Farewell Oak Street

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Farewell Oak Street - Wikipedia

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Farewell Oak Street
Directed by	Grant McLean
Written by	Gordon Burwash
Produced by	Gordon Burwash Guy Glover (exec.)
Narrated by	Lorne Greene
Cinematography	Robert Humble
Edited by	Fergus McDonell
Music by	Eldon Rathburn
Production company	National Film Board of Canada
Release date	1953 (1953)
Running time	17 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	English

Farewell Oak Street is a 1953 Canadian docudrama short film, directed by Grant McLean for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).^[1]

The film, which is part of the NFB's Canada Carries On series, is about the late-1940s demolition of the run-down Oak Street homes in Toronto's Cabbagetown neighbourhood, in favour of the new Regent Park housing development.^[2] The story is told through narration by Lorne Greene, the use of documentary footage, and a dramatization of the story of a family whose lives are transformed for the better by the project.^[2]

Farewell Oak Street was controversial with residents of the Oak Street/Regent Park area, several of whom filed complaints objecting to being characterized as slum dwellers, and alleged that the film vastly overstated the dangers of life in the old neighbourhood prior to the redevelopment.^[2] Charles Henry, the area's Member of Parliament, spoke against the film in the Canadian House of Commons, calling it offensive to the dignity of the residents and demanding that citizenship minister Walter Edward Harris restrict the film's distribution.^[3] Harris declined to restrict the film.^[4]

The film received renewed attention in the early 2010s when Regent Park was again redeveloped, as the continued social problems in the community were contrasted against the film's overly optimistic thesis that the original post-war redevelopment was certain to solve them.^[5]

Cast

Roxana Bond
Bonnie Brooks
Gerald Campbell
Eric Clavering
Andy Halmay
Cosette Lee
Edgar Marshall
Douglas Masters
Jim McRae
Kate Reid

Awards

6th Canadian Film Awards, Montreal: Canadian Film Award for Best Theatrical Short, 1954 ^[6]
Golden Reel Film Festival, Film Council of America, New York: Recognition of Merit, 1955
International Congress of Housing and Town Planning, Vienna: First Prize, 1956^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b "Farewell Oak Street". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Film Tells Story of Housing Project". The Globe and Mail, February 19, 1954.
^ "Offends Human Dignity: Toronto MP Raps Regent Park Film". The Globe and Mail, February 19, 1954.
^ "Government Plans No Curb On Farewell Oak Street". The Globe and Mail, February 23, 1954.
^ "50 Reasons to Love Toronto". Toronto Life, June 16, 2010.
^ Maria Topalovich, And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. ISBN 0-7737-3238-1. pp. 25-28.

External links

Farewell Oak Street at IMDb
Watch Farewell Oak Street on the NFB website

v t e Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television for Best Animated Short, Best Live Action Short and Best Theatrical Short
Theatrical Short (1949–1996)	Who Will Teach Your Child? (1949) North Shore (1950) After Prison, What? (1951) Opera School (1952) L'Homme aux oiseaux (1953) Farewell Oak Street (1954) High Tide in Newfoundland¹ (1955) Gold (1956) The Sceptre and the Mace (1958) Money Minters, The Quest and The Tall Country (1959) Royal River (1960) Universe (1961) Morning on the Lièvre (1962) Nahanni (1963) Anniversary (1964) Do Not Fold, Staple, Spindle or Mutilate and Ça n'est pas le temps des romans (1968) Vertige and At Home (1969) A Matter of Fat and Blake (1970) Don't Knock the Ox (1971) This Is a Photograph (1972) Goodbye Sousa (1973) Along These Lines (1975) Cooperage (1976) Spartree (1977) L'Affaire Bronswik (1978) Nails (1980) The Strongest Man in the World (1981) Zea (1982) Elvis Gratton (1983) Ted Baryluk's Grocery (1984) Charade (1985) George and Rosemary (1988) Saeed (1991) Arrowhead (1994) Les fleurs magiques (1995) The Home for Blind Women (1996)
Live Action Short (1986–present)	The Edit (1986) I Need a Man Like You to Make My Dreams Come True (1987) The Mysterious Moon Men of Canada (1989) In Search of the Last Good Man (1990) Battle of the Bulge (1992) The Fairy Who Didn't Want to Be a Fairy Anymore (1993) The Hangman's Bride (1997) When Ponds Freeze Over (1998) Moving Day (1999) Le P'tit Varius (2000) The Heart of the World (2001) I Shout Love (2002) Noël Blank (2003) Capacité 11 personnes (2004) Milo 55160 (2005) Le rouge au sol (2006) Après tout (2007) Next Floor (2008) Danse Macabre (2009) Savage (2010) Doubles with Slight Pepper (2011) Throat Song (2012) Noah (2013) Hole (2014) She Stoops to Conquer (2015) Mutants (2016) Fluffy (2017) Fauve (2018) Pick (2019) Black Bodies (2020) Girls Shouldn't Walk Alone at Night (2021) Simo (2022) Motherland (2023)
Animated Short (1968–present)	Un enfant...un pays¹ (1968) Walking (1969) To See or Not to See (1970) Evolution (1971) Dans la vie... (1972) The Family That Dwelt Apart (1973) The Owl Who Married a Goose (1975) The Street (1976) Spinnolio (1977) Afterlife (1978) Every Child (1980) The Big Snit (1986) Get a Job (1987) The Cat Came Back (1989) Juke-Bar (1990) Strings (1992) Pearl's Diner (1993) La vieille dame et les pigeons (1997) Bingo (1998) When the Day Breaks (1999) Village of Idiots (2000) The Boy Who Saw the Iceberg (2001) The Hungry Squid (2002) Falling in Love Again (2003) Ryan (2004) cNote (2005) The Danish Poet (2006) Madame Tutli-Putli (2007) Isabelle au bois dormant (2008) Runaway (2009) Lipsett Diaries (2010) Romance (2011) Paula (2012) Subconscious Password (2013) Me and My Moulton (2014) The Ballad of Immortal Joe (2015) Blind Vaysha (2016) The Tesla World Light (2017) Animal Behaviour (2018) Giant Bear (2019) Hot Flash (2020) Angakusajaujuq: The Shaman's Apprentice (2021) The Flying Sailor (2022) Where Rabbits Come From (2023)
¹ These two films were given honorable mentions rather than officially winning the award, but are included here as no other winner was named above them.

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