Times Square is a 1980 film starring Trini Alvarado, Robin Johnson, and Tim Curry. The plot of the film essentially embodies a punk rock ethic - misunderstood youth forming a band and, through music, articulating their frustrations toward adult authority, personified in the film as parents, the medical establishment, and politicians. In terms of themes and plot, Times Square can be seen as a precursor to director Allan Moyle's later film Pump Up the Volume (1990).
Synopsis
The film is about two teenage runaways, Nicky Marotta (Robin Johnson) from a poor family and Pamela Pearl (Trini Alvarado) from a rich family, living in New York City. After escaping from a hospital (where they are being examined for mental illness), Nicky and Pamela link up with sympathetic disc jockey Johnny LaGuardia (Tim Curry). The two girls form an underground punk rock band, The Sleez Sisters, and become a hit with the city's disillusioned youth after broadcasting their volatile songs and speeches on LaGuardia's radio station. The climax of the film features all the fans of The Sleez Sisters congregating in the streets of New York's Times Square for a rooftop concert.
Production
Times Square was directed by Allan Moyle from a script written by Moyle and Jacob Brackman. The movie was inspired by a diary, found in a second-hand couch bought by Moyle, detailing the life on the streets of a young mentally disturbed woman.
The original cut of the film contained lesbian content which was mostly deleted from the final print (which still has subtle lesbian overtones). Moyle revealed in the DVD audio commentary that the film's integrity was compromised by the removal of the more overt lesbian content, and the addition of several inappropriate songs to the film's soundtrack at the insistence of producer Robert Stigwood. Stigwood wanted the film to be another Saturday Night Fever and insisted that the soundtrack be a double album to make the film more commercially viable. Moyle and Johnson remarked on the audio commentary that the loss of key scenes made the narrative disjointed and damaged the story's emotion and characterisations. They give as examples the film's focus jarringly changing from Pamela to Nicky and how the increasingly outlandish and unrealistic story undermines the movie's gritty, on-location documentary style. Moyle left production before the film was completed, and further scenes were shot under the supervision of others, mainly footage backed with the new soundtrack additions. The version of the film released to theatres was not Moyle's preferred cut; however, he still acknowledges the finished film's importance as it documents a Times Square that no longer exists. The film was shot on location and captured Times Square's seedy, grindhouse atmosphere before it was cleaned up in the mid 1990s.
Reaction
The movie was not initially a commercial or critical success. However, it has since been rediscovered and has become a cult classic and a staple at gay and lesbian film festivals, because of the aforementioned, subtly-portrayed lesbian relationship between the film's two female leads. Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre cites this as one of her favorite films. Welsh rock group Manic Street Preachers have made several references to the movie throughout their career: they covered the original song "Damn Dog" on their debut album Generation Terrorists (1992) and quoted dialogue from the film in the album liner notes ("Damn Dog" was, however, excluded from the American release of the album). The Manics also named their song "Roses in the Hospital" after Pamela's line, "What about the roses in the hospital?" (alluding to the scene in which Nicky eats roses to distract Pamela from the doctors and her father). The song's music video features a girl tied down to a hospital bed, almost certainly influenced by scenes from Times Square. In 1993, for stage performances and publicity shots, Manics bassist Nicky Wire wore bankrobber-mask-style eye makeup like Nicky Marotta does in the film.
Home video
The movie was released on DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment in 2000. Audio commentary was provided by director/co-writer Allan Moyle and star Robin Johnson. Moyle has stated that a director's cut is unlikely to ever surface because the footage needed for its restoration is missing.
Soundtrack
See main article: Times Square (soundtrack).
The movie features a soundtrack of punk rock and New Wave music with a wide range of artists including The Ramones, The Cure, XTC, Lou Reed, Gary Numan, Talking Heads, Suzi Quatro, Roxy Music, Robin Gibb & Marcy Levy, Patti Smith and The Pretenders. The song "Down in the Park" is credited as being performed by Gary Numan although technically it was recorded when Numan was using the band name Tubeway Army.
The soundtrack also features original songs sung by the film's actors, "Damn Dog" by Johnson, "Your Daughter Is One" by Johnson and Alvarado, and "Flowers of the City" by Johnson and David Johansen. The soundtrack, as a compilation of some of the most important new wave and punk music from the era, achieved far more notoriety than the film did on its release. It also became a collectors' item among fans of XTC, because it included the especially-written XTC track "Take This Town", which for many years was only available on this soundtrack.
In his audio commentary for the Times Square DVD, Alan Moyle mentions that David Bowie was commissioned to provide a song for the movie's soundtrack, but Bowie's label at that time wouldn't let the filmmakers use it (at the time, Bowie was still under contract with RCA Records and the Times Square was made by RSO Records). Desmond Child has mentioned in a magazine interview that he collaborated with David Bowie on the song "The Night Was Not" (the song did appear on the Times Square soundtrack, performed by Child's band, Desmond Child & Rouge). Another rumour is that Bowie intended to provide a re-recorded version of his 1971 song "Life on Mars?" for the Times Square soundtrack.[1] Although it has not been confirmed whether or not Bowie re-recorded a studio version of "Life on Mars?" in 1980, it is worth noting that in that same year, Bowie performed a rearranged, punkier version of the song during a live appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
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