On The Bowery (1956) - The 1950s Get Real

The 1956 docudrama ON THE BOWERY is about as raw as you can get in its examination of New York City's infamous neighborhood the Bowery. Produced and directed by first time film maker Lionel Rogosin, On The Bowery pulls no punches in showing viewers this world populated by men on the edge of society.
Featuring real life Bowery residents Ray Salyer and Gorman Hendricks, this is a true life look at three days and nights in the life of the men who populate the Bowery.
On The Bowery strips away all the usual ideas we have of the 1950s, and gets down to the gritty truth of life.
Here are two other videos that cover other aspects of life in 1950s New York City.
Carol (2015)
• Video
DECOY (1957-1958)
• Decoy: Beverly Garland...
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[@johnsalvi9073]

I started watching this old black and white movie while in the hospital. It was one night that I couldn’t sleep due to an extension surgery. I had a lot of meds in me. I wasn’t able to sleep. So, one night in the middle of the night I turned on the tv in the hospital private room I was staying. I watched ‘On The Bowery’. I’ll never forget about it. I was looking at them and feeling pretty rough as well. I must say that this movie brought me to the brink and back. Oh yeah, I survived! “You’re going to make it,” I said to myself. I did, I made it through the surgery and the sickness I had. Thank you for this showing this movie!

[@CinemaCities1978]

On The Bowery is really a gut wrenching, heartbreaking tale. It's really a hard but essential look at human struggle. I'm so glad you made it! I'm glad you enjoyed this video! Thank you so much for watching.

[@carlomiller1984]

I see that the narrator is a fan of the great old TV series from the late 1950's to early 1960's, Naked City. A very realistic true to life program about detectives in one NYC precinct. Shot on location in NYC. Almost every outdoor scene of this show was shot live in old NYC, many times using locals in the scenes, and even giving them some lines to say. And at the end of every episode we are told that, "There are 8 million stories in the Naked City, and this has been one of them."

[@unc1589]

As a kid from the Bronx I was brought down to skid row as a cautionary demonstration. It started on prospect Ave in the Bronx and ended on the Bowery. My mom let one of her friends take me on this strange trip. IT WORKED! I never forgot it.

[@CinemaCities1978]

On The Bowery is a remarkable and heartbreaking look at the life of people on the fringes of society. Every time I see the men who are featured in the background of this documentary I can't help but wonder what happened to them. This really is a true street level look at another aspect of life in the 1950s. Quite different from the NYC we see in the 1957 television crime drama DECOY, one of the first television shows to film on location in NYC. It's also a world away from CAROL a 2015 reconstruction of 1952 NYC.

[@claudiadarling9441]

Probably buried out on Hart Island by the city.

[@jaeboston9228]

It is also shows that the homeless and skid rows today are not new in America. We clutch our pearls over LA and other cities but it's an updated version of the same old poverty. The only difference is numbers as with the increase in population of American cities.

[@happycowfromcali]

They all died within 10 yrs of this film. Alcoholism

[@catherineladd5300]

There's a similar movie called A Hat Full of Rain made in the 1950's about a working class man who is sliding into full time heroin addiction; the entire thing is filmed in NYC in what, at the time,was the new Jacob Reis housing complex and other areas of alphabet city.

[@brunopasini584]

Excellent! Thanks for studying, assembling . writing and sharing. Your work is precious!

[@CinemaCities1978]

Thank you so much for watching the video!

[@braddywarbucks]

I loved this movie. It is possibly the only real look at this lifestyle in this era which exists. Besides that the cinematography is gorgeous. It's a sleeper by today's standards and I have told plenty of people about it. Those who watched it agree on how powerful movie is. You could take almost any one of the frames of the film and make it a stand alone shot which could win an award. I love that you decided to review this. I don't know who you are but I love that you enjoy old cinema this much.

[@GlennGoryl]

Well done. Thank you.

[@CinemaCities1978]

Thanks for watching!

[@tizfrreecharm]

Great video. An immigrant born in Paris, I grew up in NY from1956-1969 and I'm happy I did. The subject is surely different from the 19th Century musical 'A Trip to Chinatown', isn't it. Last time I drove by, the Bowery was still as gloomy as the film. Thanks for posting!

[@ericdavidson6138]

Really amazing film. Got to see it on a big screen at Film Forum in NYC a few years ago when a new print was struck. Unforgettable.

[@chancesareshewears]

Wow!

[@joyciejd9673]

this is fascinating. Thank you for this upload

[@CinemaCities1978]

you're welcome

[@MrLisbonlions1967]

What a wonderful narration . Thank you

[@CinemaCities1978]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@larryfine88]

Thanks for this. I saw the film a few years ago, and it still stays with me.

[@CinemaCities1978]

I'm so glad you enjoyed it. It's one of those films that never really leaves you.

[@saulchapnick1566]

On the Bowery was a powerful documentary. The Bowery has been gentrified since the Bloomberg administration. As New Yorkers, the Bowery was just one part of the tapestry we called The City. The Comet Hotel, The Palace Hotel remained there for a few more decades. I lived just a mile north of the Bowery.

