Drug addicts! Who in 1970 really knew what life was like for them? Jerry Schatzberg, Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne's story of hell on the streets of NYC provided a stunning debut for Al Pacino -- and should have done the same for Kitty Winn. It sounds too tough to watch, but it's riveting. The Panic in Needle Park Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1971 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 109 min. / Ship Date June 14, 2016 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Al Pacino, Kitty Winn, Alan Vint, Richard Bright, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Raul Julia, Joe Santos, Paul Sorvino Cinematography Adam Holender Film Editor Evan Lottman Original Music Ned Rorem Written by Joan Didion, John Gregory Dunne from the novel by James Mills. Produced by Dominique Dunne, Roger M. Rothstein Directed by Jerry Schatzberg
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
We all know how the 1970s upheaval in Hollywood brought new talent to film -- actors,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
We all know how the 1970s upheaval in Hollywood brought new talent to film -- actors,...
- 6/26/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Another forgotten gem from the mid-1970s receiving a new Blu-ray treatment is 1975’s Report to the Commissioner, a textured police procedural examining changing social mores and the generalized internal corruptions we’re used to in these scenarios, resulting in tragic circumstances thanks to the sincere ignorance of its protagonist. Yaphet Kotto, a regular supporting player in a number of Blaxploitation features from the decade, is a standout as a weary, sympathetic detective numbed by the machinations of law enforcement. It’s a greatly overlooked title of the era, featuring a variety of recognizable names in early roles as street hoods, and based on a novel by James Mills (The Panic in Needle Park, 1971), adapted for the screen by Abby Mann (Judgment at Nuremberg, 1961) and Ernest Tidyman (Shaft; The French Connection, both 1971). Though its narrative is, at times, a bit rough around the edges, this deliberately paced thriller features rich characterizations and excellent chase sequences.
- 7/14/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
The Panic in Needle Park
Written by Joan Dion and John Gregory Dunne; based on the book by James Mills
Directed by Jerry Schatzberg
USA, 1971
Al Pacino gives a riveting performance as Bobby, an energetic street hustler and heroin addict who forms a bizarre, yet accepting relationship with a homeless woman, Helen, played by Kitty Winn. The Panic in Needle Park is a gut-wrenching expose into the drug culture in New York City. American films of the late sixties, such as Easy Rider, Performance and The Trip, portrayed the edgy glamour and counter-culture boom of the sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll revolution, but after the release of The Panic in Needle Park, filmmakers forecast the downward spiral of addiction. Sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll transgressed into heroin, prostitution and jail. To this day, no other film has topped the realistic portrayal of the drug culture. Shot in a documentary-like fashion,...
Written by Joan Dion and John Gregory Dunne; based on the book by James Mills
Directed by Jerry Schatzberg
USA, 1971
Al Pacino gives a riveting performance as Bobby, an energetic street hustler and heroin addict who forms a bizarre, yet accepting relationship with a homeless woman, Helen, played by Kitty Winn. The Panic in Needle Park is a gut-wrenching expose into the drug culture in New York City. American films of the late sixties, such as Easy Rider, Performance and The Trip, portrayed the edgy glamour and counter-culture boom of the sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll revolution, but after the release of The Panic in Needle Park, filmmakers forecast the downward spiral of addiction. Sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll transgressed into heroin, prostitution and jail. To this day, no other film has topped the realistic portrayal of the drug culture. Shot in a documentary-like fashion,...
- 6/23/2013
- by Yale Freedman
- SoundOnSight
As happened for so many other genres, the 1960s/1970s saw a tremendous creative expansion in crime and cop thrillers. The old Hollywood moguls had died off or retired, most of the major studios were bleeding red ink, attendance had gone off a cliff since the end of Ww II, and a new breed of young, creatively adventurous production executives had been tasked with trying to save their business by coming up with movies which could hook a new, young, cinema-literate audience.
It also happened to be one of the most socially turbulent times in American history. Even before the American public grew restive over the growing disaster in Vietnam, the social fabric was unraveling with self-examination and doubt. The Cold War; a certain inner emptiness that went with a period of great material prosperity; once invisible fault lines on matters of race and gender discrimination beginning to crack – all...
It also happened to be one of the most socially turbulent times in American history. Even before the American public grew restive over the growing disaster in Vietnam, the social fabric was unraveling with self-examination and doubt. The Cold War; a certain inner emptiness that went with a period of great material prosperity; once invisible fault lines on matters of race and gender discrimination beginning to crack – all...
