New York, New York

The Blockbuster era of the 1980’s began with the success of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas in the late 1970’s, each hitting in 1977 with genre films that appealed to the public’s purest sense of wonder and imagination.  That same year, William Friedkin and Martin Scorsese each attempted to follow up their own back-to-back achievements with their most ambitious and personal projects to date, but both Friedkin’s “Sorcerer” and Scorsese’s “New York, New York” were met with indifference by critics and audiences alike. “Sorcerer” underwent a digital restoration and subsequent reappraisal in 2013; “New York, New York” has yet to experience the same reevaluation.

By any measure, “New York, New York” represented a significant departure for Scorsese, coming as it did on the heels of his twin tales of crime and anti-social behavior, “Mean Streets” and “Taxi Driver”.  Even considering his studio assignment “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”, there was little to indicate the direction he was looking to take with his latest release.  Emboldened by the response to “Taxi Driver”, Scorsese expanded his scope for “New York, New York”, setting his sights on creating a movie musical in the tradition of the colorful MGM classics, featuring a story told with documentary level grit and realism.

The movie opens on a grand scale, tracking our male lead Jimmy Doyle, played by Robert DeNiro, through a massive crowd gathered on the street in celebration of VJ Day, 1945.  The camera follows Jimmy into a New York nightclub packed with revelers drinking and dancing to music performed by the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra.  With great confidence, Jimmy makes his first advance on Francine Evans, a USO singer portrayed by Liza Minnelli, and continues his pursuit over the course of the festivities.

Covering the first half hour, this opening section best captures the balancing of tones that Scorsese attempts to sustain throughout the film.  The improvisational style of DeNiro and Minnelli’s performances, encouraged by the director to add a layer of realism, combine with the scale and ambition of the production, resulting in an intimate and personal feel within the trappings of a lavish and ornate design.  Their interaction continues into the next day, as Jimmy and Francine begin to fall for each other through their musical chemistry discovered unexpectedly at an audition, and soon culminating with an impromptu cab ride and wedding sprung by Jimmy on Francine in the middle of the night.

This scene, played for laughs as Jimmy lays by the cab’s wheels to prove the sincerity of his love, is indicative of the film’s underlying weakness.  Despite the time spent with Jimmy and Francine, and the love they share for music and performance, they never fully gel as a couple, particularly when viewed from the overbearing approach of Jimmy, which borders uncomfortably on harassment when it should be radiating affection.  Much of this can be attributed to the character choices often adlibbed by DeNiro, who unfortunately appears to have carried much of his Travis Bickle passive aggression into his characterization.

The tension only increases with the announcement that Francine is expecting, and leaving the tour she is headlining with Jimmy’s band to finish her pregnancy and deliver the baby.  In her absence, the band’s popularity suffers, culminating in Jimmy signing over the group to his bandmate and musical rival Paul Wilson and returning to New York to stay with Francine through the birth of their child.  No longer leading his musicians and only performing sporadically at local nightclubs back in New York, Jimmy begins to retreat further from his wife and future offspring.

In what is arguably DeNiro’s strongest scene, Jimmy’s frustrations hit their breaking point, as a business meeting to discuss Francine’s recording opportunities is held at a nightclub featuring Jimmy’s former band.  Old resentments are exposed during a bar-side conversation with Paul, and Jimmy’s temper boils over, resulting in his forcible removal from the premises.  Played against a striking set design highlighted by the club’s walls lined in neon red, Jimmy is escorted kicking and thrashing down a lightbulb filled exit hallway, with the camera memorably capturing his struggle as he takes out dozens of tiny lights on his way out the door.

The couple ultimately separate for good while Francine lies in her hospital bed post-delivery.  Unable to assume his paternal responsibility, Jimmy leaves her bedside without meeting his newborn son, and effectively leaves the film, with Minnelli essentially taking sole lead.  It is here that the movie reaches its promised potential, with the last half hour showcasing Francine’s emotional rendition of “But the World Goes ‘Round” (filmed as one unbroken tracking shot in a single take) and her fully realized performance in the stand-alone musical sequence “Happy Endings” (infamously cut from the theatrical release but later restored and rightfully recognized as the film’s creative high point).  Unencumbered by the drama of the couple’s relationship troubles, Scorsese’s direction comes alive, clearly inspired by Minelli’s bravura performance and finally foregoing the plotline to reach something transcendent. 

“New York, New York” forgoes a happy ending, with Francine choosing to stand Jimmy up moments before their planned reunion, leaving him aware of her choice and alone again, on the same corner where we met him on VJ Day.  Ahead of its time, the film would struggle to connect with the public and fail to recoup its investment, leaving the critical community cold.  Forty years later, its influence on the box office breaking and Oscar winning “La La Land” would be undeniable.

An uneven but mesmerizing marriage of musical and drama, the film continues to stand out for its ambitious blending of classic Hollywood musical elements with a raw, emotional narrative, offering a unique take on post-war American life.  Minnelli’s performance, particularly in the movie’s closing passage and her rendition of the title song, has left a lasting mark on the genre and popular culture.  Despite its initial mixed reviews, the film’s stylistic innovation and exploration of complex relationships continue to resonate, highlighting Scorsese’s bold directorial vision and fearless artistic experimentation.