Trini's arrival as a decent, round-eyed, timid kiddie eying at Johnson's stunts in the hospital is softening to the point of a gentle laughter...
The Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated" -- "Who is that patient anyway, shouldn't she be sedated?"

Although the "rock-credibility" required the flamboyant escape of the gals to take place as noisily as possible, what's the point of going 'round the hospital trying to avoid nurses, yet at the at the same time playing Ramos at full volume...? Oh, well.

For any architecture freaks out there, there's in fact a model of the Marriot Marquis Hotel visible in Pammy's father's office, ominously completed five years later as part of the Times Square renovation plan suggested in the film.

Pammy's application for a job in a topless club in a sunday-school looks was a plain silly, and working, touch... After she loses her nervousness, she's one step forward in relishing her newly-found freedom and self-esteem.
"The one and only, the sensational, funky, hip..."

Street-frolicking to the sound of NY's own Talking Heads' "Life During Wartime" is again a splendid display from the "House of Psychotic Women"...

As an inside joke, there's Trini's real birth date etc. personal data printed to the "Wanted" poster on the side of the bus (something in the vein of Stella's real Trini childhood images), so anybody interested in such useless facts of this celebrity, check the film...

Then begins the inevitable alienation of the gals, who are, after all, too different in their character and wishes, partly undoubtedly deriving from their backgrounds. Nicky wants fame and stardom, Pammy merely wants to live an ordinary, domestic life. Already alienated "New Romantic" Gary Numan's fine "Down In the Park" ^*) and Patti Smith's "Pissing In the River" express well this separation.

Pammy standing next to a neon sign "Live Nude Girls" after the split is one of the visually strongest (and at the same time ironic) images of the film with its light and shade -- it would make a good still photograph.

Curry playing chess? With a timer? Behold... Nicky regrets and arrives at the radio station to get in the air.
"When I wave my arm in the air, you are on the air."

The proposed renovation and "cleaning-up" of Times Square has now, fifteen years later, materialized, although fortunately not to a sterile office complex that was, gloomily, suggested in the film. The entrance of revenue-(and tourist-) bringing entertainment complexes has, inevitably, removed a part of Times Square history, now only to be seen in films like Taxi Driver -- or Times Square.

Film surroundings twenty years later

BTW, I can't seem to spot the divine The Cure's "Grinding Halt" from the film's soundtrack at all, although it is listed... Strange.
[Seems like The Cars' "Dangerous Type" (which IMO was very Cure-like) was replaced by this weaker Cure song on the soundtrack and thus listed also on the film credits. A pity.]

^*) Addendum & nitpicking 12 Dec 1998:
Strictly taken, "Down In the Park" should have been credited to Tubeway Army despite being at the time already a Gary Numan solo project -- I just happened to find Tubeway Army's Replicas as used, and to my endless satisfaction that Numan's debut album included also this song, as well as "Are 'Friends' Electric", one of the best songs I've ever heard, a perfect Neo-Romantic futurock tune...

^**) Addendum 21 May 2000:
Just before embarking on my second trip to NYC (about that later on), I by chance bumped on the used vinyl The Cars - Greatest Hits. At first feeling disbelief about the identity of the band due to the pictures of the band members and the cover, which more resembled some third rate AOR outfit, rather than the band that would have made the Cure-like "Dangerous Types". Well, listening to the album, the songs indeed ranged from the Knack-like (Remember? "My Sharona"? Anyone?) teen rock tunes like the splendid "Just What I Needed" to hopelessly AOR'ed fame pieces like "Drive" (didn't know it was a Cars piece, not that I'd cared either). And, of course, "Dangerous Types", which would've beaten every other "greatest" song on the album, was not present. How else. Nevetheless, after a number of listenings, the album redeems itself rather well.
[2 July: The name of The Cars' leader felt from the beginning familiar and indeed, when by chance opening a CD by the legendary NYC rasta HC/punk band Bad Brains, who else was the producer but Ric Ocasek -- a strange connection, given the difference of musical styles...]
[29 Nov: Well, despite the jubilant words below, a year ago, the TSQ Quest is fully complete only now, with the acquisition of the last piece in the puzzle, The Cars' Candy-O, with "Dangerous Types" (yez!). Strange, tho', that the song seems quite different when compared to the song on the film, but I guess that it's due to the editing(?). A perfect end song for any album, nevertheless.]
[12 Aug 2001: To once again stray from the topic, the abovementioned "My Sharona" by The Knack became actual again after over twenty years as finally ;^) I got Get the Knack -- another long-delayed acquisition. Altho' back then "Sharona" was my first contact with the band, "Frustrated", the B-side of their 2nd single, has always been my fave, the one I still have as a 7" single. The main importance of "Sharona" lay in the pastisches, the "Ayatollah" one of course best crystallizing the feelings at turn from the 1970s to the 1980s.]

