Greenwich Village Story

Norman, the pipe-smoking, bearded Beatnik intellectual, was played by James Frawley (1936-2019), who began directing television and films beginning with 28 episodes of I Monkees (1965). His best-known works include Ecco il film dei Muppet (1979), the disaster movie spoof Il fantabus (1976), and the biopic The Three Stooges (2000). Frawley's resume of television directing includes episodes of Colombo (1971), Magnum P.I. (1980), and New York New York (1981). Frawley closed out his illustrious career directing the medical drama Grey's Anatomy (2005).

The 1982 Astron Enterprises Corporation release of this black-and-white film adds a color framing sequence featuring early eighties' scenes of people milling about Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village accompanied by a song performed by Hugo and Claudette, a harpist and a guitar-playing vocalist. On-screen titles read, "The Way It Is Now... And the Fun It Used to Be!" A color shot of the Washington Square Arch transitions to one in black-and-white and on on-screen caption, "Back When Everybody Loved Country Music, Lovin'--and NO Violence!" After the original film ends, the closing color sequence includes what appears to be a cameo by the grown-up Kimberly McKeever, sipping on a Teem soda just as she did as Kimmie in the film. The opening titles and primary credits are in color over the black-and-white film. The closing credits and dedications are completely redone in color over an aerial view of Washington Square Park and the surrounding city.

Referenced in The Bitter End (1989)