Drying Up the Streets

{{Infobox film

| name = Drying Up the Streets

| image =

| caption =

| director = Robin Spry

| producer = Ralph L. Thomas

| writer = Anne Cameron

| narrator =

| starring = Don Francks
Len Cariou
Sarah Torgov
August Schellenberg
Laurie Brown
Frank Moore
Warren Davis

| music = Patrick Russell

| cinematography = Kenneth Gregg

| editing = Myrtle Virgo

| distributor = Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

| released = {{film date|1978|09||Montréal World Film Festival|1979|02|28|CBC-TV}}

| runtime = 86 minutes

| country = Canada

| language = English

| budget = $300,000 (estimated)

| gross =

}}

Drying Up the Streets is a 1978 Canadian feature from Robin Spry produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

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), an aging hippy who is coerced to do so by a member of the RCMP drug squad (Len Cariou). Exploring the darker side of the ‘flower power’ generation, Drying Up the Streets mixes documentary realism with stylized set pieces.{{cite book|last1=Morris|first1=Peter|title=The Film Companion|url=https://archive.org/details/filmcompanion0000morr|url-access=registration|date=1984|publisher=Irwin Publishing|location=Toronto|isbn=0-7725-1505-0|pages=[https://archive.org/details/filmcompanion0000morr/page/90 90–91]}}{{cite book|last1=Clandfield|first1=David|title=Canadian Film|date=1987|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Toronto|isbn=0-19-540581-1|page=95}}

It's one of director Robin Spry’s finest films; however, it never received theatrical distribution and was eventually aired on the CBC in 1979 to good notices.{{cite journal|last1=Adilman|first1=Sid|title=Drying Up the Streets (review)|journal=Variety|date=March 7, 1979|page=74}}{{cite journal|last1=Isaac|first1=Doug|title=Drying Up the Streets (review)|journal=Cinema Canada|date=September 1978|issue=49|pages=69–72}}

Awards and nominations

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Award ! Category ! Individual ! Result
1978 \|29th Canadian Film Awards \|Actress, Non-Feature \|Sarah Torgov \|{{nom}}
1980 \|rowspan=3\|9th ACTRA Awards \| Best Acting Performance on Television in a Leading Role (Earle Grey Award) \|Don Francks \|{{won}}
1980 \| Best New Television Performer \|Sarah Torgov \|{{won}}
1980 \| Best Television Program of the Year \|Ralph L. Thomas \|{{won}}

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Award

! Category

! Individual

! Result

1978

|29th Canadian Film Awards

|Actress, Non-Feature

|Sarah Torgov

|{{nom}}

1980