On the Bowery

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Colleen W 06/03/2023 So hard to watch, filled with so much truth. Worth it for the historical footage alone, but the story is engrossing. See more Scott R @ScottR 02/06/2018 Something completely different and an amazing treasure of American history. See more 09/25/2013 Seedy, interesting look at the lives of a group of lower class men who really have nothing going for them in New York City. Most of them drink profusely, smoke to no end, sleep on the street, are angry, and make everyone, including law enforcement, pity their behaviour. Very grubby movie, but without question, exemplifies its point. The documentary is pretty sad and it does get a little overboard after a while and goes somewhat astray in direction, but I found it worked and that is all that matters. See more 03/15/2013 it's a tough film to watch but an important one too. rogosin was one of the first independent filmmakers in america. his first film shows a bygone skid row section of new york and the men who sleep in missions and on the streets, slaves to demon rum See more 05/23/2011 Incredibly vivid and authentic portrait of inner-city poverty. But I feel like I wasted my time--I could have just gone to east hastings and took a walk. See more Walter M @Harlequin68 09/20/2010 The docufiction "On the Bowery" is best viewed as a look back at a time and place that no longer exists when derelicts would congregate on The Bowery underneath the Third Avenue Elevated tracks in Manhattan. Ray(Ray Salyer) has just returned from far flung New Jersey where he was working on the railroads. Once back in town, he goes drinking with Gorman(Gorman Hendricks). Together, they sell a pair of Ray's pants to get a room for the night but Ray does not make it that far, passing out on the street where he is not alone. Seeing an opportunity, Gorman steals his suitcase which contains Ray's prized fob watch. One way that "On the Bowery" goes wrong is in its unconvincingly staged action(Ray never mentions his lost suitcase again) in a moderately successful attempt to mimic Italian neorealism, according to the making of documentary that followed(I didn't stay for the whole documentary since dinner and a train were calling).(Also mentioned is that the filmmakers were very knowledgeable about alcohol, preferring a watering hole in Greenwich Village.) Even with non-professional actors and real locations, director Lionel Rogosin could not quite match the evocative power of those films due to the slightest of storylines which has little to say on the human condition. See more Read all reviews

On the Bowery

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