New York - 1953 / The Man: Dan Alevy

Other than the fact I find this video oddly intriguing I don't know much about it. Here's what I do know: It has the titles "New York - 1953" and "The Man: Dan Alevy" associated with it. It was made in 1953 and produced by Henry Trettin, Dan Alevy and Al Viola. (Not the renowned jazz guitarist Al Viola). Eighteen years later Trettin and Viola would both be involved with the film "Mr. Forbush and the Penguins."
So what we have within this black & white short is a man -- presumably Dan Alevy -- wandering vintage '50s New York City and eventually entering a movie theater. Upon exiting the theater he lapses into a pink/orange-tinted (or perhaps somewhat sepia-toned?) daydream involving a tryst with a women before continuing on his wandering way. All accompanied with Erik Satie's equally dream-like Gymnopédies music.
If anyone has any info about the history behind this short please post.
Update: Al Viola's son Fredo has added additional info about this video in the comments. Alfred Viola, who died in 2004, was an award-winning commercial director.

[@americaneagle2076]

I have seen this several times on TV on "Classic Arts Showcase." It's heart rending to me because I see a man wandering aimlessly because he is unsure what to do in the wake of a Lost Love. It actually has the Power to make me cry.

[@carlsilverman754]

I grew up in this nabe...4Ave used bookstores like Strand...3Ave. El...Astor Place...i was 3 in 1953

[@redbark]

A haunting video. I wonder how Classic Arts ever came across it? Thanks for posting!

[@upnywhiteb]

As I get older, approaching 60, I find things make me cry a lot easier than when I was a younger man. This short film doesn't quite do that, but it comes close and puts my stomach in a knot. Old films that are actually filmed where either the subject or background are real places and people make me think about the little things that were going on at that exact moment. Who were those people forever unknown walking down the street going somewhere to do something in a world that no longer exists. I think it is a story of a man that has lost his soulmate and now the world is a terribly lonely place. I think the loss was of a permanent nature, so that there is no hope of ever having the happiness he once had. Going through the motions until he can someday be with her again. I got this quote from the actor Peter Cushing that sums it up quite well. "Since Helen passed on I can't find anything; the heart, quite simply, has gone out of everything. Time is interminable, the loneliness is almost unbearable and the only thing that keeps me going is the knowledge that my dear Helen and I will be united again some day. To join Helen is my only ambition. You have my permission to publish that... really, you know dear boy, it's all just killing time. Please say that. - Radio Times 1972"

[@josephernst3619]

Joseph Carter I think you explained it brilliantly. Absolutely hauntingly lost time in NY, and I too am fascinated by the nameless and in most cases long dead and forgotten side characters we catch glimpses of. I wonder if it was a woman he loved before he went off to fight in WWII? You get the feeling he is permanently damaged for whatever reason and really have to wonder if he will ever find happiness again. How he lost her is the challenging question. It makes me think of catcher in the rye and the guy even looks like JD Salinger, who himself saw the worst things possible in the war when he fought in Europe. Permanently damaged and haunted upon his return. I read he carried the manuscript with him during his time over there and worked on it from time to time. It’s not the best quality video but in some strange way that makes it even better. I feel lucky to have caught it on classic arts showcase and watch it over and over and over from time to time. Beyond bleak and melancholy yet hauntingly beautiful. It’s the perfect year to set it in and the perfect music to go with it. It does a wonderful job showing how terribly lonely New York can feel yet what a romantic place it can be when you are in love. No other city in the world like it. I’ve experienced all the emotions in that video in my life and it makes me realize that just about everyone else has going back to the beginning of time.

[@upnywhiteb]

@Bruno56 ...I am with you brother. What I meant was that things that didn't touch a nerve when I was younger do so now. Trust me, I not like former House Speaker Boehner, I am not a crybaby. The thing that ruins an otherwise beautiful World is people. I too know that my journey is closer to the end and am looking forward to whatever the Dear Lord has planned for me. I know what I would like, hope that is the plan. Take Care.

[@hdrake1000]

I love this! They show it on 'The Arts' channel all the time.

[@anya728]

I love this. It's delicately melancholy, engaging and emotive. And toss wistful in there, too, since some of the scenes that are uncluttered with traffic and people would be rarer in New York City today with its 8-million+ inhabitants-roughly 1-million above its 1950s density. I'll be revisiting this little gem of a video often.

[@devtrev6181]

Love your description :)

[@emdavis1946]

So happy to see the work of Al Viola celebrated on KZbin

[@fredoviola]

This was a short film my father, Al Viola, created with his friend Dan Alevy. I remember my dad talking about this little film he made in his youth. I'm so thrilled to see it again online. Where did you find it? I would love to have a higher resolution copy for my archive of my dad's work. If you have it, could you please get in touch with me? Thank you SOOOOO much!!!!

