The Cinematheque

New Restoration

“Gnawing sexual hunger … stingingly conveyed in semi-documentary style and slashing tempo … Mr. Kent is a man to watch.”

Howard Thompson, The New York Times

Larry Kent’s second feature was another energetic, semi-improvised Vancouver drama centred on a young protagonist dealing with adolescent angst, raging hormones, and difficult choices. Like The Bitter Ash, Sweet Substitute turned heads and raised eyebrows for being ​“stylistically brash and sexually frank” (Take One). Tom (Robert Howay), a libidinous high-school senior about to enter university, is torn between two women: attractive but conventional Elaine (Angela Gann), who won’t have sex outside marriage, and less glamorous but more intelligent and open Cathy (Carol Pastinsky). Pregnancy and poor decisions factor into this jazz-scored and compellingly true-to-life picture, which prominently features Vancouver (and its neon-decorated Granville strip) playing itself. Canadian critics were generally unkind but the film was favourably received in the US, where it was released as Caressed and marketed as a sexploitation picture. ​“This film will shock you, yes!” declared the poster.

“Kent’s films could only be described as ​‘gutsy’ and Sweet Substitute is probably his gutsiest.”

Joan Fox, Toronto Star