New York, New York (1977)

An egotistical saxophonist and a young singer meet on V-J Day and embark upon a strained and rocky romance, even as their careers begin a long, up-hill climb.

Director:

Martin Scorsese

Writers:

Earl Mac Rauch (screenplay), Mardik Martin (screenplay)

Stars:

Liza Minnelli, Robert De Niro, Lionel Stander

Nominated for 4 Golden Globes. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Liza Minnelli	...	Francine Evans
Robert De Niro	...	Jimmy Doyle
Lionel Stander	...	Tony Harwell
Barry Primus	...	Paul Wilson
Mary Kay Place	...	Bernice Bennett
Georgie Auld	...	Frankie Harte
George Memmoli	...	Nicky
Dick Miller	...	Palm Club Owner
Murray Moston	...	Horace Morris
Leonard Gaines	...	Artie Kirks (as Lenny Gaines)
Clarence Clemons	...	Cecil Powell
Kathi McGinnis	...	Ellen Flannery
Norman Palmer	...	Desk Clerk
Adam David Winkler	...	Jimmy Doyle Jr.
Dimitri Logothetis	...	Desk Clerk

Storyline

The day WWII ends, Jimmy, a selfish and smooth-talking musician, meets Francine, a lounge singer. From that moment on, their relationship grows into love as they struggle with their careers and aim for the top.

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Plot Keywords:

singer | love | saxophonist | musician | jazz score | 

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Taglines:

A love story is like a song. It's beautiful while it lasts.

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Musical

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 June 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Nea Yorki, Nea Yorki

Filming Locations:

Ballroom, Park Plaza Hotel - 607 S. Park View Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$14,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Chartoff-Winkler Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

155 min 163 min (1981 re-issue) 136 min (re-cut)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film cost $14 million to make but only made $13.8 million at box office. The poor reception that the film received drove Martin Scorsese into depression.

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Goofs

During the VJ dance sequence when Jimmy (DeNiro) is initially trying to pick up Francine (Minnelli), the cherry in her drink disappears (when she eats it in one shot) but then reappears in her drink only to disappear in subsequent shots.

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Quotes

Jimmy: You're an agent?
Tony Harwell: I reiterate, yes.
Jimmy: If I went down there, would you be my agent?
Tony Harwell: No.
Tony Harwell: Why not?
Tony Harwell: I ain't interested. I'm satisfied with the list of clients I got now.
Jimmy: You're makin' a mistake, but okay, you know.
Tony Harwell: I made a lot of mistakes. So I'll make another one. This one's on me.

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Connections

Featured in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

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Soundtracks

There Goes the Ball Game
Music by John Kander
Lyrics by Fred Ebb
Performed by Liza Minnelli (uncredited)

User Reviews

Often Brilliant In Spite of Major Flaws

Released in 1977, Martin Scorsese's NEW YORK, NEW YORK instantly divided critical response--and, facing box office competition from no less than STAR WARS, proved a major financial failure. A significantly edited re-release followed not long afterward but proved even less well received and even less profitable. Although a double VHS release eventually brought the film to the home market, the film remained unpopular and made barely a ripple in public consciousness. In 2005, however, NEW YORK, NEW YORK received an unexpected release to DVD. At long last it may begin to reach a significant audience.

As a story, NEW YORK, NEW YORK draws from a number of oddly "Noir-ish" musicals made at Warner Bros. in the late 1940s. Most particularly, according to Scorsese's commentary, it drew from MY DREAM IS YOURS, a film that not only starred Doris Day but actually reflected her life in its tale of a talented big band "girl singer" trapped in an abusive marriage with a musician. Although the film force-fed the audience a happy ending, later films would not. In the mid-1950s, Doris Day's LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME and Judy Garland's A STAR IS BORN offered stories of a gifted female vocalists locked into disastrous romances that played out to a very distinctly unhappy ending, and NEW YORK, NEW YORK draws from them as well.

Scorsese not only repeats the basic stories and themes of these films, he also repeats the artificially heightened visual style typical of Hollywood films of the 1940s and 1950s--it is no accident that Liza Minnelli looks and sings remarkably like mother Judy Garland in this film--but he does so to an entirely unexpected end. The bravado performing style of such films is completely snatched away, and the characters are presented in an almost documentary-like realism. In theory, each aspect of the film would emphasize the other; in fact, however, this was precisely what critics and audiences disliked about the film when it debuted. They considered it extremely grating.

But perhaps the passage of time has opened our eyes on the point. I saw NEW YORK, NEW YORK in its 1977 release and, music aside, I disliked it a great deal. I expected to retain that opinion when I approached the DVD release, but I was greatly surprised. It holds up remarkably well, and most of the time the balance of artifice and reality works very well. But there are significant flaws. In a general sense, the film has a cold feel to it that occasionally becomes so downright chilly you begin to detach from it. But even more difficult is the character of Jimmy Doyle, the abusive husband of the piece.

The recent DVD release includes a noteworthy director's commentary, and Scorsese states that both he and actor Robert De Niro sought to push the character far beyond the extremes of MY DREAM IS YOURS, LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME, or A STAR IS BORN. They were perhaps more successful than they expected. The result is a character you actively do not want to watch or hear, and although we are eventually allowed to see beyond his annoying qualities that moment comes much too late in the film to make him acceptable in any significant way. It makes for more than one bout of uphill viewing.

Overall, I recommend the film--but it is very much a "Hollywood Insider" film that is probably best left to those who know a great deal about film history and who can recognize the numerous antecedents from which it draws.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer