Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Mark Rydell

Writers:

John Byrum (screenplay)
John Byrum (story)

Release Date:

19 August 1976 (UK)

Genre:

Crime | Comedy

Plot:

Two hoplessly out of their class con-men attempt to pull off the largest bank heist of the l9th century...

Plot Keywords:

New York City | Safecracker | Explosive | 1890s | Bicycle

Cast

James Caan	...	Harry Dighby
Elliott Gould	...	Walter Hill
Michael Caine	...	Adam Worth
Diane Keaton	...	Lissa Chestnut
Charles Durning	...	Rufus T. Crisp
Lesley Ann Warren	...	Gloria Fontaine
Val Avery	...	Chatsworth
Jack Gilford	...	Mischa
Dennis Dugan	...	Lewis
Carol Kane	...	Florence
Kathryn Grody	...	Barbara
David Proval	...	Ben
Michael Conrad	...	Billy Gallagher
Burt Young	...	Warden Durgom
Bert Remsen	...	Guard O'Meara

Runtime:

115 min | Argentina:120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Mansfield Reformatory - 100 Reformatory Road, Mansfield, Ohio, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

After disastrous previews, Columbia heavily cut the film down. Director Mark Rydell claimed most of the film's jokes were the main victims.

Quotes:

Adam Worth: I need a favor, Mr. Durgom. I want these two clods assigned to the nitro detail, as soon as possible.
Warden Durgom: You mean permanently, sir?
Adam Worth: No, Mr. Durgom. Not permanently. Just until they die!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Eric Idle/Neil Innes (#2.21)" (1977)

good clean fun

I saw this movie when it was first released, then again on television sometime in the Eighties. Why this film is largely forgotten is beyond me. For that matter, why are some of the most entertaining films of the Seventies collecting dust, while the critics continue to insist that we bow and scrape to pretentious self-absorbed WoodyBogdanovichMazurskyAltman? Anyhoo, this film is funny -- maybe not side-splitting, but certainly a lot more entertaining than many films calling themselves comedies. It's atmospheric, with that yellow/sepia look Coppola first introduced in Godfather II. It's well-acted: James Caan is a great comic actor -- let's face it, a great actor, period. Michael Caine is especially good as the kid glove villain. Almost nothing here to offend anybody, (but kids under age 10 might have trouble following it). And after all these years, I still remember the "owls who" joke.