I'm Born, raised - and still live in NYC.
Seeing this movie made me (like a lot of my fellow NYC'ers) pine for those days.
It was a great place to grow up - made you 'get with it' really fast.
I'd never heard of this film (and I know Mr. Gorman!), so, when it appeared last night on TCM, I recorded it.
What a find!
The sights and sounds bring back a lot of memories, as does even the film's stock, and the look. All pitch-perfect.
The acting's superb.
Instead of the (misguided) idea of using 'star' names, the producers and the director went for ACTORS - New York actors.
ANd that makes all the difference.
The leads, Cliff Gorman and Joseph Bologna are 2 schlubs - cops, who know they're stuck ion a treadmill.
They want SOME way to get out - to 'go sit on a beach,' and enjoy their lives.
So, through a meeting by happenstance, with a well-known Mafioso figure 'Pasquale Aniello' aka Patsy O'Neill, they think they've found a way to meet their goal.
Everyone in the cast is so New York, the director - Aram Avakian - is a born New Yorker, and it really does help give this film that true feel.
You can see it in such things like the ways the cops slouch.
The little touches - such as the annoying Muzak that plays in a couple of scenes - gives the humor (this IS a comedy) a real NYC feel. It's dry, it's got a 'been there,' jaded quality that is so typical.
I join the chorus in praising this little gem.
If it shows up - WATCH IT.
