Top 10 New York Films
By James Oliver
Fritz Lang stood on the dock of the boat the had brought him to America for his first trip, and stared up at the skyscrapers of Manhattan... that was the moment he decided to make Metropolis. Since then, New York city has been the muse for a million movies. Here's a by-no-means complete list of some of the very best.
It's sometimes beautiful (Manhattan), sometimes wretched (Taxi Driver) but all the films that follow capture something of the essence of the (semi-official) capital of the world...
NB. We've limited ourselves to choosing from titles currently available in the UK
10. Manhattan
Woody Allen's love letter to his home town is probably the quintessential New York film. The city has certainly never looked better than it does in this sequence, as Gordon Willis' sumptuous black and white photography marries with Gershwin's music to evoke the metropolis at its most romantic.
9. Who Killed Teddy Bear?
The Big Apple is so famously venal that no list would be complete without a decent dollop of sleaze. Rather than (the much overrated) Midnight Cowboy, how about this neglected nightmare? Squalid enough to be banned outright in Britain for many years, Who Killed Teddy Bear shows the city in the worst possible light – and is all the better for it.
8. 42nd Street
No trip to New York would be complete without seeing the sights – or maybe taking in a show: so let's head on down to 42nd Street.. With its showgirls, impresarios, tortured geniuses and bright-eyed newcomers, it's the ultimate backstage odyssey and its influence can be felt even today, in things like Black Swan. Best of all, though, it has Busby Berkely staging the dance numbers...
7. Breakfast at Tiffany's
Not, perhaps, as forthright as Truman Capote's original novella but surely more charming; Blake Edwards' film version offers a worldly, yet romantic vision of New York and gave Audrey Hepburn her finest role as Holly Golightly, the ultimate femme á la mode. Shame about Mickey Rooney's 'Asian' character though.
Buy the DVD for £7.49 / Buy the Blu-ray for £10.99
6. Do the Right Thing
...because there's more to NYC than Manhattan. Set in pre-hipster Brooklyn, Do The Right Thing is Spike Lee's most confrontational 'joint', exploring tinderbox racial tensions ready to catch fire on the hottest day of the year. As recent events in America have shown, it still remains regrettably relevant. And the soundtrack still sounds fantastic...
5. The Naked City
After the Second World War, previously studio-bound filmmakers began pushing to take the cameras out on the streets; The Naked City was one of the most audacious examples, a police procedural filmed almost entirely on location in New York. Its proud boast – that 'there are five million stories in the naked city' – was later illustrated by a TV show of the same name.
4. Shame
Come to think of it, “The Naked City” might be a good alternative title for this. A film about modernity, atomisation, alienation and, yes, about sexual excess, Shame could only have been set in New York, where the pace of modern living runs fastest. Director Steve McQueen depicts it as a steely, clinical city, a home to lost souls. But it's not without its charms: here's Carey Mulligan crooning her way through New York, New York...
Buy the DVD for £6.99 / Buy the Blu-ray for £17.99
3. Sweet Smell of Success
Noo Yawk's a city of fast-talkers, hustlers, con-artists and blaggers, something never captured better than in this acid satire of media matters, one of the most vinegary films ever released by a major studio. Feel the aggression in this clip as Burt L reminds Tony C just who is top dog. “Match me, Sydney...”
2. Taxi Driver
Written by Paul Shrader after a mental and physical collapse, Taxi Driver is both a primal howl of self-loathing and a statement of disgust at the world. It's a relentlessly interior journey into an unhinged mind that paints New York as, basically, hell. No one has ever filmed the city as vividly as Scorsese does here, making it look at once beautiful and repellent. The soundtrack, by Bernard Herrmann, who completed it the day before he died, is simply one of the best ever.
Buy the DVD for £7.49 / Buy the Blu-ray for £13.99
1. Man on Wire
New Yorkers are a jaded bunch and it takes something pretty special to impress them... something like doing a tightrope act a quarter of a mile above ground level without a safety net. That's what Philippe Petit did when he walked between the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in 1974. Given that those towers were subsequently destroyed by lunatics, this might have been a melancholy film. Instead, it's a riposte to the nutters, a celebration of the indefatigable spirit of New York, the spirit that makes it the most exciting city on earth.
Buy the DVD for £5.99 / Buy the Blu-ray for £10.49
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Film Listing
Martin Scorsese, 1976
£7.49
Taxi Driver
As a groundbreaking drama of modern alienation, Taxi Driver was something of a sordid masterpiece...
Steve McQueen, 2011
£6.99
Shame
A powerful drama and a starkly honest portrait of a man struggling with sex addiction, Shame is d...
Jules Dassin, 1948
£17.99
The Naked City
'There are eight million stories in the Naked City, and this has been just one of them' says the ...
Lloyd Bacon, 1933
£5.99
42nd Street
Splashy Hollywood does splashy Broadway in this behind-the-scenes of a show musical. The leading ...
Blake Edwards, 1961
£7.49
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Breakfast at Tiffany's - Blake Edwards' screen adaptation of Truman Capote's novella - is one of ...
Alexander Mackendrick, 1957
£13.99
Sweet Smell of Success
High powered New York columnist J.J. Hunsecker (Lancaster) is determined to preve...
James Marsh, 2008
£5.99
Man on Wire
The true story of Frenchman, Philippe Petit, who gained fame for his audacious tightrope walk bet...
Woody Allen, 1979
£6.49
Manhattan
For Andrew Sarris, Manhattan is "the only truly great American film of the 70s." High praise ind...
Spike Lee, 1989
£5.99
Do The Right Thing
Spike Lee's study of racial tensions takes place on the hottest day of the year in the Bedford-St...
Steve McQueen, 2011
£17.99
Shame
A powerful drama and a starkly honest portrait of a man struggling with sex addiction, Shame is d...
Joseph Cates, 1965
£5.99
Who Killed Teddy Bear
A grim police detective lieutenant embarks on a one-man crusade to track down a depraved sex mani...
Blake Edwards, 1961
£7.49
Breakfast at Tiffany's (50th Anniversary Edition)
Breakfast at Tiffany's - Blake Edwards' screen adaptation of Truman Capote's nove...
James Marsh, 2008
£10.49
Man on Wire
The true story of Frenchman, Philippe Petit, who gained fame for his audacious tightrope walk bet...
Martin Scorsese, 1976
£13.99
Taxi Driver
As a groundbreaking drama of modern alienation, Taxi Driver was something of a sordid masterpiece...
Martin Scorsese, 1976
£8.99
Taxi Driver
As a groundbreaking drama of modern alienation, Taxi Driver was something of a sordid masterpiece...
Blake Edwards, 1961
£10.99
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Breakfast at Tiffany's - Blake Edwards' screen adaptation of Truman Capote's novella - is one of ...
Woody Allen, 1979
£11.99
Manhattan
For Andrew Sarris, Manhattan is "the only truly great American film of the 70s." High praise ind...
Martin Scorsese, 1976
£9.99
Taxi Driver
As a groundbreaking drama of modern alienation, Taxi Driver was something of a sordid masterpiece...
