Improper Channels

Improper Channels
Theatrical release poster
Directed byEric Till
Written byAdam Arkin
Morrie Ruvinsky
Ian Sutherland
Produced byAlfred Pariser
Morrie Ruvinsky
Jon Slan
StarringAlan Arkin
Mariette Hartley
Monica Parker
Harry Ditson
Sarah Stevens
CinematographyAnthony B. Richmond
Edited byThom Noble
Music byMicky Erbe
Maribeth Solomon
Distributed byCrown International Pictures
Saguenay Films
Release date
  • April 17, 1981 (1981-04-17)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1,250,000[1]

Improper Channels is a Canadian comedy-drama film, directed by Eric Till and released in 1981.[2]

The film stars Alan Arkin as an architect named Jeff Martley, and Mariette Hartley as his estranged wife Diana. After their daughter Nancy is mildly injured in a car accident, an overzealous social worker (Monica Parker) wrongly accuses him of child abuse, and takes custody of the child away.[3]

The film received four Genie Award nominations at the 3rd Genie Awards in 1982, for Best Foreign Actor (Arkin), Best Foreign Actress (Hartley), Best Original Screenplay (Adam Arkin, Morrie Ruvinsky and Ian Sutherland) and Best Art Direction/Production Design (Ninkey Dalton and Charles Dunlop).[4] Arkin won the award for Best Foreign Actor.[5]

  1. ^ Donahue, Suzanne Mary (1987). American film distribution : the changing marketplace. UMI Research Press. p. 297. ISBN 9780835717762. Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada
  2. ^ "Laughs wrapped in red tape". The Globe and Mail, April 17, 1981.
  3. ^ "Improper Channels". The New York Times, May 22, 1981.
  4. ^ "Les Plouffe, Ticket to Heaven lead the pack Academy lists Genie nominees". The Globe and Mail, February 4, 1982.
  5. ^ "Ticket To Heaven top movie". The Globe and Mail, March 5, 1982.