''Drying Up the Streets'' is a 1978 Canadian feature from

Robin Spry Robin Spry (October 25, 1939 – March 28, 2005) was a Canadian film director and television producer and screenwriter. Spry was perhaps best known for his documentary films '' Action: The October Crisis of 1970'' and '' Reaction: A Portrait of ...

produced by the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

Synopsis

This film was originally planned as a one-hour drama for the CBC's '' For the Record'', series but was expanded into a feature while it was being shot cinéma vérité-style on the streets of Toronto between October 11 and October 27, 1977. It concerns the search for a runaway (Laurie Brown) by her father (

Don Francks Don Harvey Francks (February 28, 1932 – April 3, 2016), also known by his stage name Iron Buffalo, was a Canadian actor, musician and singer. Career Don Harvey Francks was born on February 28, 1932, and was adopted shortly after his birth. H ...

), an aging hippy who is coerced to do so by a member of the

RCMP The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal and national police service of Canada. As poli ...

drug squad (

Len Cariou Leonard Joseph Cariou (; born September 30, 1939) is a Canadian actor and Theatre director, stage director, best known for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd in the original cast of ''Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'', for which he wo ...

). Exploring the darker side of the ‘flower power’ generation, ''Drying Up the Streets'' mixes documentary realism with stylized set pieces. It's one of director

’s finest films; however, it never received theatrical distribution and was eventually aired on the CBC in 1979 to good notices.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* 1978 films Canadian drama television films English-language Canadian films Films directed by Robin Spry CBC Television original films Films shot in Toronto 1970s Canadian films {{Canada-tv-film-stub