One year on: Addendum & incoherent/happy rant part 2, 3 Dec 1999:

The last time I felt this fulfilled was when I bid my farewell to The Master at the local premiere of Eyes Wide Shut -- or maybe when God Kanu scored singlehandedly three against Chelsea FC in the last fifteen minutes to grab the real London's pride Arsenal FC a victory from the blue pisshole...
Listenin' to Alphaville's, I conclude.

E "Alphaville'd" D

Only a bit more sober 11 Sept 2000:
The chance was one in a million (no, let's say two million). Practically a no-hoper and even bizarre to expect. Yet, when browsing through the used vinyl selections in a local second-hand record shop last week -- for the first time in years -- what did I find (along with early Blondies, Toyah's second and Oxley's ;^))? Yeguesseditrright. A certain "Times Square" soundtrack. Had I not already found the title, I would have *** on the spot. To find it from a second-hander here in Kuopio is just totally unbelievable & absurd. But the title was in a generally good condition and a general release copy (as opposed to the earlier promo) -- and I have them both, yippee!? No? Anyway, at the moment I'm not selling the extra copy, but maybe I'll sometime in the future do that too... It seems that after for so many years yearning after certain titles -- like the two indigenous early eighties new wave by-now rarities which I had been seeking (in my lazy kind of way) for ten and fifteen years, respectively, and accidentally found in the last few weeks -- they fall in hand in a bunch. And both from this same shop, practically on my doorstep, globally speaking. And all for peanuts. It was about time to get lucky!

Newly issued news on the Times Square re-issue issue:

6 Dec 1999:

I just found about the inclusion of Times Square in Jon Futrell's Monthly Mission at Widescreencentral.com.

It is a page where out-of-print or non-widescreen-released films are featured, along with contact info of the present rights owners, so that people can bombard them with pleas for the title's reissue on VHS (preferably in widescreen, of course!) and maybe even DVD.

21 Mar 2000:

Well, the abovementioned site is now passé, but someone has at least taken the first steps to re-release the film in the US: The Anchor Bay Entertainment has stated on their site that the "Tim Curry drama, Times Square" is scheduled for a DVD (Yesss!) release sometime in 2001.

That's more than one could even hope; the film in widescreen, with crisp picture quality and proper soundtrack -- but I guess that any hope of the film's "rehabilitation" in the form of reinstating cut scenes would be pushing one's luck too far... I'm very much content with this news!

Yet another year on, rant part 3, 20 Apr 2001:

(Talkin' 'bout Kubrick, the TSQ seems to be in its DVD incarnation a theatrical, matted version, with only the black and white borders added to the top and bottom to create the 1:1.85 aspect ratio, as opposed to the VHS, which is the full-screen 1:1.33 version. Seems that the film was, in a Kubrickian way, only matted for theatrical representation, with the VHS owners losing nothing from the picture, as opposed to pan&scan mutilations. So, after all, I didn't lose anything from the picture with my VHS TSQ -- perhaps the contrary.)

The film was a joy to behold; although nothing has been reinserted storywise, the brighter, more detailed picture and sound made it a different beast altogether. The murkiness of the VHS was changed to a well-lit scenery that even showed the limitations of the original filmstock. As a "noticeable" detail, in the scene where Curry had interrupted the station's news bulletin ("lies, filler and chatter") with Suzi's "Rock Hard" and danced away from the studio, there was the poster of Saturday Night Fever in the hallway -- that film being, along with TSQ (promise you keep this to yourself) my fave cult (ie. non-artistic) film...

Haven't listened to the commentary track on the DVD yet, but I guess that can't be postponed for too long. If it's even remotely as interesting, informative and, most of all, funny as Petersen's Das Boot's, then I'm in safe hands...

BTW, the "Dangerous Type" by The Cars is indeed the same version as on their LP...

1 May 2001:

Well, just finished viewing the DVD commentary; v. good stuff, like I had expected/hoped, about the film backgrounds and, of course, the missing scenes. Director Alan Moyle especially seemed very sorry about all the missed opportunities and "mistakes" (which he must have seen as such, as the original auteur of the film, things coming out differently than conceived -- luckily I, as a viewer, can enjoy these "flawed" scenes blissfully unburdened by such expectations...). But like he said -- viewing the film now for the first time after he was ousted from the project (before the Stigwood cuts) -- that from now on he doesn't feel ashamed about the film anymore, it just being his first film, however flawed it turned out.