[@MoreMovies4u]

Sensational. I watched it several times in a row. I never heard if this but I'm going to seek it out asap. Very moving. Thanks again, CC. This is such great quality content. Excellent job! 👏🎬

[@CinemaCities1978]

It’s really a must see! It’s also not hard to find, there are several uploads on YT. It’s full on gritty and pretty depressing but really is a great documentary. Let me know what you think.

[@mrkurtlovesmovies]

What a portrait! I see that this film is on YT. I will definitely check it out. Never heard of this one. You can certainly see the influence of Italian neo realism in the film's style, its locations and the feral hopelessness of its ragged characters. Kudos to you for choosing such a bracing film to explore.

[@CinemaCities1978]

It is such a bleak film but really worth the watch. It’s pretty shocking on first view because you realize that it’s reality and these are people living pretty hopeless lives. It’s a little seen slice of life that I highly recommend.

[@eighteenin78]

It looks so much like the current videos coming out of Kensington in Philadelphia, even to the Elevated casting a gloom of shadows on the street.

[@johnnyfrisco5354]

Reading 'Maggie of the streets' by Stephen Crane in the 1890s, set in the Bowery... from the opening lines of the book I thought it was set somewhere in Belfast or Dublin because of the speech of the characters. Discover it's actually set in the lower east side of Manhattan, in a mainly Irish immigrant community... brutal then in the late 1890s. This upload is extraordinary to watch and learn... now decades later see some of the current street scenes in Kensington, Philadelphia. Thankyou for this very interesting upload.

[@CinemaCities1978]

You're welcome! I'm glad that you enjoyed it. It's a very tough watch but it's an important document of how some people really and truly lived.

[@jaymorgenthal9479]

This is very much what the Bowery looked like in the 50’s to the 70’s. The El stopped running 5/12/55 and was gone by early 1956. But in 2022 the old buildings, flop houses and homeless alcoholics have been replaced by million dollar condos owned by rich Gen X’rs who work in tech and tv production.

[@charlynegezze8536]

I saw it in person in the 70s. Heartbreaking.

[@websurfer5772]

I'm happy I just stumbled across this video just now. I looked up 'The Bowery' after I saw in another video that punk rock started here and this video was right under all the songs called 'The Bowery'. This is also where The Beats got their ideas from, I think. They weren't from The Bowery, but they were like wannabes in some ways. Bob Dylan also told people he came from this kind of background to gain more acceptance in the music scene when he was starting out.

[@lindamattioli7943]

You are remarkable 💘 this channel

[@CinemaCities1978]

Thank you!

[@mair90210]

Excellent video! I just watched the film yesterday.

[@CinemaCities1978]

Thank you so much for watching!

[@willieluncheonette5843]

You left out The Little Fugitive, an unforgettable, independent, sort of cinema verite type movie and a big influence on Truffaut.

[@alanharrison694]

My father owned several businesses and buildings just around the corner from the Bowery Lane Theater on Bond Street, from the 1940s through the 70s. I am very interested in studying the evolution of the neighborhood from early times to present. It certainly has changed today.

[@unc1589]

Wow dad was right in the soup of it. There is still a homeless mission there (Bowery between spring and Houston *) It’s famous but I forget the name.

[@ljr35]

need to see this one.

[@CinemaCities1978]

It's available on YT and I can't recommend it enough. It's short and savage in its look at the daily lives of people just hanging on by a thread to the very edge of society. It hits even harder more when you know the tragic ends of Ray Salyer and Gorman Hendricks.

[@ljr35]

@@CinemaCities1978 thank you! I'll do a search.

[@calwianka]

Well done and well narrated.

[@CinemaCities1978]

Thank you so much for watching!

[@electrofunk5442]

I own this on bluray i love it. So much different than anything else.

[@joshuawilliams7351]

This is well done. I subscribed. I wanted to know more about the Bowery ever since Bob Dylan informed me it is a Dutch word, as is Brooklyn. He was introducing The Beastie Boys' song "No Sleep Til Brooklyn" on some radio show he did.

[@bigneiltoo]

The Blu Ray comes with another Lionel Rogosin movie that was even more gripping in Good Times Wonderful Times (1964) which shows a lot of the WW2 clips you've probably seen over the years, but not all in one clear picture.

[@matthewalderink126]

I can relate to these men I struggle with alcoholism not to this degree I'm not as serious of an alcoholic as these guys but I'm definitely on the alcoholic spectrum for anyone who has never been alchohol dependent I'm gonna try to explain how it makes you feel imagine your a baby again and your crying and upset and your mom picks you up and rocks you in her arms sings you a lullaby it's like that and its kinda like this almost like a warm and relaxing bath you can feel the warmth of the water climbing up your body until your submerged Inwarm water and you close your eyes and suddenly don't care about any of your problems that's why this stuff is so hard to kick

[@MsColetha]

Wowwww

[@yuckyool]

I saw this film a few years ago . . . loved it. Is the documentary of "Kensington (Philly) " already being filmed? Drugs are much faster than alcohol at turning a) temporary desire for oblivion and painlessness => b) addiction with less chance of escape => c) death or insanity.

