Sidewalk Stories (1989)

Nearly silent comedy filmed in black and white follows a street artist (Charles Lane), who rescues a baby after her father was murdered. The artist then sets off to find the mother, but has... See full summary »

Director:

Charles Lane

Writer:

Charles Lane

Stars:

Charles Lane, Nicole Alysia, Tom Alpern

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Charles Lane	...	Artist
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tom Alpern	...	Bookseller
Nicole Alysia	...	Child
Edwin Anthony	...	Penny Pincher #1
Michael Baskin	...	Doorman / Street Cop
Jeff Bates	...	Police Officer #2
Angel Cappellino	...	Bully's Mother
Jeffrey Carpentier	...	Homeless Native American
John Carr	...	S.O.B. Man
Vince Castelano	...	Child Customer #3
Jimmy Clohessy	...	Precinct Cop #2
Robert Clohessy	...	Alley Tough #1
Tanya Cunningham	...	Girlfriend
Deena Engle	...	Park Mother #1
Ellia English	...	Bag Lady

Storyline

Nearly silent comedy filmed in black and white follows a street artist (Charles Lane), who rescues a baby after her father was murdered. The artist then sets off to find the mother, but has to first learn how to care for the child. Ultimately he ends up in a horse drawn chase of the murderers.

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Plot Keywords:

little girl | homeless | tramp | new york city | independent film | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Charles Lane was inspired by Charles Chaplin's The Kid (1921) and J. Lee Thompson's Tiger Bay (1959).

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Goofs

Director/actor Charles Lane giving directions to the other actors in the film.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Back to the Future Part II/All Dogs Go to Heaven/Henry V/Prancer/Sidewalk Stories (1989)

User Reviews

A Brief, Rare Revival Of The Silent Film Genre In A More Modern Era.

I have known about and been wanting to see this gem ever since I looked at various movie sites that mentioned it over a decade ago. I read about it and the details concerning this made me interested in it and wanted so badly to see it. Another reviewer of this on here typed that he caught it on PBS and aired on that channel, let alone any other, only once and for some dumb, jacked-up reason, I know that it was released on VHS in Germany, but never in the U.S. and to date, it still hasn't been brought to DVD either. And since learning about the Youtube site that was founded and established a few years back, I kept checking back the search engine on the site to see if anyone posted it on there. Every time I did, there was no copy uploaded unfortunately. That is until a few months ago. I found it after searching once again on there a couple months after it was posted (which took long enough) and it's about time. Finally, at last. I thought I was never going to get to see it, since it's been so difficult to find a copy of the full movie online (although prior to that, I came across a clip of the feature on the same video site). Following watching it for the first time, I got to say I loved and enjoyed it a lot, just as I thought and knew I would.

Although Mr. Lane had already made a short film prior to this one over a decade earlier called A Place in Time as a film school project and assignment, this obscure, full-length, follow-up may be the better known for the two and for which he's best renowned. This must be the only, old-timey, black and white, (mostly) silent film shot in the second half of the 20th century (or at least, the only one that I know of anyway), because I haven't discovered any others. And if there really aren't, that's disappointing, because I'd love to see more filmmakers do something like this and again. Anyway, this movie is a throwback to the pre-colorized, pre-talkie kind of flicks. Lane's character, The Artist, is truly Chaplin's The Tramp-inspired and he captures that inspiration well. The Artist's life change when he happens to come across witnessing a robbery one night and a man is murdered, leaving his baby daughter (who happens to be Lane's real life daughter) an orphan. The Artist takes it upon himself to be her temporary guardian. We follow the adventures and misadventures they have as they journey around Greenwich Village, New York until he finds the mother and reunites the baby with her. The soundtrack in this is just as great. Early on, this takes a look at the wide array of denizens who live on the streets, but that situation isn't quite the made focus. If none of y'all who may be reading my review have ever seen a b&w, silent flick, then I advise y'all to do so. I know it captivated me the first time I saw it instantly. I hope someone else will do something like this in the future and I'd look forward to it.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

January 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sidewalk Stories

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$131,433

Company Credits

Production Co:

Palm Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1