It was so exciting to see (or hear) the commentary and all the bits that formed a small "behind the scenes" view into the tragedies, joys and sorrows of filming Times Square. Just an indication of this film's total grip on me -- I was almost sitting on the edge of my chair most of the time...

As for the "urban legend" of Johnson being cast straight off the streets, it's indeed (kinda) true. A man in some vague way connected to the production (no one in the production team seemed to know a man with that name!) approached her outside her school in Brooklyn, told her about the film's plot line and gave her a number to call for auditioning! With Robin and Trini's roles being cast all over the country, with thousands of applicants, they indeed won them through a prolonged casting competition, unknown Johnson moreover beating all the "name" choices.

As for, part 2, the missing scenes: Anchor Bay Entertainment, the re-releasers, in fact tried to find the missing scenes for re-insertion, but without success. Towards the end of the production, Moyle was, in effect, removed as a director and in the following cuts much dialogue and whole scenes were removed altogether to make room for seven new songs on the double album, a marketing-conscious move from Stigwood's part. Like Moyle said, that even though during the viewing he had moments when he wanted to restore the film, he was in the end content with the outcome, although begrudgingly. But Johnson and Moyle did so many times refer to missing scenes that the original "director's cut" would of course always be a great "what-if".

Tim Curry, to whom Moyle referred as the "ultimate British professional actor", shot his scenes in only two days and constantly provided ideas and little quirks to the role. Like Moyle regretted, that given one extra day, he could have made his role perfect, with all Curry's ideas and insights transferred properly onto celluloid. A pity, I really agree with Moyle's assessments about Curry's worth.

It was great to hear all along the commentary how highly Moyle also regards Johnson -- a pity that her career was slumped because of the deal with "the RSO devil", as she called it. She was a very sought after actress immediately after the film, but due to an "exclusive" deal with the Stigwood organization, who wanted to turn her into an RSO asset, a female Travolta, two years was wasted in that deal. After that, the other studios' interest in her was over.

Their comments about the "real" Times Square being the one shown on the film and the film being a documentary of those bygone days (with also the riverside piers transformed now) were accurately joined also by the comment about the film being still the only proper teen gal-pal film (don't even mention the likes of Charlie's Angels...).

I have to, however, strongly disagree with Moyle's misgivings about the "infamous" Trini non-topless scene. Although not being one of the squarest around, I think that a pretty young 13-year-old dancing topless in a film is especially these days a rather questionable and perverted topic. So, no matter what "heavenly interventions" got involved and how illogical the scene was, it was IMO the better solution. On the other hand, I wonder why the studio cast her, if they knew that such a scene is in the schedule and informed to the cast. Strange to change the script when the role could have been originally filled with a more "accommodating" actress.

There'd be so much to write about, but I can only thank both for having the time to record the commentary, to give some more flesh on the bones and share their gems. There was so much good material on the commentary that the DVD is worth obtaining just for the sake of it. Just do it. ;^)

BTW, Robin Johnson's voice is today exactly like that of the Queen of Opinionated Slacker-ettes, Janeane Garofalo's, a description that, come to think of that, also suits Johnson...

11 Feb 2000:

Talk about wandering from the subject, but having now seen the film Cruising by William Friedkin, some parallels can (and will) be drawn between it and Times Square.

Both films were released in 1980, only to meet comparatively similar fates, although the former managed at least to create enough furor to actively lead to its downfall. Both offered a glimpse into an off-establishment section of the New York City nightlife, both had a strong (although in Times Square diluted) homosexual undercurrent and both featured a rock/punk soundtrack to stuff it down the throat (so to speak).

Also some actors connect Cruising with Trini's works. Jay Acovone, who played the plainclothes cop in the same year's Times Square, gets roasted in a police station as a killer suspect, and Mike Starr, who plays a nasty policeman, duplicates the characterization as a prison warden in The Chair. Another actor connecting the film with Trini's works is Don Scardino, the director of the 1988 NY revival of the stage musical Godspell, himself also a vet in the leading role in previous stagings.

In both films, the depiction of the contemporary underground world is a dominant feature, and work better as such than telling a totally coherent story, something that Times Square suffered especially after all the clipping and cutting. But no-one can deny the power that both emit in the strongest scenes.

As other notable features, Ed "Al Bundy" O'Neill appears as a full-haired detective and the dress designer who is killed in the film booth looks a lot like a young Richard Branson (of Virgin Records, Trains, Airlines etc.)...