[@regiment6541]

Even the bums in the 50s dressed better than your average person now 👀

[@user-ll9zd2dh6h]

B.S. A Universal Pictures Travelogue made in 1940 is basically the same thing as "On the Bowery" from which it was obviously copped from in '56.

[@CinemaCities1978]

I think you're referring to an MGM short called 'This is the Bowery,' It's important to remember that the overall material conditions of American society were much different in 1956 compared to 1941, so while both films do feature on-the-ground images from that neighborhood, the two films are still very different in approach, structure, theme, and messaging.

[@diydiva3190]

There were women as well. My aunt adopted the child of one of the alcoholic homeless couples. Sad

[@55Deluxe]

Desperate folks had a far better deal then than they do now.

[@tonyalmond458]

I have seen men still sleeping on the streets on the Bowery

[@howigotover798]

It was still skid row in the 80s

[@Matthew-ud6kp]

If I can't straighten up this is gonna be me and I'm not far from being to this point I don't wanna die I want to live to be 100

[@unc1589]

Know this my friend… God is no stranger to our situation. The devils job is to rub it in. His goal is to keep you in despair. HES LYING! Don’t agree with him. Break out. Break away. HES LYING! Ignore him and turn your gaze towards a godly truth. That many men have been where you are and came out. You’re no different. Sin? Guilt? Well…. God is in the forgiveness businesses! That’s his specialty! David, a king over Gods people, slept with one of his soldiers wives, got her pregnant, called the soldier home so he could sleep with his wife so he could pretend the baby was his, the soldier said “our guys are on the battlefield dying. I’m not gonna chill out with my wife, the king insisted, the soldier slept in the doorway never entering the house, a man of great character, what did the king do? Killed the soldier! And still, God forgave David. I doubt if you’ve ever done anything as bad. God is not in the condemnation business. The devil is. Turn your face towards God and keep it there. He will lead you out. No perfection necessary. It starts in the mind. That’s where the battle is. Guilt keeps us in bondage. God’s patience and love brings us out. The devils main job is to make you think God is done with you. THATS A LIE. Ignore it. Smile when you hear those lying words. Smile with your eyes towards God. He will smile back! Once you shut off the source of the lie. You’ll be able to take advantage of the hopeful thoughts over time. Be patient with yourself. Your choices got you in a bad space. SO WHAT? Happened to me. Happens to many. It’s seems like “only me”. It’s not! It’s a lie! God’s demeanor and personality are depicted in the words and actions of Jesus. Read the book of John and call me when you get free❤️

[@danielwilson4656]

The raiders seems to present this as the real life of the times it wasn't it was a very small portion of a large city

[@CinemaCities1978]

I think it's made very clear that this is part of an area known as the Bowery in NYC at mid 20th century. Not the entire city.

[@kc4cvh]

14,000 out of 8,000,000 so this is the bottom 0.175% of New York society.

[@Ld_277]

Sorry, but as much as you want to go on about 'rose-tinted glasses' of the past, if this is New York of the 50's at its worst, it cannot even hold a candle to the skidrows of cities like Philly and LA today. Things can objectively get worse.

[@sarahalbers5555]

You can add in San Francisco and Portland as well.

[@tommycasidy3031]

Yeah the Democrats never fail to outdo themselves.

[@Porsche996driver]

That’s not how they saw it at the time. “Hopeless alcoholics” were given lobotomies, let alone the physical violence the wives and kids endured. Don’t long for the “good old days” - that’s what every generation says back to the flat earth society.

[@Porsche996driver]

@@sarahalbers5555 You can add Springfield, Missouri and Nashville, Tennessee.

[@Nick-ku2oe]

You missed the point

[@flynnlizzy5469]

WHERE were the women ?

[@matthewalderink126]

He chose alcohol over being a movie star that's sad

[@CinemaCities1978]

yes, very sad. Because even if he didn't become a star there was at least the stability (even if short tern) of studio contract pay.

[@jamestregler1584]

And today thanks to drugs WOW 😳

[@randymillhouse791]

I hope the avocado toast, participation trophy generations are watching this. You know, the ones that wore crash helmets when riding their bikes as kids.

[@tonimarx6405]

"It shows that struggling and suffering isn't unique to our age..." Yeah, like, no shit woman 🤦‍♂️

[@hilldwler420]

Gotta be rich and self righteous to think this way in the first place. Why do rich folk feel they need to crusade for the downtrodden? Wanna solve the problems of all hmmmm start with your own first.

[@docmason9677]

So sad all those lose souls killing themselves slowly with booze. But today it appears to be even worse in 2023 with young homeless people on drugs living in tents, cardboard boxes committing crimes and murders in the big Blue cities.

[@user-yr3ze9hc7o]

I watched 📺 📺 televisions, abouts these placed, commentwealth, states, new, york, cities, only too visited first timed, i enjoyed trip for whiles, not too lived, i noticed whats i saw, residencial, 're miserable, also its...harsh realities, cast systematic, if have's planned, too decides too moved there's, better realized be should, have's cashed also find jobs, org, its...helped,