- The Prisoner of Second Avenue
Infobox Film
name = The Prisoner of Second Avenue
caption = Theatrical release poster
director =Melvin Frank
producer =Melvin Frank
writer =Neil Simon
starring =Jack Lemmon
Anne Bancroft
Gene Saks
Elizabeth Wilson
Florence Stanley
music =Marvin Hamlisch
distributor =Warner Brothers Pictures
released = March 14, 1975 (US)
runtime = 98 min
country =United States
language = English| imdb_id = 0072034"The Prisoner of Second Avenue" is an American comedic (somewhat of a
black comedy ) play written by famed playwrightNeil Simon . The play was later made into a movie that was released in1975 .The play ran on Broadway from November
1971 until September1973 .Peter Falk andLee Grant starred in the play as Mel and Edna Edison during its Broadway run.Vincent Gardenia played Mel's brother Harry. "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" was nominated for the 1972Tony Award for Best Play. It was produced for the stage bySaint Subber .The film version of "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" stars
Jack Lemmon ,Anne Bancroft andGene Saks . The film was produced and directed byMelvin Frank .Plot
The story revolves around the escalating problems of a middle-aged couple living on Second Avenue on the
Upper East Side ofNew York City . Mel Edison, the main character, has just lost his job after many years and now has to cope with being unemployed at middle age. The action occurs during an intense summerheat wave and a prolonged garbage strike, which just exacerbates Edison's plight to no end as he and his wife Edna deal with noisy neighbors, loud sounds eminating from Manhattan streets up to their apartment and even a robbery of their apartment during broad daylight. Mel eventually suffers a nervous breakdown from the whole affair, and it is up to the loving care of his brother Harry, his sisters and Edna to bring Mel back to a firm reality. Neil Simon walks a tightrope between comedy and drama in this bittersweet release.Trivia
*
F. Murray Abraham can be glimpsed at the very beginning of this film playing a cab driver.*
Sylvester Stallone made one of his earliest film appearances in "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" as an alleged pickpocket.*
Anne Bancroft was nominated for aBAFTA award for her role as Edna Edison.* Character actor
M. Emmet Walsh has a small role in the film as a doorman.* Voice-over veteran
Gary Owens reads the humorousnews blurbs that are interspersed throughout the film.*
Joel Schumacher did theCostume Design for the film.External links
* [http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=3622 IBDb.com entry for "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" (play)]
* [http://imdb.com/title/tt0072034/ IMDb.com entry for "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" (film)]
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