Directed by Ján Kadár • 1970 • United States
Starring Zero Mostel, Harry Belafonte, Ida Kaminska
Ján 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, coscripted by visionary independent filmmaker Bill Gunn and produced by star Harry Belafonte. The legendary Zero Mostel stars as Morris Mishkin, a poor New York City tailor struggling to support his ailing wife (Ida Kaminska), whose difficulties have caused him to turn against his Jewish faith. Enter Alexander Levine (Belafonte), a Black Jewish angel who makes it his mission to restore hope to Mishkin’s life. Gloria Foster, who would go on to achieve widespread fame as the Oracle in THE MATRIX, costars.
Up Next in New York Stories
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The Panic in Needle Park
Directed by Jerry Schatzberg • 1971 • United States
Starring Al Pacino, Kitty Winn, Alan VintA fragile romance unfolds against the backdrop of 1970s New York in this unsparing look at heroin addiction, scripted by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne and directed by Jerry Schatzberg. Taking its t...
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Born to Win
Directed by Ivan Passer • 1971 • United States
Starring George Segal, Karen Black, Paula PrentissJ (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 ...
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Little Murders
Directed by Alan Arkin • 1971 • United States
Starring Elliott Gould, Marcia Rodd, Vincent GardeniaThe black-comic stage play by writer and Pulitzer Prize–winning cartoonist Jules Feiffer provides the basis for Alan Arkin’s directorial debut, a surreal satire of urban alienation and the sensele...
