Monday, March 11, 2013

I Nearly Plotzed



Here are a few images from "The Night the Saints Lost Their Halos", an episode from the 1962 season of Naked City.

Plotz? It's a joke, of course. And who ever heard of Kopchunkas? Michael and I did notice that the character named Dr. Anna Chaloupka got her name from Hugh Chaloupka, the brilliant editor of the series. I love the music. Some of it is by Nelson Riddle, and some of it is by Billy May. Much of the music in the Billy May episodes consists of clever and beautifully orchestrated variations on the main theme (which runs through my head day and night). The images of New York are stunning, and the frames are packed with details: neon, drug store interiors, a booming furnace in the basement of a huge building in Washington Heights, lots of two-door station wagons, and images that remind us that Fifth Avenue was once a two-way street.

2 comments:

Charlie said...

I've been trying to figure out which deli this is - Zooky's on 17th and 3rd? It's a real deli, though the sign might be fanciful - Naked City usually filmed on location.

Elaine Fine said...

The episode takes place on the Lower East Side, so I imagine that it must be Zooky's.

Here's an article in the 1992 New York Times that mentions Zooky's demise.