Joe Gould's Secret (2000)

Around 1940, The New Yorker staff writer Joe Mitchell meets Joe Gould, a Greenwich Village character, who is writing a voluminous Oral History of the World, a record of twenty thousand conversations he's overheard.

Director:

Stanley Tucci

Writers:

Joseph Mitchell (books), Howard A. Rodman (screenplay)

Stars:

Ian Holm, Stanley Tucci, Hope Davis

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ian Holm	...	Joe Gould
Stanley Tucci	...	Joe Mitchell
Hope Davis	...	Therese Mitchell
Sarah Hyland	...	Elizabeth Mitchell
Hallee Hirsh	...	Nora Mitchell
Celia Weston	...	Sarah
Patrick Tovatt	...	Harold Ross
Susan Sarandon	...	Alice Neel
Patricia Clarkson	...	Vivian Marquie
John Tormey	...	Harry Kolis
Jack O'Connell	...	Chef
Jerry Mayer	...	Minetta Bartender
Nell Campbell	...	Tamar (Hostess)
Ron Ryan	...	Jack
Allan Corduner	...	Francis McCrudden

Storyline

Around 1940, The New Yorker staff writer Joe Mitchell meets Joe Gould, a Greenwich Village character, who cadges meals, drinks, and contributions to the Joe Gould Fund, and who is writing a voluminous Oral History of the World, a record of twenty thousand conversations he's overheard. Mitchell is fascinated with this Harvard grad, and writes a 1942 piece about him, "Professor Seagull", bringing Gould some celebrity, and an invitation to join the Greenwich Village Ravens, a poetry club he's often crashed. Gould's touchy, querulous personality and his frequent dropping in on Mitchell for hours of chat, lead to a break-up, but the two Joes stay in touch until Gould's death, and Mitchell's unveiling of the secret.

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Plot Keywords:

new yorker magazine | greenwich village manhattan new york city | washington square manhattan | oral history | secret | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some language and brief nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

Based on a true story from Mitchell's book, Up in the Old Hotel (1992). The book is a collection of stories of oddball characters in New York City from the mid-20th century.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Joe Mitchell: In my home town, I never felt at home. In New York, New York City, in Greenwich Village, down among the cranks, and the misfits, and the one runners, and the has-beens, and the might-have-beens, and the would-bes, and the never-wills, and the God-knows-whats, I have always felt at home.

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Connections

Featured in Edge of Outside (2006)

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Soundtracks

Fragments of 'Anna's Magdalen's Notebook'
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach (as J.S. Bach)
Performed by János Sebestyén (as Janos Sebestyen)
Courtesy of Naxos America

User Reviews

Astonishing

With all the garbage that's been coming out in the theaters recently, I've taken to staying home and renting movies that never made a big splash at the box office. With Joe Gould's Secret, I lucked out and enjoyed a movie that was better than I could have imagined.

All the performances, most notably Ian Holm's, are stellar. The scenes of 1940's New York will fill you with nostalgia, even if (like me) you were born well after that time. Occasional appearances by the always wonderful Susan Sarandon and Steve Martin only heighten the pleasure of a perfectly-acted, -filmed, and -directed gem of a movie.

But, in the end, it is the character of Joe Gould -- brilliant, mad, heartbreaking -- that makes Joe Gould's Secret so perfect. He is the farthest thing imaginable from the "cute homeless guy" stock character of your typical insulting Hollywood script.

Do yourself a big favor and see this movie.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 May 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Joe Gould's Secret

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$38,760, 9 April 2000

Gross USA:

$468,684

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$494,150

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bohemian Productions, First Cold Press Productions, October Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1