The Panic in Needle Park
Short description
The Panic in Needle Park follows Bobby, a small-time heroin dealer and hustler who knows everyone in the stretch of New York City around Sherman Square, nicknamed Needle Park. He becomes involved with Helen, a young woman who has drifted away from her family and her art studies and who finds in him a measure of steadiness she has been missing. Their relationship unfolds among a circle of addicts, and as drug use takes hold of them both, the couple is pulled into the daily struggle to get money and stay out of trouble, even as they imagine leaving it all behind.
Jerry Schatzberg directed the film, the first in the chronological list of his features that continues with Scarecrow and Street Smart. Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne wrote the screenplay, and Dominick Dunne produced. Al Pacino plays Bobby and Kitty Winn plays Helen, with Alan Vint, Richard Bright, Kiel Martin and Michael McClanathan among the credited cast of 26.
Made for about 2 million dollars and released in 1971, the film earned roughly the same amount at the worldwide box office. On IMDb it holds a 7.1 rating from around 22,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.8 from a much smaller base of roughly 380 votes. A critics' rating of 7.2 from 15 reviews places it slightly above the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Al Pacino's first two films, "Me, Natalie" (1969) and "The Panic in Needle Park" (1971), successfully exploited the image of a weak, spineless man, which had stuck with him since his theater days. His performance was magnificent, and he was soon offered the role of Michael Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather," which brought him his first major fame and his first Academy Award nomination.
- Two candidates were considered for the lead role: Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. Director Jerry Schatzberg only saw Al Pacino in the role. The director told De Niro that he would take Al Pacino, at which point De Niro got on his knees, grabbed Jerry by the pants, and pleaded: Don't give this role to Al, don't give it away. Robert De Niro subsequently denied this.
- Jerry Schatzberg initially rejected the script offered to him, but then Al Pacino became interested in the project, and Schatzberg was offered the chance to direct again. He agreed on the condition that Al Pacino would play the lead role. Later, however, difficulties arose in finding a studio that would approve filming with a newcomer (Al Pacino) in the main role.
- The Needle Park name came from a district in Manhattan, New York, where drug addicts gathered.
- Herman Bachman, who was responsible for the makeup, specifically studied the injection marks on the hands of drug addicts in hospitals and on corpses in morgues to achieve a realistic depiction of such marks on the actors in the film; those actors injected themselves with collodion. A nurse was always present on set during the filming of these scenes.
- It was this film that Francis Ford Coppola showed to the management of Paramount Pictures to convince them to give Al Pacino the role of Michael Corleone in 'The Godfather' (1972).
- 'Needle Park' is completely devoid of musical accompaniment.
- Makeup artist Herman Buchman specifically studied needle marks on the arms of drug addicts in hospitals and corpses in morgues. To achieve a realistic depiction of the marks, elastic collodion was applied to the actors' skin during injection scenes. A nurse was always present on set during filming.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
