A semimicroscopical approach is applied to describe photoabsorption and partial photonucleon reactions accompanied by the excitation of the giant dipole resonance (GDR). The approach is based on the continuum-RPA (CRPA) with a phenomenological description for the spreading effect. The phenomenological isoscalar part of the nuclear mean field, momentum-independent Landau-Migdal particle-hole interaction, and separable momentum-dependent forces are used as input quantities for the CRPA calculations. The experimental photoabsorption and partial (n, γ)-reaction cross sections in the vicinity of the GDR are satisfactorily described for 89 Y, 140 Ce and 208 Pb target nuclei. The total direct-neutron-decay branching ratio for the GDR in 48 Ca and 208 Pb is also evaluated.