''Next Stop, Greenwich Village'' is a 1976 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film written and directed by Paul Mazursky, featuring Lenny Baker, Shelley Winters,

Ellen Greene Ellen Greene is an American actress and singer. She has had a long and varied career as a singer, particularly in cabaret, as an actress and singer in numerous stage productions, particularly musical theatre, as well as having performed in many ...

, Lois Smith, and Christopher Walken.

Plot

The film takes place in 1953. Larry Lipinsky is a 22-year old Jewish man from Brownsville in Brooklyn, New York, with dreams of stardom. He moves to

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

, much to the chagrin of his extremely overprotective mother. Larry ends up hanging out with an eccentric bunch of characters while waiting for his big break. He has a group of tight-knit friends, which includes a wacky girl named Connie; Anita, an emotionally distraught woman who constantly contemplates suicide; Robert, a young WASP who fancies himself a poet; and Bernstein, an African-American gay man. All the while, he tries to maintain a stormy relationship with Sarah, his girlfriend. This band of outsiders becomes Larry's new family as he struggles as an actor and works toward a break in Hollywood.

Cast

Production

Filmmaker Mazursky had made his acting debut in

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

's 1953 film '' Fear and Desire'', and ''Next Stop, Greenwich Village'' is a semi-autobiographical account of Mazursky's early life as an actor. The film was entered into the 1976 Cannes Film Festival. Paul Mazursky discusses the making of this film in an interview published in ''Filmmakers Newsletter'' April, 1976, Volume 9, Number 6, pp. 30ff by Nicholas Pasquariello

Casting

This film is also notable for being

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian, known for his deadpan delivery in roles ranging from studio comedies to independent dramas. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Bill Murra ...

's first film, with Murray having a few minutes of screen time. Jeff Goldblum and Christopher Walken (credited as Chris Walken) were early in their careers.

Reception

The film generally was well received by critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a "fresh" score of 86% based on 21 reviews.

References

External links

* * {{Paul Mazursky 1976 films 1970s coming-of-age comedy-drama films 1970s romantic comedy-drama films 20th Century Fox films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films American romantic comedy-drama films Films about actors Films about Jews and Judaism Films directed by Paul Mazursky Films scored by Bill Conti Films set in 1953 Films set in Manhattan Films shot in New York City Greenwich Village 1970s English-language films 1970s American films 1976 comedy-drama films English-language romantic comedy-drama films