1960-61 Montreal Canadiens # 3 J.C. Tremblay handed down to
1964-66 Montreal Jr Canadians #Serge Savard
GAME WORN JERSEY AND ALSO WORN BY ACTOR, KEIR DULLEA IN THE 1973 FILM “PAPERBACK HERO”.
This is a remarkable piece of Canadian hockey history and film history all rolled into one. This jersey has been photo matched to Hockey Hall of Fame Inductee and Montreal Canadiens Leg-end, Serge Savard while playing with the Montreal Jr. Canadiens in the 1964-66 seasons. Re-markably this jersey was also worn in the production of the 1973 Canadian movie, “Paperback Hero”, and video matched to actor Keir Dullea, famous for his portrayal of “Dave” in Stanley Kubrick’s Classic, “2001 A Space Odyssey”. I purchased the jersey from a private collector who had a signed letter from the film’s director, Peter Pearson indicating that he obtained a set of Montreal Canadiens jerseys from the team for the making of the film.
The letter represented the jersey as a mid 1960’s Montreal Canadiens # 3 JC Tremblay game worn jersey. It also said that a Captain’s “C” was added for the film and that it was later removed and “repairs to the left breast result”. My research has confirmed the fact the jersey was used in the film. I have also determined that the jersey was worn by JC Tremblay in his Rookie season of 1960-61 and was also handed down to the Montreal Jr. Canadiens and worn by Hall of Fame player, Serge Savard. I researched the jerseys worn by the Montreal Jr. Canadiens in this time period and “Voila”, I discovered a pair of perfect photo matches to Serge Savard wearing this jersey as a member of the 1964-66 Montreal Jr. Canadiens. One of the images shows that he was an “Assistant Captain” which explains the repairs in the left chest. As for the white material patch that is sewn to the left chest, this is clearly visible on the jersey worn by Keir Dullea in the film. This was likley added on to make him stand out from the rest of the actors. Also, it is apparent that the producers could not use the Canadiens logo so they actually had an upside down Canadiens crest sewn over top of the original. The stitching from the former crest is clearly visible.
The red set of 1960-61 Montreal Canadiens jerseys was thought to be lost to obscurity. This could possibly be the only example to have survived.