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New York in the Fifties

Play trailer Poster for New York in the Fifties 2000 1h 12m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
100% Tomatometer 6 Reviews 67% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
In this documentary, aspiring writer Dan Wakefield moves from Indianapolis to New York City to attend college in the early 1950s, where his world is opened to a swirling array of wonders. He falls in love, dreams of writing a novel and undergoes psychotherapy. But he also meets a wide variety of prodigiously talented people -- including poet Allen Ginsberg, "new journalist" Gay Talese and conservative writer William F. Buckley -- who are destined to mold America's cultural history.

Critics Reviews

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Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 08/14/2005
3/5
Joshua Tanzer Offoffoff 03/11/2003
2.5/4
It doesn't present a very thorough vicarious experience of the New York scene, but it does present conversations with some of the period's most interesting people. Go to Full Review Ed Kelleher Film Journal International 10/15/2002
A likeable documentary that strives to tie up a number of cultural themes and make sense of a very disparate group of 1950s social and artistic innovators, and even a few phonies. Go to Full Review Greg Dean Schmitz Greg's Previews at Yahoo! Movies 05/07/2002
3/4
James Kendrick Q Network Film Desk 05/07/2002
3/4
a fascinating slice of modern history Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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01/14/2014 I thought this would be more of a generic look at the 1950's rather than focusing on (what I found to be) a pretentious group of writers.. See more 02/17/2011 This documentary is what it says it is, but from the subjective viewpoint of author Dan Wakefield, and it's mostly about a few writers around at the time, and some musicians. There's good footage of iconic people involved in the pre sixties beat vibe, cool commentary from Robert Redford explaining the cultural scene in New York in the fifties. See more 09/22/2006 This movie had potential, but fell through the cracks. To bad. See more Read all reviews
New York in the Fifties

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Cast & Crew

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Betsy Blankenbaker

Director

Betsy Blankenbaker

Producer

Dorka Keehn

Producer

Bobby Shepard

Cinematographer

Steve Marra

Film Editing

Steve Allee

Original Music
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New York in the Fifties

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Movie Info

Synopsis In this documentary, aspiring writer Dan Wakefield moves from Indianapolis to New York City to attend college in the early 1950s, where his world is opened to a swirling array of wonders. He falls in love, dreams of writing a novel and undergoes psychotherapy. But he also meets a wide variety of prodigiously talented people -- including poet Allen Ginsberg, "new journalist" Gay Talese and conservative writer William F. Buckley -- who are destined to mold America's cultural history.
Director
Betsy Blankenbaker
Producer
Betsy Blankenbaker, Dorka Keehn
Production Co
Figaro Films
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jun 7, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$4.6K
Runtime
1h 12m