THE PLOT AGAINST HARRY
USA, 1969 [released 1989]
Directed by Michael Roemer
Starring Martin Priest, Ben Lang, Maxine Woods and Harry Nemo
Approx. 81 min. New 35mm print/New 4K restoration.
A nearly-lost comedic time capsule, “The Plot Against Harry” is a legendary period piece among latter-day klezmer fans, as its deftly kaleidoscopic late-1960’s milieus display authentic NYC-area clubdate bandstands and simkhe dancing. Likened by reviewers to the work of Robert Altman, Jim Jarmusch, and Franz Kafka, the movie was written after copious immersion research by director Michael Roemer (himself a yekke outsider who had left Berlin via Kindertransport). Sociologically detailed scenes are gently laced with rolling ironic absurdities, and coated with a light layer of what The New Yorker’s Richard Brody admiringly termed “rancid schmaltz.” Filmed in lucid black & white on a dizzying array of locations, with a brilliant, largely non-professional cast, this misunderstood masterpiece was finally a festival triumph twenty years after production. Roemer’s own odyssey with clueless Hollywood studio executives was yet again recounted in 2023 when its new restoration was re-released, as described below by Film Forum:
"Deadpan, small-time Kosher Nostra member and ex-con Harry Plotnick (Martin Priest) is just released from prison and trying to regain his lost turf in a neighborhood turned topsy-turvy. After a chance reunion with his ex-wife and grown children, Harry is suddenly immersed in middle-class normality and goes meshugga when he gets into the catering biz with his ex-brother-in-law (Ben Lang). What follows is a world of call girls, bar mitzvahs, lingerie fashion shows, Cuban-Chinese mobsters, subway parties, Mafia barbecues, dog training classes, Congressional hearings, and hotel pajama parties. Shelved by writer/director Roemer in 1969 following a laugh-less preview, THE PLOT AGAINST HARRY emerged two decades later when he overheard a technician performing a video transfer of the film laughing hysterically. On a whim, Roemer made two 35mm prints and sent them to the New York and Toronto Film Festivals (it was a hit with audiences), before releasing theatrically to great acclaim in early 1990 as a bona fide comedy classic." - Film Forum
YNY's film panel will include
Allen Lewis Rickman, Bruce Goldstein of Film Forum, and
Eve SicularClick here to view a trailer.
