IF YOU CAN MAKE IT THERE.....
MEAN STREETS (1973)
A small-time hood struggles to succeed on the "mean streets" of Little Italy. Seriously, this is the greatest movie ever made. The future is set for Tony and Michael - owning a neighbourhood bar and making deals in the mean streets of New York city's Little Italy. For Charlie, the future is less clearly defined. A small-time hood, he works for his uncle, making collections & reclaiming bad debts. He's probably too nice to succeed. In love with a woman his uncle disapproves of (because of her epilepsy) and a friend of her cousin, Johnny Boy, a near psychotic whose trouble-making threatens them all - he can't reconcile opposing values. A failed attempt to escape (to Brooklyn) moves them all a step closer to a bitter, almost preordained future. (Ironically, much of the film was actually shot in Los Angeles!) Rated R for graphic language and violence, and for a scene of nudity and some substance abuse.
Prod Co: Taplin-Perry-Scorsese Productions. Dir: MARTIN SCORSESE. Prod: Jonathan T. Taplin. Scr: MARTIN SCORSESE, Mardik Martin. Phot: Kent Wakeford. Cast: ROBERT DE NERO, HARVEY KEITEL, David Proval, Amy Robinson, Richard Romanus. 112 MINS. NFVLS.
Presents glimpses of the following highlights in New York City:
Views of New York harbour; Ellis Island; Statue of Liberty; Broadway; Wall Street; Stock Exchange; City Hall; The Tombs (Prison); Brooklyn Bridge; The Bowery; Chinatown; Festivities; Washington Square; Fifth Avenue; Greenwich Village; Great Pier on the Hudson, liners; Flat Iron building; Church of Transfiguration; Pennsylvania Station; Empire State Building; Chrysler Building; The New York Public Library; Park Avenue; St Patrick's Cathedral; The Rockefeller Centre; dance rehearsals on the rooftop of Radio City Music Hall; Central Park activities; Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Natural History; Columbia University; Riverside Drive; tomb of General Grant; children dancing in the streets of Harlem; George Washington Bridge. The film closes with footage of the city's night lights. Gee, don't we spoil you sometimes.
Prod Co: Castle Films. Edited by Eugene W. Castle. (Castle Films was founded by E. W. Castle, a former film-editor at Fox News. In the mid-1920s, he began compiling shorts, travelogues & newsreels for use in schools. He expanded to the home-movie market in 1936, when it was estimated that more than 2 million Americans owned their own 8mm or 16mm projectors. In the mid-40s, Castle began distributing "Soundies" (jukebox films), the forerunners of today's music videos, which proved so lucrative that in 1946, Castle sold 75% of his company to United World Films - a subsidiary of Universal Pictures that produced industrial films, for $2.25 million. A few months later, United World bought his remaining share). 9 mins. AAC.
A pixillated journey through New York's Coney Island amusement area, seen through the visual filter of pink cotton candy. Dose up big on Vitamin B to cope with all that sugar! Prod Co: Phoenix Films. Filmmaker: Frank Mouris. Mus. David Shoemaker, Caroline (Ahlfors) Mouris. 5 mins. NFVLS.
MANIMALS (1978)
Weird examination of the unusual pets some New Yorkers keep in their apartments. Throughout, goofy owners discuss their pets, some asserting their human-ness, others looking on them as children, (and treating them as such). Prod Co: Phoenix Films. Prod, dir, ed, sd: Robin Lehman. Photographers: Robin Lehman, Kelly van Horn. 28 mins. NFVLS.
A mischievous little tugboat on New York Harbour just wants to be like his dad, but can't seem to keep out of trouble. He's banished beyond the 12 mile limit, but finally redeems himself when a big storm brews up. Originally a segment of the animated Disney omnibus feature MELODY TIME (1948), later released separately. TechniColorTM. Prod Co: Walt Disney Pictures. Prod: WALT DISNEY. Dir: Clyde Geronimi. Story Adapt: Bill Cottrell, Jesse Marsh. Anim: Eric Larson, Ollie Johnson, BOB CANNON, RUDY LARRIVA. Mus Dir: Eliot Daniel, KEN DARBY. Vocal Talent: LAVERNE Andrews (Herself), PATTY Andrews (Herself), MAXENE Andrews (Herself); as 'THE ANDREWS SISTERS' (Vocalists). Lyrics: Allie Wrubel ("Little Toot", available here. Based on a story by Hardie Gramatky. 9.05 mins. NFVLS.
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