Poe began in the mid-70s with indie films that documented life on the edge in New York City — Blank Generation (1976), an iconic document of the rise of Punk Rock, which was followed by Unmade Beds (1976) and The Foreigner (1978), both featuring Blondie lead recording artist Debbie Harry and Subway Riders in 1981 (with future Harry Potter star, Robbie Coltrane).
In the fall of 1983 Poe returned to the streets of Manhattan for a film that represented a distinct change from his earlier, gritty No Wave experimental films. Experienced, self-assured and familiar with his surroundings, Poe set about to make a neo-noir-ish crime drama starring Vincent Spano (Baby It’s You, Rumble Fish, High Frequency, etc.) as Johnny, a “worker bee” money collector for a local mobster by the name of Gino (Raymond Serra).
Johnny’s job is to pick up drug money from the local network of dealers, including Lippy (Michael Winslow — as Larvell Jones in the Police Academy series of movies), and “protection” money from local businesses. He has taken to “skimming” from the collections and stashing the cash away in the form of an exit strategy.
Johnny is also required to do other things for Gino, and it is this latest assignment that brings things to a boiling point. He is to “torch” a building, not just any building, but one in which his mother (Zohra Lampert) and sister, Sophia (Jami Gertz — Sixteen Candles, Quicksilver, The Lost Boys, etc.), live.
A few things, Johnny has plans to get out of “the business” because he has a wife (played by Kate Vernon — Pretty in Pink, Malcolm X, etc.) and young daughter, he is at odds with his sister — she’s a hooker, but “high class” — and his mother refuses to abandon the rundown tenement. What’s a young gangster to do?
A collection goes awry, Johnny under-reports the take, Gino gets suspicious. The building doesn’t get torched, Gino gets suspicious, and has some other low life take care of it. Johnny gets in a shootout with the owner of The Tropicana Nightclub (Kenny Marino) — over “protection” … and Gino decides to cut his losses and orders a “hit” on our boy Johnny. It’s going to be a long night on the streets of “Alphabet City.”
Alphabet City, brutal, violent, filled with nasty people and most of all it is a slice-of-life from the streets of Manhattan. Bonus goodies include a newly prepared commentary option with filmmaker Amos Poe, who is joined by author. Luc Sante, whose book, “Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York,” chronicles the colorful history of Manhattan’s lower eastside (aka: “Alphabet City”), a newly-minted video session with actor Vincent Spano, an extensive image gallery and a new video essay with Irish filmmaker Christopher O’Neill (Me the Seagull and the Sky, Raquel Times Ten, etc.).
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