]

I saw this series when it was first broadcast on TV and was living in Toronto at the time. Among t;he other episodes, if my somewhat fuzzy memory is reliable, there was Anthony Burgess in Rome, Gore Vidal, somewhere; but altogether an absolutely brilliant documentary series. Glenn's is one of the best but the others are also fascinating and very well produced. The problem is, it is extremely hard to access the whole series either in libraries (at least in Canada), online or where ever.

[@imaginingtoronto]

Thank you for uploading this gem. Anyone interested in this film might also want to check out poet Maggie Helwig's interpretation of it in her book, Talking Prophet Blues (1989). In a sequence called "The Other Goldberg Variations," Helwig distills the image of Gould walking through the Don Valley, intoning, "Knowing / that I could walk seventeen miles through a ravine / in the heart of Toronto, and never / directly see the city is of some comfort"

[@erp65]

@imaginingtoronto -- Thanks for the poetry reference. I'll check out Helwig's book.

[@francescaemc2]

Grazie

[@DudeFace007]

Did you know I have been to Toronto, I liked the airport and I ate at the restaurant called Wahlburgers and I ate the Our Burger and I ate French fries, and I bought a CN Tower souvenir, And I have also explored the airport waiting for our flight to Orlando, Florida, USA. I have been to the birthplace of Glenn Gould, and I have looked at the CN Tower from the distance.

[@shostakovich99]

This may eventually appear in the CBC's massive Gould video project, but the original film is at the University of Toronto. (Does KZbin not permit links in posts?)

[@erp65]

Well put, MM. Gould would have reveled in the anarchic potentiality of KZbin. That it so rarely lives up to its potential would not surprise, nor dispirit him. The man retains his humanity because we who love him refuse to submit to the Sonyfication of the universe.

[@erp65]

@chrish12345 -- Brilliance. Now I know why I love GG so much.

[@djcowling]

does anyone know the music gould is performing at the beginning?

[@erp65]

@jibblypop - You are most welcome. Cheers, Ep

[@apoptosi60]

do you if does exist a video of his last live concert, please? EN

[@KKIcons]

I wish! The closest we are going to get to that is the Hologram Tour, lol

[@jude999]

Few historic buildings in Toronto it appears.

[@pianosbloxworld4460]

In some districts, unfortunately they demolished a lot of them. This is downtown they’re showing, though so what do yoy expect?

[@shostakovich99]

Yes, wouldn't let me post with the links

[@erp65]

@alberopenumbra -- You should contact the Glenn Gould Foundation first. Perhaps they would be. If not, this is as good a place as any to ask.

[@apoptosi60]

Thank you for your work on this pearl. I posted lhe link to this yours YT Channel on my public Page on FB dedicated to our Cultural Natural Heritage. I report all your notes. If you want to visit it I'll be happy. The complete name of Page is in italian: "Beni Culturali Naturali & CInema Location" and you are invite on it and if you 'Like' it, let the sign of your passage. Thanks, EN

[@chrish12345]

so hes making a film about a city that he's never actually ever seen in its (then) present incarnation?

[@Diorhome]

Did Italians build this city?

[@michaelord1223]

.

[@m.a.3322]

4:12

[@shostakovich99]

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