[@staonp]

Thanx for adding a personal touch to a film your father had a hand in creating. I've sent you the info you've requested. The origins of this film have been a mystery to me for a few years now, so it's nice to finally get some insight.

[@josephernst3619]

Fredo Viola wow! I would absolutely love to know what they were thinking when they put it together but it’s extremely thought-provoking to try to figure it out on our own. A brilliant piece of work. Only eight years removed from the end of WWII and you can still feel it’s impact on the city at that time. It makes me think of JD Salinger in catcher in the rye, but only vaguely. He looks like JD Salinger no less. My own theory is it was a girl that he was in love with before he went off to fight in the war. It just feels to me more likely it was a lover from many years before rather than recent.

[@unholyalchemist362]

This was nice

[@BytomGirl]

I cry each time I see it, I can feel his sadness and his loneliness, I know what it feels like...

[@josephernst3619]

BytomGirl me too

[@RichBurlingham]

I must have seen this as a kid in the 60's and have been looking for years and years for this film because of the music. It stuck in my head and I always associated the music with black and white scenes of New York. I finally found it. Thanks for posting this and helping me realize I wasn't crazy.

[@louistaylor9796]

@1:28 Is that Canal Street?

[@janetharris5695]

With all due respect, this film would be nothing without the music yet the musicians are given no credit. It sounds like John DeLancie Senior playing the oboe solo which makes me think it may be Philadelphia under Ormandy. Please help with details of the many orchestral professionals that brought this emotionally charged work of art to life. Thank you.

[@laminage]

Can any of you recommend a clip to watch about being a young lady out on her own (Pre-That Girl). I love clips like this.

[@fredoviola]

Also, I can't quite recall, but it might have been shot by Henry Trettin.

[@staonp]

A 1962 musical short Henry Trettin produced and directed called "The Enchanted Pot" is here on KZbin. It's a hoot!

[@johncasciello4123]

This guy might of turned out to be another JOHN CASAVETTES!!! with this slight off centered mind inducing short film*** One thing to note and here I go again: those TAILFINNED CARS would show up 4 years later as most cars in 1953 went back to 1938* In other words the MAJORITY OF CARS SEEN on the streets were from 1938 tru 1953* a good 15 year period!!

[@michaelpalmieri7335]

I, for one, don't understand this film, particularly the scene with the man and the woman. Who was that woman? Was she the man's wife, his girlfriend, a prostitute? What happened to her after their little fling? Did she die, or dump him, did she run off with another man, or did she simply disappear without a word of explanation? On the other hand, were the scenes with the woman and the man real, or were they just a dream, a fantasy, a hallucination? And if they were real, were they happening in the main character's present time, or were they merely a flashback? Is the man wandering the streets of New York City because he's trying to forget a lost love or is he fantasizing about a possible romance with a girl? Maybe the woman is somebody he has a secret crush on but he's too shy to talk to her and the only way he can be with her is through his imagination. Or perhaps he's just walking the streets because he has nothing else to do or he feels lonely and doesn't have a friend in the world, so he wanders the streets because it's better than sitting at home all alone, assuming, of course, he has a home. Maybe he's homeless and merely walks around because he has nowhere else to go (in which case, I know how he feels since I was homeless once). The possibilities are almost endless. Perhaps the real purpose of this film is make us think, to help us develop our imaginations and stimulate our brains and our minds, to make up our own scenarios concerning the story. By the way, that movie theater the man goes into seemed rather small and out of the way for an average neighborhood movie house. Is it possible the theater was showing pornography, and the owners wanted it kept in an area where very few people would notice it, especially the police? After all, in those days, the laws against obscene materials were stricter and more rigidly enforced (if it was a pornographic movie the main character was watching in that theater, then maybe it aroused his sexual desires and that's what made him think about having an affair with that unknown woman, whether real or not).

[@edwardgreen6018]

Those are all interesting questions! I think the many different possibilities and scenarios is what makes this short film so intriguing, at least to me. I never really thought about the adult theater possibility before. That's interesting. Satie's mesmerizing music, of course, adds even more intrigue to this little gem.

[@josephernst3619]

Michael Palmieri it’s stunning just how much you were missing the depth and beauty of this wonderful video. And it’s not a pornography theater either, genius. It’s a typical movie house at that time. And it’s obviously a very sweet and nice girl he is in love with based on how she is dressed and looks. It’s almost scary how far off and shallow your perception is of this video