Directed by Ivan Passer • 1971 • United States
Starring George Segal, Karen Black, Paula Prentiss
J (George Segal), a former New York City hairdresser turned heroin junkie, sees his life spiral out of control as he bounces between committing petty crimes, a new relationship with a free-spirited woman (Karen Black), and the relentless pursuit of his next fix. Shot on location in and around a pregentrification Times Square, this first American film from Czech transplant Ivan Passer (CUTTER’S WAY) blends offbeat comedy with grimy realism to portray the hard-knock hustle of life on the streets. Look out for a young Robert De Niro in an early role as a crooked cop.
Up Next in Fun City: NYC Woos Hollywood, Flirts with Disaster
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Cotton Comes to Harlem
Directed by Ossie Davis • 1970 • United States
Starring Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St. Jacques, Calvin LockhartAcclaimed actor and filmmaker Ossie Davis directs this rollicking blend of gritty neonoir and buddy-cop comedy, one of the first and most influential of the cycle of Blaxploitation fil...
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The Angel Levine
Directed by Ján Kadár • 1970 • United States
Starring Zero Mostel, Harry Belafonte, Ida KaminskaJán Kadár, codirector of the Oscar-winning Czechoslovak New Wave touchstone THE SHOP ON MAIN STREET, made his Hollywood debut with this unique, long-overlooked adaptation of a Bernard Malamud story, ...
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Bananas
Directed by Woody Allen • 1971 • United States
Starring Woody Allen, Louise Lasser, Carlos MontalbánWriter-director Woody Allen’s supremely silly third feature channels the absurdity of the Marx brothers for a side-splitting satire of Cold War politics and American imperialism. He stars as bumb...
