On the Bowery (1956)

Director:

Lionel Rogosin

Writers:

(more)

Release Date:

19 July 1962 (Hungary)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

The Bowery is a neighborhood in New York City populated largely by the down and out, and largely by transients...

Plot Keywords:

Drink | Drinking | Alcohol | Manhattan New York City | Drunkenness

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins

Cast

Ray Salyer	...	Himself
Gorman Hendricks	...	Himself
Frank Matthews	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
George L. Bolton	...	Himself - Minister, Bowery Mission (uncredited)

Directed by
Lionel Rogosin

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Richard Bagley		uncredited
Lionel Rogosin		uncredited
Mark Sufrin		uncredited

Produced by
Richard Bagley	....	produced in collaboration with
Lionel Rogosin	....	producer
Mark Sufrin	....	produced in collaboration with

Original Music by
Charles Mills

Film Editing by
Carl Lerner

Music Department
Harold Gomberg	....	conductor

Other crew
Newton Avrutis	....	technical staff
Darwin Deen	....	technical staff
Martin Garcia	....	technical staff
Lucy Sabsay	....	technical staff
Greg Zilboorg Jr.	....	technical staff

Thanks
Gorman Hendricks	....	to

Production Companies

• Rogosin Films

Distributors

• Film Representations (1957) (USA) (theatrical)
• Carlotta Films (2010) (France) (theatrical)
• Milestone Film & Video (2012) (USA) (DVD)
• Milestone Film & Video (2012) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-Ray)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

USA:65 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Bowery, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Rogosin Films

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Mr. Hoover and I (1989)

The Road Less Traveled

As I read the admiring comments about this excellent movie, I find myself confused. Yes, this is an excellent documentary -- and the question of whether some scenes may have been staged bothers me less than it does another commenter. Yet, good as it is, this sort of documentary did not spring newborn from the mind of Lionel Rogosian, like Athena from Zeus' forehead. There are clear antecedents, like the photography of Walker Evans and even movies like Boris Kaufman's LES HALLES CENTRALES (1927).

In many ways it is a remake of the 1941 Passing Parade short THIS IS THE BOWERY, without the voice over commentary. Instead, it reserves its commentary to its cinematic choices: the editing that cuts faster and faster as arguments rage and the uncredited phpotographer, who carefully composed and key lit portrait shots that scream "This is a human being", Film is a medium that can lie or tell the truth twenty-four times a second, but which lies or truths the film maker chooses to tell.... that's the real point.

Having thus demonstrated my learnedness and balance as a film critic, let me turn again and note that such issues are irrelevant. A movie is made for an audience, and how would this movie strike its audience, who probably could not recall having ever seen anything like it before? Like a thunderbolt. This sort of cinema verite film making was something usually seen in post-war Italian movies where the producer couldn't afford a studio. To see it applied to reality in the United States was devastating and changed documentary film-making permanently. At least, until the next new and greatest thing came along.