So This Is New York
| So This Is New York | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Richard Fleischer |
| Produced by | Stanley Kramer |
| Written by |
Carl Foreman Herbert Baker Ring Lardner (novel) |
| Starring | Henry Morgan |
| Music by | Dimitri Tiomkin |
| Cinematography | Jack Russell |
| Edited by | Walter Thompson |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn Mayer |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 79 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
So This Is New York is a 1948 satirical movie comedy[1] starring acerbic radio and television comedian Henry Morgan and directed by Richard Fleischer. The cynically sophisticated screenplay was written by Carl Foreman and Herbert Baker from the 1920 novel The Big Town by Ring Lardner. Foreman was blacklisted soon after.[2]
This remains the only movie in which legendary humorist Henry Morgan plays the leading role, and the material was tailored to showcase the cynical persona Morgan had developed for his radio show.[2]
The film's supporting cast includes Leo Gorcey, Virginia Grey, and Arnold Stang as a Western Union clerk who gives Morgan a hard time.
The film was the first feature for Richard Fleischer (son of Max Fleischer), who had previously directed short subjects for United Artists. Fleischer went on to direct Follow Me Quietly (1948), Armored Car Robbery (1950), and The Narrow Margin (1954). So This is New York was one of the first Hollywood movies to use the technique of freezing action on the screen while a narrator spoke about what the viewer was seeing. One scene has Morgan entering a taxi as a cabbie barks at him in a thick Bronx accent, "Awrite - where to, Mac?" Subtitles appear on the screen translating, "Where may I take you, sir?"[2]
Cast
- Henry Morgan ... Ernie Finch
- Rudy Vallee ... Herbert Daley
- Bill Goodwin ... Jimmy Ralston
- Hugh Herbert ... Lucius Trumball
- Leo Gorcey ... Sid Mercer - Jockey
- Virginia Grey ... Ella Goff Finch
- Dona Drake ... Kate Goff
- Jerome Cowan ... Francis Griffin
- Dave Willock ... Willis Gilbey
- Frank Orth ... A.J. Gluskoter
- Arnold Stang ... Western Union Clerk
- William Bakewell ... Hotel Clerk
References
- ↑ Kliph Nesteroff (July 22, 2007). "Henry Morgan: Fuck the Sponsor". WFMU's Beware of the Blog. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
- 1 2 3 Kliph Nesteroff (June 2007). "You Wanna Make A Federal Case Outta It!? The Hilarious Arnold Stang". WFMU's Beware of the Blog. Retrieved October 12, 2013.