New York Stories (1989)

Directors:

Woody Allen
Francis Ford Coppola

Writers (WGA):

Richard Price (written by) (segment)
Woody Allen (written by) (segment)

Release Date:

10 March 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

One City. Three Stories Tall.

Plot:

A middle-aged artist obsessed with his pretty young assistant, a precocious 12 year old living in a hotel, and a neurotic lawyer with a possessive mother make up three stories.

Plot Keywords:

Artist | Painter | Henpecked Son | Big City | Musician

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Woody Allen	...	Sheldon
Marvin Chatinover	...	Psychiatrist
Mae Questel	...	Mother
Mia Farrow	...	Lisa
Molly Regan	...	Sheldon's Secretary
Ira Wheeler	...	Mr. Bates
Joan Bud	...	Board Member
Jessie Keosian	...	Aunt Ceil
Michael Rizzo	...	Waiter
George Schindler	...	Shandu, The Magician
Bridgit Ryan	...	Rita
Larry David	...	Theater Manager
Paul Herman	...	Detective Flynn / Clifford, The Doorman / Cop
Herschel Rosen	...	Store Clerk
Lola André	...	Citizen

Also Known As:

New Yorker Geschichten (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Contos de Nova York (Brazil) [pt]
Històries de Nova York (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Histórias de Nova Iorque (Portugal) [pt]
Historias de Nueva York (Spain) [es]
Istories tis Neas Yorkis (Greece) [el]
New York üçlemesi (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
New York Stories (Finland) [fi]
New York Stories (France) [fr]
New York Stories (Denmark) [da]
New Yorki történetek (Hungary) [hu]
New york stories - storie di New York (Italy) [it]
Nowojorskie opowiesci (Poland) [pl]
Sippuray New York (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Brazil:14 | USA:PG (Certificate No. 29611) | Finland:S | France:U | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:15 | West Germany:12 | Australia:PG | Singapore:PG | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

5th Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

According to a story related in the documentary "The Art of Failure", on artist Chuck Connelly, Martin Scorsese was very impressed with Connelly's work and was planning on taking some of it back to Los Angeles to try to line up buyers for his work. However, just before that, Connelly gave an interview to the New York Post ripping both the movie and Scorsese personally. Scorsese withdrew the offer, and Connelly soon fell into obscurity.

Quotes:

Zoe: [Last lines of the segment] So, you could say we all lived on tour happily ever after.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Doctor Who Confidential: Making Manhattan (#3.5)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Stella By Starlight

So what's the problem?

I'll step out of the loop here about "New York Stories," three tales of New York from 1989, directed by three formidable directors: Martin Scorcese, Francis Ford Coppola and Woody Allen. I happen to think all three films had something to offer, and the fact that the Zoe sequence is about a child does not for me make it the weakest segment.

I found the Scorcese segment starring Nick Nolte and Roseanna Arquette the most thought-provoking, the Zoe segment the most charming, and the Allen segment the wackiest. The first episode is about a tortured artist (Nolte) who expresses his sexual frustrations and problems with his young protégée (Arquette) in his work. She no longer sleeps with him and wants to quit New York and go home; he wants to kiss her foot and professes undying love for her. To Puccini's Nessun Dorma, he stares at his artwork and goes through a variety of emotions as he paints another masterpiece. This particular muse in the form of Arquette used up, one sees him at his art show connecting with another would-be artist/muse whose identity will also be lost in his genius.

The second sequence, directed by Coppola, is a take-off on the Eloise stories by Kay Thompson. This little girl's name is Zoe. Her father, Claudio Montez (Giancarlo Giannini), is a famous flautist who travels, and her mother (Talia Shire) is a photo journalist who travels. Zoe lives with a butler and her dog Vegas at the Sherry Netherlands Hotel. She proves herself smarter than either parent in this charming film. My only question is why Giancarlo Giannini speaks Italian to his daughter when the name Claudio Montez is emphatically not Italian. Okay, it wasn't typical Coppola, but who said it had to be? The last one is pure Woody, Oedipus Wrecks, about a man with a nagging, critical mother who wants to marry a young woman (Mia Farrow) with children. He loves his mother, but he wishes she'd disappear. During a magic show, he gets his wish, when his mother goes into a magician's box and never comes out. Later she shows up in the sky telling him what to do, with the world as a witness. His girlfriend can't take it. He then goes to a psychic (Julie Kavner) who makes him a boiled chicken dinner. A complete delight.

Three different, interesting stories by three great directors.