It's the final day of World War II, and jazz saxophonist Jimmy Doyle (De Niro) is looking for a job and a woman. Doyle's a selfish smooth-talker with a short fuse. He tries out all his lines on various girls, including Francine Evans (Minnelli), and strikes out. Turns out Francine is a singer, though, and their paths cross again later. Friendship blooms into love, marriage, and dual careers, then conflicts. Their fights go on interminably, as Jimmy's constant jealousy of Francine's career success requires her repeated forgiveness. Martin Scorsese's only movie musical, circa 1977, pays tribute to many of the musicals he grew up with in the 1940s, but it's a harsh, realistic story (and a bit long at 163 minutes). Watch for Mary Kay Place as a rival singer, Clarence Clemons as a trumpet player in the Harlem Club Band, and Casey Kasem as DJ Midnight Bird. That torch singer in the Harlem Club is played by Diahnne Abbott, who in reality was De Niro's wife at the time. This movie also introduced the world to that ubiquitous song "New York, New York."
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The review of this Movie prepared by David Loftus
