Showing posts with label The Rehearsal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Rehearsal. Show all posts

Friday, March 28, 2014

Film Buff Friday: "Boardwalk"


Stephen Verona's "Boardwalk" Finally Released 

1979 drama starring Ruth Gordon and Lee Strasberg, 
from the director of "Lords of Flatbush" 

For all of you Film Buffs out there this is great news as it is the first time this movie has been released on video at all.

It is also great news for all of you fans, of which there are many, of the late great Ruth Gordon...Cheers!
Boardwalk is a 1979 American drama written by Stephen Verona (Lords of Flatbush, 1974) and Leigh Chapman and directed by Verona. It stars Ruth GordonLee Strasberg, and Janet Leigh. The film has not been available on home video, until now.

Boardwalk is a film about love, violence, and survival. It was filmed on location at numerous spots in New York city, including the famous but now defunct Dubrow's Cafeteria. 
Married for 50 loving years, David (Lee Strasberg) and Becky (Ruth Gordon) have lived in the same Coney Island neighborhood for most of  their life together. But the area is not what it used to be, and their children ask them to move. A powerful and determined man, David states, "I left one country, I'm not about to leave another. This is where I choose to live and nobody, but nobody, is going to make me leave." But Becky becomes ill and David's cafeteria and synagogue are vandalized by thugs. David must make his final stance. 

Boardwalk is Verona's 4th film. He's credited with creating the first music videos, starting with The Beatles... He produced over a hundred before retiring from the art in 1972, eleven years before MTV. By the time he was 27, he was nominated for an Academy Award for his live action short film "The Rehearsal" which he created, produced & directed. Not satisfied with commercials or videos, he moved on to write, produce and co-direct his first feature film, The Lords of Flatbush. This is the film that launched the careers of Sylvester StalloneHenry Winkler, and Richard Gere, who were all discovered by Verona who says, "Stallone said that I created the character of Rocky, and Henry said that he took his Fonzie character from Sly."

Stephen Verona's Complete Bio:  http://bit.ly/1deZvZ4