Grimy Facts About . We’re still a decade away from knowing that for sure, but it’s safe to assume he was right. The actor’s second collaboration with director Martin Scorsese—which was released 4. Here, culled from some of the many things that have been written about the film, are a handful of tidbits you may not have known. ![]() ![]() Labels: Movie, New York, Taxi Driver, USA No comments: Post a Comment Newer Post Older Post Home Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom) Pages Home Contact Us. Twitter Blog Archive Awesome Inc. 13 Grimy Facts About Taxi Driver Share Eric D Snider filed under. New York was dirty in the 1970s; that is, after all, one of the central themes of Taxi Driver. But it was especially dirty in the summer of 1975, when the film was. If you’re a fan of this iconic movie, then yeah: we’re talkin’ to you. When the audience called out his name, The Boss did a bit where he feigned humility and said, “You talkin’ to me?” Apparently it stuck in De Niro’s mind. THE SCREENWRITER DIDN'T SEE HIS FIRST MOVIE UNTIL THE AGE OF 1. Paul Schrader was raised by strict Calvinist parents, so movies were forbidden in the Schrader household. Schrader later said the first movie he ever saw was 1. The Absent- Minded Professor, which presumably was not an inspiration for Taxi Driver. As for what he thought of the Disney flick, Schrader confessed: “I was very greatly disappointed.”3. On this guided sightseeing bus tour you will see over 60 NYC locations featured in your favorite TV shows and. Taxi Driver ist ein Filmdrama von Martin Scorsese aus dem Jahr 1976. Der nach einem Drehbuch von Paul Schrader entstandene Film schildert das Leben des vereinsamten New Yorker Taxifahrers Travis Bickle, der von dem. New York City cab driver Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) constantly, almost obsessively, reflects on the ugly corruption of life around him, and becomes increasingly disturbed over his own loneliness and alienation. The ultimate guide to famous film locations in New York City. Recent Posts Better Off Single Draft Day Asthma Bird People Help us with the Missing Locations The Girl on the Train (2013) Assault on Wall Street Take Care. JODIE FOSTER HAD TO SEE A SHRINK BEFORE SHE WAS ALLOWED TO ACT IN IT. You. Tube. Though she was only 1. Foster was one of the most experienced actors in the cast, having appeared in dozens of TV shows and a handful of movies (including Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore). Nonetheless, with material as rough as Taxi Driver, her youth outweighed her experience, and the producers had her meet with someone from California’s child welfare department to make sure she was mature enough to handle it. A welfare worker supervised her scenes and Foster’s older sister, Connie, was hired as her body double for some of the sexier and/or more violent shots. Foster said that the welfare worker “saw the daily rushes of all my scenes and made sure I wasn't on the set when Robert De Niro said a dirty word.” 4. SCHRADER REWROTE FOSTER’S CHARACTER AFTER MEETING AN ACTUAL UNDERAGE NEW YORK CITY HOOKER. While in New York for pre- production and cast meetings, Schrader was moping in a bar late one night when he picked up a young woman. We’ll let him tell the story, as he told it to Film Comment in 1. I was shocked by my success until we got back to my hotel and I realized that she was: (1) a hooker; (2) underage; and (3) a junkie. Well, at the end of the night I sent Marty . We’re having breakfast at nine. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has officially announced Taxi Driver for Blu-ray release on April 5, in a 35th Anniversary edition. This gritty urban drama, written by Paul Schrader, directed by Martin Scorsese and. The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) was established in 1971 with jurisdiction over the city's medallion (yellow) taxicabs, livery cabs, 'black cars', commuter vans, paratransit vehicles (), and some luxury. Travel guide to filming locations for Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver, with Robert de Niro, around New York; including Columbus Circle; the St Regis Hotel; 57th Street; and 13th Street in the East Village. He idolised it all out of proportion.' Woody Allen could never be accused of ignoring his native city, returning time and again to eulogise the virtues of its buildings and its inhabitants. Will you please join us?’ So we came down, Marty came down, and a lot of the character of Iris was rewritten from this girl who had a concentration span of about 2. Her name was Garth.”5. THE FILM PARTLY OWES ITS EXISTENCE TO THE STING. Husband- and- wife producers Michael and Julia Phillips optioned Schrader’s screenplay in 1. Martin Scorsese was eager to direct it. But, at the time, none of the people involved had enough Hollywood clout for any studio to take a chance on such dark, unsettling material. That changed by the end of the year, when the Phillips- produced The Sting became a smash hit, on its way to becoming a Best Picture Oscar winner. Which gave the Phillips a track record—and, more importantly, a multi- film deal with Columbia Pictures. Schrader and Scorsese’s stock rose that year, too, and once De Niro came onboard, the previously unfilmable Taxi Driver became a possibility. DE NIRO HAD COINCIDENTALLY COME UP WITH A SIMILAR IDEA FOR A MOVIE HIMSELF. You. Tube. Before becoming a star, De Niro thought about writing a screenplay himself. One of the ideas he had was, in the words of biographer Shawn Levy, “about a lonely man wandering New York City with guns and dreaming of an assassination.” It never went any further than the idea stage, but it was an eerie coincidence when De Niro found Schrader and Taxi Driver a few years later. EVERYBODY TOOK A PAY CUT TO MAKE THE FILM. De Niro, having just broken out with The Godfather: Part II, was being offered $5. Taxi Driver for $3. Schrader agreed to take about the same amount for his screenplay, despite having just sold another one (The Yakuza) for 1. The rest of the main cast and Scorsese also worked for less than normal. Cybill Shepherd took $3. The total budget was around $1. THE COMPOSER DIED A FEW HOURS AFTER RECORDING THE FILM'S MUSIC. Scorsese was lucky to get Bernard Herrmann, a Hollywood legend who had scored Citizen Kane, Psycho, Cape Fear, North by Northwest, and dozens of others. Herrmann wrote the Taxi Driver score and conducted the recording sessions himself, finishing in Los Angeles on the evening of December 2. He retired to his hotel and died sometime during the night, officially Christmas Eve morning, at the age of 6. He was posthumously nominated for an Oscar. SCORSESE AVOIDED AN X RATING BY MAKING THE BLOOD LOOK MORE BROWN THAN RED. Scorsese desaturated the color in the film’s gorier scenes, rendering the blood less realistic and more like a black- and- white tabloid newspaper (without actually being black- and- white). Not only did it fit the lurid tone he was going for, it soothed the nerves of the ratings board. SCORSESE REPLACED AN INJURED ACTOR WITH .. You. Tube. The role of the hateful taxi passenger who describes, in graphic detail, how he wants to kill his cheating wife was supposed to have been played by George Memmoli, an actor who had appeared in Mean Streets. But Memmoli hurt his back while working on another film, and Scorsese surprised everyone by taking the role himself. He would later describe De Niro, sitting in the front seat of the cab, as his acting coach. DUE TO A GARBAGE STRIKE, MUCH OF THE ON- SCREEN FILTH WAS REAL. New York was dirty in the 1. Taxi Driver. But it was especially dirty in the summer of 1. SCORSESE DESCRIBED THE FILM AS “FEMINIST.” In an interview with Roger Ebert upon the film’s release, Scorsese called Taxi Driver “my feminist film .. The better man is the man who can kill you. CYBILL SHEPHERD WAS NOT A POPULAR MEMBER OF THE CAST. You. Tube. The glamorous Shepherd had become a star via The Last Picture Show, then squandered some of her goodwill by running off with the director, Peter Bogdanovich (who left his wife for her), making a couple of duds (Daisy Miller, At Long Last Love), and behaving snobbishly in the Hollywood circles in which she and Bogdanovich traveled. Though she’s better known today as a television actress, Shepherd took the Taxi Driver part for less than her usual asking price. The thing was, nobody thought she was much of an actress. Producer Julia Phillips, back in L. A., cringed when she watched the dailies. Scorsese had to give her frequent line readings, and De Niro’s frustration translated into hostility toward her. Schrader later said, “We always said we were looking for a Cybill Shepherd type. How much worse can she be than a Cybill Shepherd type? But she was always a Cybill Shepherd. New York, You've Changed: Taxi Driver , Part III. This is not the usual list of shooting locations and addressesto visit next time you tour the city. Instead, it is a fullshot- by- shot dissection to see what New York once was and what it hasbecome, for better or worse. Today, we finish our look at Taxi Driver (if you missed the previous articles: Part 1/Part 2; for those who missed our look at Ghostbusters: Part 1 & Part 2!). Continuing along where we last left off, Travis takes Betsy to Times. Square for their ill- fated movie date. Exactly where they are is toughto place as they walk along Broadway/7th Ave, but based on the median,I believe they're at the corner of 4. Broadway (note that thissection of Broadway is now closed off to traffic as a pedestrianwalkway): Travis takes Betsy to the Lyric, a former 4. Street playhouse and movie theater. Currently, the Hilton Theatre is gearing up for the 2. Spiderman musical. Originally designed as an. Lyric opened as a theater in 1. In 1. 93. 4, it was converted into a movie. Depression. At some point along the way, it. In 1. 99. 