HUNTER-GATHERER

From Oscar winning film “The Naked City” 1948

With every day, Gotham loses another building or landmark. One could argue either side of the epidemic/boom but what remains is the fact that few filmmakers will be moved to use the myriad of uninspiring architectural “wonders” sprouting as of late for a backdrop to their gritty NYC saga.
Alex of Flaming Pablum has written extensively about New York films and specific builidings that served as backdrops. Jeremiah over at Vanishing New York and Brooks of Sheffield at Lost City highlight our aging treasures and keep running tallies of the continuing carnage.
Write it off as nostalgic whingeing if you are so inclined, but what made this city an attraction in the first place was it’s sense of history and the character of it’s gritty, often mean streets and their denizens. New York City as social experiment where people of vastly different backgrounds and socio-economic strata coexist and prosper is something that I held up to non-residents as our most enduring feat. Where else in this country do people struggle through the expensive, dingy, cramped conditions that we do and yet rarely, seriously consider living elsewhere? It is the serendipitous chance meeting or occurrence on a busy street or coffee shop that propels us in directions never imagined, or provides an inspiration unlikely to occur in a lesser metropolis.
Within the convection oven of the last few days, I have been keeping a low profile. I really do not do well in the heat. Give me January weather anytime. During this self imposed internment, I revisited one of the best New York City-as-movie-backlot time capsules their is, the Naked City television series. Filmed largely on location in Gotham from 1958-1963 and based on the Oscar winning 1948 film noir classic, each episode is a time capsule that had me scrambling to figure out what street/neighborhood had forever been preserved intact. One episode in particular moved me as it was shot just blocks away on East 7th St (between 1st & A). I remember first watching this particular episode back in 1989 when a local station still aired reruns of the series.
The film and each subsequent television episode revolved around a group of police detectives that collide with the long string of lives impacted by a single crime. The television series featured a number of stars of the era as well as brief glimpses of future talents that appeared as humble extras. The score of Nelson Riddle provides the quintessential crime-drama musical backdrop.
I heartily recommend the original film and the series which has been re-released with 36 episodes from the 1961-1963 as well as the commercials that ran during Naked City’s original run. Pure Gotham Gold.

Jack Klugman as East 7th st. resident from the Emmy winning television series “Naked City” 1962

Amazing footage of the LES and the Williamsburg Bridge from The Naked City 1948

The Naked City (ending) 1948