(1 Aug 2000: Just watched the film and to my endless surprise the scene of the hotel bust of Acovone takes place in -- waitforit -- the area of Times Square's 56th and 57th St. 13th and 14th St. pier warehouses, both are visible in the outside panning view ⁽¹⁾.
I'd viewed Times Square yesterday and it just seems that everything comes back to this film, especially as Cruising also has a scene of a game of Three Card Monte...
A thoroughly moody and dark film (most of the activity seems to take place at night, like a, god forbid, twisted Blade Runner) which in that way overcomes its many weaker aspects -- listen to the punk blaring during the "Richard Branson" booth scene. More raw punk like this in Times Square too, thank you (not that the Cruisin' theme song is bad either)...
(struck on 26 Feb. 2005))

(¹ 20 Jan 2002: A correction to the abovementioned warehouse issue: the meathooks in the foreground had me, however, always doubting about their actual location. And with a recent viewing I (finally) had a confirmation for my doubts: the hotel and the warehouses, despite because of their similarity of looks with the Midtown 56/57 Village ones were indeed on 14th Street in West Village, the "meatpacking district". Should have noticed the glaring text "W 14th St. Hotel" painted on the hotel wall...
(struck on 26 Feb. 2005))

(20 May 2002: "Odds against you?" Having just watched a re-rerun of an episode of The Equalizer (the Ed Woodward TV series with my fave TV theme and score by the ex-Police Stewart Copeland...), there were (again) some bizarre occurrences. The episode started with longish footage of mid-1980s Times Square nightlife with its "characters" and then switched to a nighttime radio DJ's booth -- familiar? The coincidences went into overdrive, though, with a few seconds' appearance of none else but Miguel Pinero (R.I.P.), Times Square's owner of Cleo Club as a dweller who leads policemen into a dead tenant's apartment. Curious.)

21 May 2000:

On my recent trip to NYC, I, among other architectural photographing, also set to see the current state of some of the surroundings presented in this cult film.

These scenes obviously concentrate on two locations, the Times Square / 42nd Street area and the warehouses on the Hudson River waterfront.

The development towards the "new order" in the Times Square area must be known to all, and has definitely changed the faces of the streets as compared to the scenes in the film. The Business Improvement District is the real-life equivalent of the Reclaim thing presented in Times Square and has done both good and bad work in changing the face of the area -- in many ways irrevocably.

As for any other Times Square locales in the film, like the "Cleo Club", they are of course very hard to locate, especially after Mayor Rudy Giuliani's cleanup activities, not to mention the slight "reworking" of the western portion of the blocks between B'way and Eighth Avenues and 41st and 43rd Streets (to the left on the image of the Times Square Theater, to the right on the Candler image), which have been torn down and replaced by the Ewalk etc. new buildings.

The other area of pilgrimage were the large twin Hudson River warehouses closing the 56th and 57th Streets, and for example visible in Taxi Driver in the scene where Travis leaves the taxi depot after being employed as a driver. These (or to be exact, the 56th St. one) were of course the location of the girls' dwellings in the film. (Nope. See below.)
Boy, was I in for a surprise as I approached the area: apparently I hadn't done my homework well enough, as all the nearby piers were well and truly razed, with the West Side H'way (of course) roaring in front. I was so dumbfounded and sad ;^( that I didn't even care to take a photo of the mountain of sand that was on the 57th St. pier. A pity to see them lost, as despite their apparent non-rentability -- even for modern-day, ex-SoHo heavy-duty lofters or ravers ;^) -- the two warehouses had a rather stylish main facade that, as mentioned, closed the respective streets with their impressive glazed arches. That's what I'd call a loss, especially from the Times Square point-of-view...
(26 Feb. 2005: correction/elaboration: As the terminals were in fact located along Village waterfront (link) three klicks from 56th, the above is irrelevant. Not that they'd exist there any more than in the originally assumed location. Or that it would be of any true significance, come to think of it... (A Midtown shot on Bill Harris's photo book "Manhattan" led to the confusion in the first place blah-blah-excuse etc.) To paraphrase Faith No More: "We care a lot." A phrase that was used, hmm, a lot at the end of the army service too, and as an officer aspirant, no less. Not-a-good-attitude. But still, "kylmä statistiikka ei selityksiä kaipaa", attitude or not. Top 7 percent.)

8 December 2000:
(Rememberin' John Lennon...)

Strange connections, part XIII:
The New York Times ran an article, "A Determined Rocker Takes on Broadway" about the Broadway debut of rockerette Joan Jett in none other than the Rocky Horror Show, running in the northern reaches of Times Square. Jett was/is, along with Times Square soundtrack's Suzi Quattro, perhaps the quintessential leather-and-guitar female rocker of those days, having formed her first band (called, yep, Runaways) as a Rocky Horror Picture Show (both stage and film version starring Times Square's Tim Curry) freak in 1975.