Years ago Martin Scorsese was honored at the Full Frame Documentary film festival in Durham, N.C. At the end of his big talk, they opened up to a Q&A from the audience. An old lady got up to the microphone. “Mr. Scorsese,” she sweetly said. “I like your movies, but they’re so violent. It’s like you’re punching me in the face. Why can’t you make nice movies?” Scorsese seemed taken back by the question and somewhat apologized. I was hoping he’d grab the microphone, take a deep breath and declare, “Why didn’t you go see New York, New York?” Why didn’t she see Martin Scorcese’s epic musical starring Liza Minelli and Robert De Niro? Why didn’t Marty mention it that night? It’s rated PG! New York, New York can be considered a middle child movie. It came between Taxi Driver and Raging Bull so the film is easily overlooked. I do wonder if that old woman will be picking up the new 4K UHD that features the Expanded Cut which lasts 163 minutes.
New York City is jubilant with the news of Japan’s surrender and the end of World War II. They’re partying in the streets and inside a giant nightclub with Tommy Dorsey’s big band on stage. Jimmy Doyle (Robert De Niro, Meet The Parents) has gone civilian as he wears a Hawaiian shirt with NYC landmarks. He flirts with the military ladies and goes all out charm offensive when he encounters uniformed USO member Francine Evans (Liza Minelli, Arthur). He won’t take no even as she refuses to share her phone number. They do meet up the next morning at a hotel in which she blows his cover story with a hotel desk clerk. While Jimmy distracts the guy, Francine sneaks up stairs to retrieve his saxophone. He gets her to accompany him to an audition for a musical gig. Things go weird and Francine sings to calm down the situation. This leads to the two of them being packaged together as a musical duo by the manager (Dick Miller, Gremlins). The singer and sax develop a relationship beyond the stage. But they got a lot of issues. Most of those issues involve the fact that Jimmy’s very temperamental. He gets upset easily even when things are quite lovely. Can Jimmy and Francine survive each other and find success in the music business?
I don’t get why New York, New York doesn’t get more attention simply because Jimmy does seem a mix of Travis Bickle and Jake La Motta. He’s an ex-military guy working late hours like Travis. He’s also got anger issues like Jake. Although Jimmy doesn’t get in the same amount of trouble at his nightclub as Jake. It’s like a Robert De Niro tryptic. The same goes for Liza Minelli who won the Oscar earlier for her role of singer Sally Bowles in Cabaret. Why didn’t audiences want to see her playing clubs once more in a period piece? They liked her at the start of World War II? Why wouldn’t they enjoy hearing her at the end of the war? Contributing original songs to the film were the team of John Kander and Fred Ebb. They were the men behind music for Cabaret and Chicago. They wrote “New York, New York” in an authentic way that people still think the song was released during the Tin Pan Alley era and not at the height of disco.
Maybe Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro made Jimmy Doyle too close to a real jazz guy with a troubling harsh darkness instead of the plucky jazz guy you’d see in an MGM musical? At the same time, by creating Jimmy Doyle as a prickly character, this feels like a Scorsese musical instead of him faking it. This is his MGM musical. The 4K UHD gives the movie a great glow while letting us experience all the artifice of the sets and dance numbers. New York, New York is a swinging time with a volatile love affair at its core. It doesn’t feel like a punch in the face.
The Video is 1.66:1 anamorphic. The transfer is a 4K restoration from the original camera negative. Things looks so beautiful in the big musical numbers. The Audio is DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround Sound and LPCM 2.0 Stereo. You get that sweet big band sound through the speakers. The movie is subtitled in English.
Commentary by Martin Scorsese and Carrie Rickey. Scorsese gets into what made him want to do such a dark musical.
New York, New York: International Version (137:16) is a little bit shorter. United Artists wanted it shorter after the film didn’t do well in America.
The New York, New York Stories: Part One (25:31) has them talk about making an MGM Musical. Producer Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff really wrote their business agreement on a restaurant napkin. They talk about working with young writers which is how they met Earl Mac Rauch and his script for New York, New York. They wanted it to be a musical. Winkler first met Marty during a screening of Mean Streets. Eventually Marty found out about the script and reached out to them. When things got rolling, Scorsese had them shoot on the old MGM lot to capture the ghosts in the soundstages. Cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs getting the gig. Editor Tom Rolf appears here. They do point out how “New York, New York” wasn’t even nominated for an Oscar for Best Song.
The New York, New York Stories: Part Two (26:58) has Scorsese talk about pushing improvisation. It is funny to see Marty wearing a cowboy hat while directing De Niro in his throwback suits. Lazlo Kovacs talks about how the improvisation was screwing up his lighting and camera angles. The film with the massive sets were becoming unmanageable. Tom Rolf points out how editing improv throws off the editing sometime. The first cut that they screened was 4 and half hours long. That and a 3 1/2 hour cut don’t exist anymore. The film was loved during previews. But the crowds didn’t show up on opening weekend. We learn how Round Midnight is a spiritual sequel to New York, New York.
Liza On New York, New York (22:09) has he thinking how great it was to make the film. She talks about how she was going to be an ice skater until she saw a Broadway musical. Her career goal changed. She talks about her parents being regular people when they go home from the studios.
Alternate Takes/Deleted Scenes (19:14) has the strange improv scenes. This include having a hand grenade at one of the nightclubs.
Commentary on Selected Scenes by Laszlo Kovacs, ASC (10:14) includes him discussing the opening scene in the film. He did a lot of crane work in the crowd shots.
Photo Gallery (2:33) includes Marty’s storyboards.
Theatrical Teaser (2:07) opens with Liza singing the theme song. How did this not get nominated? The winner that year was Debby Boone’s “You Light Up My Life.” Nothing from Saturday Night Fever was nominated either.
Theatrical Trailer (3:26) talks about how the world was falling in love after the end of World War II. Robert tries his hardest to flirt with Liza. There’s no mention of “from the people who brought you Taxi Driver. Scorsese doesn’t get mentioned.
MVD Marquee Collection presents New York, New York. Directed by Martin Scorsese. Screenplay by Earl Mac Rauch & Mardik Martin. Starring Liza Minnelli, Robert De Niro, Lionel Stander, Barry Primus, Mary Kay Place, Dick Miller, Clarence Clemons, Casey Kasem & Jack Haley. Boxset Contents: 1 4K UHD disc and 1 Blu-ray disc. Rating: Rated PG. Release Date: August 11, 2026.