4, the Lyric and neighboring Apollo. Major architectural elements were carefully removed. Hilton Theatre. There are. Mc. Ann's in the city, but none of them have addresses that match. Mc. Ann's should be 6. It's looking. quite a bit different these days, but I like that they left the metal. Angry, Travis storms around the corner out the front door. Betsy at the campaign office, and while we've. I wanted to note the. Sadly, the owner sold the. An angled view of the new building. Wizard for a discussion about guns. We get a. quick glimpse north (the building on the right past the Belmore is now. Les Halles, the restaurant owned by TV personality chef Anthony. Meanwhile, a Mc. Donalds is now on the corner. Across the street, you can see the AAA. Iris, the young prostitute he met outside the. Variety. He parks his car on 1. Street between 2nd and 3rd Aves to. It took me a good ten minutes of searching for that red. I realized it doesn't exist anymore. If you haven't noticed, one of the key aspects that makes Taxi Driver a. New York movie is that the city geography makes sense. When Charlie brings Betsy to the porno theater, we see. Times Square to 4. Street. And here. Travis reunites with Iris, he goes right around the corner from. Variety Theater, where he first met her. The electronics store on the right is. Cafe Deville. Something that still. The sign's different, but it's still the same business over 3. The only clue in the photo. Madison Square Park, placing Travis somewhere along 5th Ave (actually. Another business still around! Same hardware store on 1. Travis heads off in the cab. I was thinking. it might even be in Brooklyn, with the view of the Manhattan Bridge and. This was easy to locate, as the first. Seventh Ave). Note the new fancy. Look carefully. and you'll see what 3. Note that everyone is looking and smiling at the camera. Travis is driving too fast to notice during the film). One final look at how Seventh Ave has changed. Street again, and Charlie meets up with Iris. The place on the corner. Hea, a Japanese restaurant. Across the street, another view of Gothic Cabinet Craft. Charlie gets out and chats with Iris: Again, we see the infamous ROOMS entrance.. The scene takes place outside of 2. East 1. 3th Street.. In this reverse shot, we get a look across the street (the buildings have all since been torn down). After a deal is reached, Iris and Travis continue down the street.. Things are looking cheerier these days. A tilt up shows the rest of the building. Travis later takes Iris to a diner. Any ideas on where this might be? Mark's (man, does. Good to know that Gino's Italian Ices have. Regis. Hotel at 5. Street & Fifth Ave. I like the new black awning. Travis chats with his cab buddies.. Personally, I don't look backnostalgically on the grittier New York of the late 1. As I neverexperienced it first hand, I believe it's dangerous and naive toromanticize something the city has worked so desperately to rise upfrom. In 1. 97. 6, a large portion of New York's population people simplydidn't care, and the city suffered for it. In 2. 00. 9, people care. A byproduct of people caring is a city that issafer, more g- rated, more expensive, more museum- like. I agree thatsuch an environment leaves very little room for growth, artistic orotherwise - - frankly, you can't have a Belmore diner at the corner of. Park anymore (if you owned the place, would you not sell the property for countless millions?). While I dislike the fact that so many of the FAR more interesting locations in Taxi Driver havebeen replaced by Duane Reades, Mc. Donald's, Starbucks, and Sephora's, Ican only look at it as part of the unfortunate social evolution of New. York. Ultimately, if New York City didn't want them, they wouldn'texist for long. And hey, if it all bugs you that much, there are plentyof other American cities going through some pretty bad rough patchesyou could move to, and I promise the rent will be much cheaper. Regardless, as I stated at the beginning of this series, New York isas much a character in Taxi Driver as Travis Bickle, and Scorsese can'tbe praised enough for giving it so much screen time. I'm taking a. little break from these labor- intensive then- and- now's, but definitely. And one last. time, if you’ve made it this far, think about subscribing to our RSS feed or Twitter account (if you haven't already) for future updates! Taxi Driver (1. 97. IMDb. Edit. Storyline. Travis Bickle is an ex- Marine and Vietnam War veteran living in New York City. As he suffers from insomnia, he spends his time working as a taxi driver at night, watching porn movies at seedy cinemas during the day, or thinking about how the world, New York in particular, has deteriorated into a cesspool. He's a loner who has strong opinions about what is right and wrong with mankind. For him, the one bright spot in New York humanity is Betsy, a worker on the presidential nomination campaign of Senator Charles Palantine. He becomes obsessed with her. After an incident with her, he believes he has to do whatever he needs to make the world a better place in his opinion. One of his priorities is to be the savior for Iris, a twelve- year- old runaway and prostitute who he believes wants out of the profession and under the thumb of her pimp and lover Matthew. In the next scene, his jacket is off. I figure, you know, if I'm gonna do that I might as well get paid for it.
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