Neil Simon: The Prisoner of 2nd Avenue (1975)

Source:IMDB- Anne Bancroft & Jack Lemmon are Prisoners of 2nd Avenue.

"The Prisoner Of Second Avenue (1975) Jack Lemmon, Anne Bancroft Comedy Movie HD" 

From IMDB

"A suddenly unemployed ex-executive suffers a nervous breakdown." 

Source:Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers- Jack Lemmon & Anne Bancroft are Prisoners of 2nd Avenue.

From Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers

I'm going to give you a little background about the state of New York City (perhaps Manhattan more specifically) in the summer of 1974, when the movie was filed and in 1975, when the film came out, so I you think you can better understand this film: 

It wasn't just America that was in recession and dealing with high budget deficits and debt, as well as high inflation and interest rates, but New York City (perhaps especially Manhattan) looked like it was falling apart: 

To give you one example: the summer of 74 and 75, back-to-back, bad heatwaves, is the mist of an energy crisis, where energy was too expensive for most people and there power outages as a result because of the lack of affordable energy. 

Another example, you got the recession, on top of a deflation, on top of high crime rates that plagued New York City for most of the 1970s and 70s, and the City Government was facing bankruptcy and needed a Federal bailout, to avoid defaulting. 

So that's the backdrop of how The Prisoner of 2nd Avenue is filmed, where Jack Lemmon plays Mel Edison, to just a few weeks ago, plays a successful Manhattan advertising man. But his company is also going though rough times and being forced to cut back. And Mel is 1 of those cutbacks and is now unemployed, to go on top all the other issues that most New Yorkers, including Manhattanites, we're facing. And if that's not bad enough, Mel and his wife Edna (played by Anne Bancroft) get robbed the night that he loses his job. And they lose almost everything that they owned in their apartment. 

Imagine your life being an endless nightmare, where every time that you think it can't get worst, it does. So as a result Mel just completely loses it and goes through a middle age, nervous breakdown. And that's where you see Jack Lemmon at his best. Or at least at his funniest, which I believe is Jack at his best, where not just the great comedic actor that he was, (and he's in the top 1% of comedic actors ever) or even the great comedian. that he was, (and he's 1 of the best comedians ever) but you see the great standup comedian that he was on this film and why he would've been a great standup comedian, if he wanted to do that part-time, or full-time, or a great late, talk show host. And here is his monologue from this film: 

Mel Edison: l don't know. lt's everything. lt's this apartment.

This building. lt's this city.

lt's this-- Now, listen.

Come listen to this. Two in the morning.

One car's driving around|in Jackson Heights. We can hear it.

Fourteen stories up, subway's louder|than in the subway.

We're like some kind of an antenna.|Sounds come up here, then out to the city.

-For six years, it never bothered you. lt's worse now. l don't know why.

l'm getting older, more sensitive|to sounds and--

Two in the morning. You believe it's still going on next door?

-What's going on? You trying to be funny?

-You don't hear that? You must be deaf. l must be deaf. l don't hear a thing.

''The beat, beat, beat of the tom-tom|as the jungle shadows fall''?

Or, ''the tick-tick-tock of the stately clock|against the wall''?

-You don't hear that?|-Not when you're talking or singing...

-...l don't.|- lt's those two German airline hostesses.

Every night they got somebody else. Hockey players, basketball--

Whatever team's in town.

Win or lose, nobody loses|when they wind up there.

Every goddamn-- Somewhere there's a 747 flying around.

Everybody's serving themselves.|Those broads never leave the apartment.

Holy shit! Come here. Come here.

-Tell me you can't hear that.|-Yes. Now l hear it.

ls it any wonder l can't sleep?

Don't sleep next to the wall. Sleep in the bedroom.

Will you knock it off in there!| lt is 2-damn-o'clock in the morning!

l cracked the wall!|l barely touched it and l cracked the wall.

Lucky l wasn't hanging a picture.|We could've been killed.

lt was starting to crack before.|They're fixing it Monday.

Not Monday. No.|l want that fixed tomorrow.

-Understand?| l'll tell them.

Mention the air conditioner. And the window that only opens if it rains.

Then it won't shut till there's a flood.

-And the toilet that's constantly flushing.| lt stops flushing if you jiggle it.

Why should l have to jiggle it? With the money l'm paying here...

...do l have to jiggle every time|l go to the bathroom?

When you're through, tell me. |l'll jiggle it.

You go to bed. l don't want to talk|about jiggling anymore.

Do you hear me? Please go to sleep.

l can't when l know you're walking around|having an anxiety attack!

From Scripts

It's not just Jack Lemmon and Anne Bancroft who are both incredible and very funny in it. But if you listen to the narrator in the film doing the radio reports, you might think you reading the The Onion, or watching Weekend Update from Saturday Night Live, perhaps The Daily Show: 

Radio Announcer: In sports today, the Nassau Coliseum opened its doors and its heart when it announced it will house a charity basketball game between the Harlem Globetrotters and a team made up of members of the Gay Liberation movement.

Radio Announcer: The gay libbers in a prepared statement said they did not expect to win, since their team is young and have only been playing with each other since December.

Radio Announcer: A member of the Albanian diplomatic corps was mugged and robbed today in Central Park, despite the fact that two mounted patrolmen were only a hundred yards away. The Albanian claimed he screamed loudly for two minutes, but unfortunately did not know the English word for "Help".

From IMDB

The thing about comedy is that I don't believe healthy, intelligent people, could get through life without it. Otherwise life would be just too hard and bad because we just lose so much the longer we live. And I don't think there's a better example of what I'm talking about here, then Manhattan, New York City, in the 1970s. Especially in the mid 1970s. 

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