Goin’ down the Road
Don Shebib, 1970, English, 87 min, colour
The
most influential English-Canadian film of its generation with superb acting
performances by McGrath and Bradley, Shebib’s first feature film has
become an icon of English Canadian cinema and is still, today, an impressive
piece of social realist cinema. With its intelligent blend of fiction and
documentary realism, the film casts clarity and insight into the lives of
marginal people sharing the universal burden of existence, unable to realize
or even cope with their own aspirations but never losing their dignity.
In this timeless story, Pete and Joey, two wistful roustabouts from Cape
Breton, set out with thirty bucks and a battered Chevrolet to find a better
and easier life in Toronto, moving across borders of region, class, and
culture. For a brief moment their material dreams seem within reach, but
Toronto’s glitter is not gold and a spiralling series of setbacks,
masterfully limned by Shebib and his actors, makes goin’ down the
road again look like their only option. The film is also a time capsule
of Toronto’s Yonge Street.
Reviews
"There is scarcely a false touch in Goin’ down the Road;
Don Shebib is so good at blending actors into locations that at times...one
forgets that it is an acted film."
– Pauline Kael, The New Yorker
"An honest and enjoyable film, certainly one of the best ever
made in this country."
– Clyde Gilmour, Toronto Telegram
"Literally a brilliant film, glittering with intelligence, perception,
and integrity."
– Judith Crist, NY Herald Tribune
"...a 'bargain basement' gem."
– Geoff Pevere, Mondo Canuck .
Awards
Canadian Film Awards – best feature, best screenplay, best actor
(McGrath and Bradley);
AV Trust – Masterwork 2001
Screening
Saturday, February 19, 1pm
Event: Preserving Canada's Film Heritage
Part of a double bill with
Total screening time: 2.5hrs, with a 15min intermisssion.
About the Director
Don Shebib
b 27 January 1938; Toronto, Ontario
Shebib is a central figure in the development of English-Canadian cinema and an eloquent, compassionate chronicler of individual alienation and collective Canadian angst. He studied sociology at the University of Toronto and film at UCLA, where he directed his first film. He returned to Canada in 1963 and directed a number of lucid, award-winning documentaries for the CBC, CTV, and NFB (e.g., Satan’s Choice, Surfin’, and Good Times, Bad Times). After a remarkable cluster of features in the early ‘70s—the seminal Goin’ down the Road, Rip-Off, and his masterpiece, Between Friends—Shebib became frustrated by the process of bureaucratic film funding, chronic distribution problems, and subsequent box-office disappointments. He returned to form with Heartaches, but since then has worked primarily as a director for television, with only occasional forays into feature filmmaking. He is also a skillful editor and has edited many of his own films.
FILMOGRAPHY
Radio Free Roscoe (2003) TV Series
The Zack Files (2000) TV Series
Code Name Eternity (1999) TV Series
Dead Man’s Gun (1997) TV Series
The Pathfinder (1996) (TV)
Lonesome Dove The Series (1994) TV Series (episodes Blood Money, Law and
Order, Rebellion)
The Ascent (1994)
Change of Heart (1992)
Street Justice (1991) TV Series (episode 1.06 Shadows)
The Little Kidnappers (1990) (TV)
My Secret Identity (1988) TV Series
Diamonds (1987) TV Series
The Climb (1986)
The Campbells (1986) TV Series
Night Heat (1985) TV Series (episode 77 Babies)
Running Brave (1983)
Heartaches (1981)
Fish Hawk (1979)
The Fighting Men (1977) (TV) vaka Men of Steel
Second Wind (1976)
The Canary (1975) (TV)
Deedee (1974) (TV)
The Collaborators (1973) TV Series (episodes Deedee, Once Upon A Time In
Genarro)
Between Friends (1973) aka Entre amis (Canada French title), aka Get Back
(festival title)
Rip-Off (1971), aka Rêver en couleur (Canada French title), aka Virgin
Territory (USA video title)
Goin’ Down the Road (1970), aka Le Voyage chimérique (Canada
French title)
Good Times Bad Times (1969) (TV)
San Francisco Summer 1967 (1967) (TV)
Satan’s Choice (1967) (TV)
A Search for Learning (1966)
Revival (1965)
Satan’s Choice (1965)
Surfin’ (1964) (TV)
The Duel (1962/I)
Cast and crew
Producer
Donald Shebib, Evdon Films
Writer
William Fruet (also story), Donald Shebib
Cinematographer
Richard Leiterman
Editor
Donald Shebib
Music
Bruce Cockburn
Principal Cast
Doug McGrath – Peter McGraw
Paul Bradley – Joey Mayle
Jayne Eastwood – Betty
Cayle-Lorraine Sinclair – Selina (as Cayle Chernin)
Nicole Morin – Nicole
Pierre La Roche – Frenchie La Roche
Don Steinhouse – Plant Co-worker
Ted Sugar – Plant Co-worker
Ron Martin – Plant Co-worker
Max Jones
Fred Zimmerman
Mary Black – Peter’s Aunt
Ivor Jackson
Ralph Stroh
Dennis Bishop – Loblaw’s Clerk
Links
Informal review: "Goin' Down The Road a classic Maritime film" at ACO.ca
Goin’ Down the Road Trivia
at ACO.ca