- 3/22/2012
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
Needle Park, an area in New York in which heroin addicts hung out, scored drugs, shot up and generally killed time. Introducing us to this area is Bobby (Al Pacino) and Helen (Kitty Winn), a pair of addicts who dream of a different life but seem set on a path that seems to have no possibility of a happy ending.
Based on a book by James Mills, also titled Panic in Needle Park and equally as grim, the script for Panic in Needle Park was written by married writers Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne. The script, and indeed director Jerry Schatzberg’s approach, is rooted in capturing an essence of the real lives of the people it is striving to represent. The efforts to capture these lives is very reminiscent of works such The Addict in the Street, originally published in 1964 and written by Jeremy Larner and Ralph Tefferteller,...
Based on a book by James Mills, also titled Panic in Needle Park and equally as grim, the script for Panic in Needle Park was written by married writers Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne. The script, and indeed director Jerry Schatzberg’s approach, is rooted in capturing an essence of the real lives of the people it is striving to represent. The efforts to capture these lives is very reminiscent of works such The Addict in the Street, originally published in 1964 and written by Jeremy Larner and Ralph Tefferteller,...
- 9/5/2011
- by Craig Skinner
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Peter Keefe, creator of the 80's hit sensation Voltron, passed away May 27th, 2010. His brother Chris Keefe had said his brother passed away due to complications from throat cancer. In additional to his brothers Chris and Tony, Mr. Keefe is survived by his wife, Pamela Mills Keefe, a stepson, James Mills; his mother, Anne Keefe,and three sisters, Lisa Keefe Updaw, Mollie Keefe Jones, and Kitty Keefe of Cleveland.
Keefe created Voltron by way of licensing Japanese cartoons “Beast King Go-Lion” and “Armored Fleet Dairugger Xv,” which he discovered in 1983 at a merchandise licensing convention in Japan. Give credit where it's due kiddos. Keefe's splicing of show content, and creating "western friendly" plot helped Americanize Voltron as the predecessor to the eventual "Power Rangers" empire in the 1990s. Keefe was said to "live and breathe Voltron", taking over the reigns for several other iterations of the lion-led animated super-team after...
Keefe created Voltron by way of licensing Japanese cartoons “Beast King Go-Lion” and “Armored Fleet Dairugger Xv,” which he discovered in 1983 at a merchandise licensing convention in Japan. Give credit where it's due kiddos. Keefe's splicing of show content, and creating "western friendly" plot helped Americanize Voltron as the predecessor to the eventual "Power Rangers" empire in the 1990s. Keefe was said to "live and breathe Voltron", taking over the reigns for several other iterations of the lion-led animated super-team after...
- 6/15/2010
- by Marc Alan Fishman
- Comicmix.com
By Aaron Hillis
Journalist, novelist, essayist and all-around elegant wordsmith Joan Didion won the National Book Award in 2005 for "The Year of Magical Thinking," a memoir and instant classic about the year following the death of her husband John Gregory Dunne. With her late partner, Didion co-wrote such screenplays as "True Confessions," "Up Close & Personal" and "A Star is Born" (the Babs version, naturally), as well as the best of the lot, an adaptation of James Mills' novel "The Panic in Needle Park." Released in 1971, director Jerry Schatzberg's stark, moving, gorgeously photographed drama refers to the triangular Manhattan intersection at Broadway and 72nd Street -- now dubbed Sherman Square, but then a hotbed for heroin junkies. A brilliant but at the time unknown Al Pacino stars as a small-time pusher who falls for smacked-out Midwesterner Kitty Winn (who won the Best Actress award at Cannes for her role...
Journalist, novelist, essayist and all-around elegant wordsmith Joan Didion won the National Book Award in 2005 for "The Year of Magical Thinking," a memoir and instant classic about the year following the death of her husband John Gregory Dunne. With her late partner, Didion co-wrote such screenplays as "True Confessions," "Up Close & Personal" and "A Star is Born" (the Babs version, naturally), as well as the best of the lot, an adaptation of James Mills' novel "The Panic in Needle Park." Released in 1971, director Jerry Schatzberg's stark, moving, gorgeously photographed drama refers to the triangular Manhattan intersection at Broadway and 72nd Street -- now dubbed Sherman Square, but then a hotbed for heroin junkies. A brilliant but at the time unknown Al Pacino stars as a small-time pusher who falls for smacked-out Midwesterner Kitty Winn (who won the Best Actress award at Cannes for her role...
- 1/28/2009
- by Aaron Hillis
- ifc.com
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