High, the Film: The New Penelope on Screen

Black and white still image of a man with a hat entering a building with a lighted sign to his left advertising The Sidetrack Blues Band at The New Penelope.

Still from movie High showing the entrance of The New Penelope on Sherbrooke Street, 1967

Black and white newspaper ad in black oval outline featuring name of the film High in bold lettering with the image of a man with a cap holding a woman close to his chest.

Ad for the film High playing at Cinema Guy, 1968

In 1967, that little concert venue, on Sherbrooke Street, called The New Penelope, made the big screen! Canadian film-maker Larry Kent shot several scenes for his film High at The New Penelope. In one scene, young Montrealers enter the hall and dance in semi-darkness, to the sound of a rock band. The band providing the soundtrack for the film was The Sidetrack.

View this clip with transcript: “Visiting The New Penelope”.

Black and white still image of a nightime view of Sherbrooke Street facing east with cars and headlights filling the background, in the foreground a man sits at the curb speaking with a second man wearing a hat standing up.

Gary Eisenkraft on the steps of The New Penelope, 1967

In his film, Kent wanted to paint a candid portrait of the hippies’ world and way of life, in the 1960s. To him, The New Penelope was the place that best represented Montreal counterculture.

Listen to Larry Kent, the film’s Director, talk about what went on behind the scenes at The New Penelope:

Listen to the audio clip with description: “Filmmaker Larry Kent on filming at The New Penelope”.

The film is best known for the saga surrounding its release, in Canada and the United States. The Quebec Censorship Board considered the film “anti-moral.” As a result, the film was banned from cinemas and the 1967 Montreal International Film Festival.

The film included scenes of drug use, nudity, and sexuality, but also showed a darker side of 1960s culture. Despite the idealism of peace, love and freedom in the 1960s, High showed the anarchic and violent side of the era.

Listen to Larry Kent, the film’s director, talk about one of the film’s themes: the setbacks of hippiedom.

Listen to the audio clip with transcript: “Filmmaker Larry Kent on the dark side of hippiedom and censorship”.

The public would have to wait over a year to finally be able to view it – not without a few censored scenes.

View this clip with description: “Dancing at The New Penelope”.

The appearance of The New Penelope, in the film High, is a sign that it had become much more than a club. Instead, the venue had become an integral part of 1960s culture and of the local counterculture.

Jesse Winchester, An American Expat at The New Penelope Staff Stories