Anecdotes

According to the Jack Lemmon's biography "Lemmon" by Don Widener, actress Anne Bancroft recounted this episode from the film's shooting: "[Jack was] nice to a point where he's crazy...We had a scene in 'Prisoner [of Second Avenue'] where he had to carry a shovel in - a very close two-shot favoring me. I played the scene with tears in my eyes because Jack had accidentally hit me in the shin with that shovel. The director saw something was wrong so he stopped everything. I had a big bump on my leg, but it was Friday and over the weekend I fixed it up. When we came back on Monday the first scene was a retake of the shovel thing. Well, Jack brought the shovel in and I anticipated getting hit again. He's so full of energy, you're sure he's not noticing; but he never touched me. The take was fine, but Jack limped away. To avoid hurting me, he had cut himself. He was bleeding and we had to bandage his leg; his wound was much worse than mine. He is so kind he hurt himself rather than injure someone else. That's a little crazy! It's the nicest crazy I know, and I know a lot of crazy people."

Playwright Neil Simon was accused of hating New York City because of his play "The Prisoner of Second Avenue". Simon said of this to the 'New York Daily News': "Who hates it? I love it. I'm writing about big city life. The problems in 'Prisoner' are not exclusive to New York. People are robbed everywhere. There are major strikes in London, Paris, every major city. I only single out New York because I happen to live there".

The "Prisoner of Second Avenue" play was inspired by real life events relating to one of writer Neil Simon's relatives, his then wife's uncle. The man was a businessman who wanted to set-up his own little newspaper in a small town. The venture failed, the uncle went bankrupt and had a nervous breakdown.

Director Melvin Frank said of this film in the Jack Lemmon biography by Don Widener: "I'd been trying to do a film with Lemmon for years, but for one reason or another we never got together. I think Jack is one of the two great actors I've seen develop in my years in the business; the other is Brando. And I have always admired Bancroft; she's a great actress."

Third of four appearances by Jack Lemmon in a film written by Neil Simon. The others were Drôle de couple (1968) and Escapade à New York (1970) with Drôle de couple II (1998) being the last.

F. Murray Abraham: As a New York taxi driver. Of the two films that Abraham appeared in in 1975, both were works by Neil Simon; the other was Ennemis comme avant (1975).

M. Emmet Walsh: As a doorman.