On the Bowery (1957 Film)

This is the film On the Bowery, which used real-life residents of the neighborhood mixing documentary footage with acted scenes to create an important record of what life was like on the Bowery in the 1950s.

Produced and directed by Lionel Rogosin, a well-to-do New Yorker who served in the US Navy during WWII, and committed himself to fighting fascism and racism.

On the Bowery was his first film, and it was nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary.

The Bowery is very different today, full of fashionable people and shops, but for most of the city's history, this has been a place for New York's forgotten.

Must watch for anyone interested in the city's past.

65 mins