DONALD SHEBIB’S GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD Since its release in July 1970, Donald Shebib’s low-budget road movie about displaced Maritimers in Toronto has become one of the most celebrated Canadian movies ever made. In this study of Goin’ Down the Road, renowned film critic Geoff Pevere provides an engaging account of how a film produced under largely improvised circumstances be- came the most influential Canadian movie of its day as well as an en- during cultural touchstone. Featuring extensive interviews with the film’s key participants, Pe- vere provides behind-the-scenes history and explores how the movie’s meaning and interpretation have changed over time. He gives special attention to the question of why the film’s creative mix of documenta- ry techniques, road movie tropes, and social commentary have proven so popular and influential in Canadian filmmaking for decades. (Canadian Cinema) geoff pevere has been writing, broadcasting, and teaching about film and media for more than thirty years. He is the former movie critic for the Toronto Star, co-author of the national best-seller Mondo Canuck, and host of CBC Radio’s groundbreaking culture program Prime Time. This page intentionally left blank CANADIAN CINEMA 8 DONALD SHEBIB’S GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD GEOFF PEVERE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS Toronto Buffalo London © University of Toronto Press 2012 Toronto Buffalo London www.utppublishing.com Printed in Canada isbn 978-1-4426-4589-9 (cloth) isbn 978-1-4426-1410-9 (paper) Printed on acid-free and 100% post-consumer recycled paper with vegetable-based inks. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Pevere, Geoff Donald Shebib’s Goin’ down the road / Geoff Pevere. (Canadian cinema ; 8) Includes bibliographical references. isbn 978-1-4426-4589-9 (bound) isbn 978-1-4426-1410-9 (pbk.) 1. Goin’ down the road (Motion picture) 2. Motion pictures – Canada – History. 3. Shebib, Donald, 1938– . I. Title. II. Series: Canadian cinema (Toronto, Ont.) ; 8. pn1997.g64p49 2012 791.43′72 c2012-902250-0 TIFF and the University of Toronto Press acknowledge the financial assistance to its publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Aid to Scholarly Publications Program, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for its publishing activities. Pevere_4019_i.indd 4 5/10/2012 2:52:24 PM Contents Acknowledgments vii Prologue: A Heavy Rainbow 3 1 Surfing from Scarborough 9 2 Beginner’s Licence 21 3 The Road Rolls 49 4 Is This the One? 67 5 Victims of the Rainbow 87 6 Re-surfacing 99 7 Pete, Joey, Garth, Gord, and Jesus Too 111 8 Further 117 Epilogue: Down the Road Again 121 Production Credits 125 Further Viewing 127 Notes 129 Selected Bibliography 139 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments There are many people without whom this book would not exist, and I thank them for helping make sure that it did. For excavating their first-person memories of the production, I thank Jayne Eastwood, Doug McGrath, William Fruet, and, of course, Don Shebib. For sharing their memories of the film’s initial release and impact, I thank Robert Fothergill, Piers Handling, Peter Harcourt, and Martin Knelman. For identifying potholes along the way, I thank Danielle and Ja- son Bondy-Sawyer, Randy Cantera, Stephen Cole, Emma Davey, Tra- vis Hoover, Clark Kingsbury, Carol Maloney, Glenn Pevere, and Robert Pevere. At Union Pictures, I thank Trinni Franke, Cam Haynes, and Robin Cass. Big thanks to the Canadian Cinema series editors Bart Beaty and Will Straw for ignoring all my other suggestions for book-worthy mov- ies and insisting on this one. Good call. Thanks to Siobhan McMenemy of University of Toronto Press for patience, enthusiasm, and support. I dedicate this book to Peter Harcourt, the engine-starter. This page intentionally left blank DONALD SHEBIB’S GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD