Next Stop, Greenwich Village

Next Stop, Greenwich Village
Next Stop, Greenwich Village
Directed by	Paul Mazursky
Written by	Paul Mazursky
Produced by	Paul Mazursky; Anthony Ray
Starring	Lenny Baker; Shelley Winters; Ellen Greene; Lois Smith; Christopher Walken
Cinematography	Arthur J. Ornitz
Edited by	Richard Halsey
Music by	Bill Conti; Dave Brubeck Quartet
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	February 4, 1976;
Running time	111 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1,060,000 (US/ Canada)

Next Stop, Greenwich Village is a 1976 comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Mazursky, featuring Lenny Baker, Shelley Winters, Ellen Greene, Lois Smith, and Christopher Walken.

Plot

The film takes place in 1953. Larry Lipinsky is a 22-year old Jewish boy from the Jewish enclave Brownsville in Brooklyn, New York, who has dreams of stardom. He moves to Greenwich Village, much to the chagrin of his extremely over-protective mother. Larry ends up hanging out with an eccentric bunch of characters while waiting for his big break. He has a group of tight-knit friends, which includes a wacky girl named Connie; Anita, an emotionally distraught woman who constantly contemplates suicide; Robert, a young WASP who fancies himself a poet; and Bernstein, an African-American gay man. All the while, he tries to maintain a stormy relationship with Sarah, his girlfriend. This band of outsiders becomes Larry's new family as he struggles as an actor and works toward a break in Hollywood.

Cast

Lenny Baker as Larry Lapinsky
Shelley Winters as Fay Lapinsky
Ellen Greene as Sarah
Lois Smith as Anita
Christopher Walken as Robert (as Chris Walken)
Antonio Fargas as Bernstein
Mike Kellin as Ben Lapinsky
Lou Jacobi as Herb
Dori Brenner as Connie
Jeff Goldblum as Clyde Baxter
Rashel Novikoff as Mrs. Tupperman
Michael Egan as Herbert Berghof, Acting Coach
Bill Murray (uncredited) as Nick Kessler
Joe Spinell as Cop at El Station
Stuart Pankin (uncredited) as Man at Party
Vincent Schiavelli (uncredited) as Man at Rent Party
Rochelle Oliver as Doctor Marsha

Production

Filmmaker Mazursky had made his acting debut in Stanley Kubrick's 1953 film Fear and Desire, and Next Stop, Greenwich Village is a semi-autobiographical account of Mazursky's early life as an actor.

The film was entered into the 1976 Cannes Film Festival.^[2]

Casting

This film is also notable for being Bill Murray's first film, although Murray has but a few minutes of screen time. Jeff Goldblum and Christopher Walken (credited as Chris Walken) are relatively early in their respective careers.

Reception

Critical reception

The film generally was well received by critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a "fresh" score of 80% based on 15 reviews.^[3]

References

^ Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1. p233. Please note figures are rentals accruing to distributors and not total gross.
^ "Festival de Cannes: Next Stop, Greenwich Village". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-05-08.
^ "Next Stop, Greenwich Village". Rotten Tomatoes.

External links

[1] Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1. p233. Please note figures are rentals accruing to distributors and not total gross.

[festival-cannes.com-2] "Festival de Cannes: Next Stop, Greenwich Village". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-05-08.

[3] "Next Stop, Greenwich Village". Rotten Tomatoes.

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