The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1974)

Description

Neal Simon serves up a frenzied, funny Manhattan - with a twist of Lemmon. Forty-eight-year-old Manhattanite Mel Edison just lost his job. Soon he'll lose his wardrobe, temper, self-respect and maybe his mind. In urban life's grueling guerrilla war, Mel just became The Prisoner of Second Avenue. Adapting his 1971 stage hit, Neil Simon develops Mel's anxiety-ridden plight with razor-edged empathy - and deliciously clever gags. Academy Award winners Jack Lemmon and Anne Bancroft are in top form as Mel and his loving wife Edna, skillfully melding zany farce with the bittersweet agony of middle-class people whose wall-to-wall carpeting has suddenly been yanked out from under them. Keep a sharp eye out for alleged pickpocket Sylvester Stallone and cabbie F. Murray Abraham in early career roles.