New York movies: The 100 best films set in New York City

From King Kong's spire down to the scummiest subway tunnel, TONY ranks the definitive list of the 100 best New York movies: crime dramas, romantic comedies, documentaries and more.

By David Fear, Stephen Garrett, Joshua Rothkopf, Keith Uhlich and Alison Willmore Tue Jul 3 2012

New York movies: On the Town (1949)
New York movies: Escape from New York (1981)
New York movies: Shadows (1959)
New York movies: King Kong (1933)
New York movies: Do the Right Thing (1989)
New York movies: Manhattan (1979)
New York movies: Rosemary's Baby (1968)
New York movies: Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
New York movies: Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
New York movies: Taxi Driver (1976)

New York movies: On the Town (1949)

On the Town (1949)

There are few more exuberant evocations of a visit to NYC than Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen’s adaptation of Leonard Bernstein’s musical, in which a trio of sailors (Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin) spend their shore leave out and about, romancing three different women. They sing, dance, flirt and even fit in a visit to the Empire State Building, with the stakes no higher than having a great time before they head back to sea. The film’s sheer, frantic joy finds time for the still-useful directional advice that “the Bronx is up, but the Battery’s down.”—Alison Willmore

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Escape from New York (1981)

In the not-too-distant future (of 1997), the isle of Manhattan has become a maximum-security prison, home to mohawked killers, slick con artists, gun-toting femmes fatales and other assorted crazies. John Carpenter’s gorgeously grimy thriller posits a memorably dystopian Big Apple: The spectacular opening shot—a slow rise up and over the prison wall—is like a WELCOME TO NY! postcard from an alternate universe (a young fella named James Cameron was one of the background-matte painters). Our eye-patch-sporting antihero, Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell, the epitome of sneering manliness), uses the Twin Towers as a landing platform for his glider—an unintentionally loaded image. The New York Public Library and Grand Central Terminal are villains’ trash-strewn headquarters. And all the bridges are mined! Scene by scene, Carpenter satirizes the de rigueur fears of a crime-plagued NYC—which is funny considering the film was mostly shot in St. Louis.—Keith Uhlich

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Shadows (1959)

Raw, intimate and spontaneous in a way that’s authentic to the city’s unpredictable rhythms, John Cassavetes’s jazz-steeped portrait of human relationships is a time capsule of Beat Generation urbanites, as well as the epitome of New York’s scrappy ethos—the template for modern independent filmmaking. This interracial drama was conceived, performed and directed in a studied but freestyle manner that grew out of the Method workshop the rogue Cassavetes had founded in his midtwenties. Bankrolled by family, friends and donations, and lensed largely in the auteur’s own apartment (as well as Times Square, Central Park and downtown), the project was a run-and-gun affair shot on weekends and without permits. It exudes a vitality and candor that still inspire. You don’t have Mean Streets without it, let alone the careers of Jim Jarmusch, Spike Lee and Lena Dunham.—Stephen Garrett

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King Kong (1933)

Any list of New York films has to include one of the most famous images of the city ever committed to celluloid: the giant stop-motion ape beating his chest atop the Empire State Building and swiping at the biplanes that have come to take him down. King Kong’s tragic end at the top of the tower holds up remarkably well almost eight decades later, not just because of the practical special effects (which impart a dreamlike reality of their own), but because he’s far from the only visitor to have met his downfall in the city that never sleeps. It is, of course, a jungle out there.—Alison Willmore

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Do the Right Thing (1989)

Placing his thumb firmly on a contemporary sore spot, Spike Lee turned up the heat on New York’s melting pot and watched things boil over. Outraged over the 1986 Howard Beach incident, Lee responded with a 360-degree look at what happens when tempers flare and breaking points are reached. Spike’s magnum opus also doubles as a vivid expressionistic portrait of his native Brooklyn, playing out in a Bed-Stuy neighborhood as colorful as any Gauguin painting: Every stoop philosopher, prophet of antigentrification rage, nosy matriarch and beat-box-loving B-boy gets his or her moment in the spotlight. In short, Do the Right Thing captures the modern urban experience in a nutshell, a movie that threatens to tear itself apart. And that’s the double truth, Ruth.—David Fear

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Manhattan (1979)

When you walk daily through crowded streets and rub elbows with fellow agitated citizens, it’s easy to take the titular borough for granted. Woody Allen’s love sonnet to the city he calls home reminds you what a gorgeous, grand sight this island really is from the moment that Gershwin-scored opening kicks in: the fish markets and basketball courts, the Fifth Avenue boutiques and Broadway theaters, the high-rise dwellers and lowlifes. “He adored New York,” says Allen’s nasal narrator. “He idolized it all out of proportion.” By the end of that celebrated montage, every viewer is equally dazed and drawn into the filmmaker’s vision—an everyday NYC transformed into a bustling dream metropolis straight out of the movies.—David Fear

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Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Released at a time when horror mostly meant Vincent Price in a goofy cape, Roman Polanski’s realistic supernatural drama was a transfusion of thick, urbane blood. Much of the movie’s revolutionary impact should be credited to the city itself: The Dakota looms menacingly, every bit the Gothic pile as any Transylvanian vampire’s mansion. A young couple, played by Mia Farrow (in a fashion-forward NYC pixie cut) and John Cassavetes, moves in—they’re recognizable enough. But in another one of the film’s clever subversions, the perennial lovable but nosy neighbor (Ruth Gordon) hides an evil intent. Weird obstetricians, mysterious night noises and even Farrow’s improvised stroll into actual oncoming traffic add up to a bustling nightmare that’s spawned many a Black Swan since.—Joshua Rothkopf

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Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Al Pacino heads a stellar ensemble cast in Sidney Lumet’s tense, unbearably moving tale of a first-time crook whose plan to rob a Brooklyn bank (at 450 Avenue P) goes spectacularly awry. Though primarily confined to a single location, the film is filled to brimming with distinctly New York characters: John Cazale as a spaced-out partner in crime; Chris Sarandon as a fragile transsexual; Charles Durning as a frazzled police detective. At the center of it all is Pacino’s Sonny Wortzik, who alternates between cocky displays of street-theater bravado (his famous “Attica!” speech) and devastating moments of walls-are-closing-in introspection (the character’s lengthy phone conversations with his ex-wife and current lover are acting master classes). You can see the film’s influence in multifaceted heist movies like Reservoir Dogs and Heat (also starring Pacino), but nothing matches Dog Day’s earthy, unsentimental vision.—Keith Uhlich

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Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Deliciously lethal—like a “cookie full of arsenic”—this film adaptation of Ernest Lehman’s venomous novella about a megalomaniacal gossip columnist (Burt Lancaster) and a parasitic press agent (Tony Curtis) reveals New York’s fickle heart to be less candy-colored than bloody and pumping. Inspired by much-feared newspaperman Walter Winchell, the towering drama encapsulates the show-business spin that once went down after-hours in the booths of the ‘21’ Club and the upper floors of the Brill Building. British-born director Alexander Mackendrick brings a removed anthropologist’s eye to the city’s milieu, while cinematographer James Wong Howe bestows a shimmering noir palette on every authentic location. But it’s adapting screenwriter Clifford Odets’s syncopated symphony of improbably expressionistic dialogue that really lingers: Talk fast enough in this city and anything will sound persuasive.—Stephen Garrett

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Taxi Driver (1976)

And so we arrive at the big daddy—the movie you quote into the mirror when you’re feeling fed up (“You talking to me?”), the film that always leaps to mind when a cab pulls through the late-night steam of a manhole cover to take you on a ride to hell. The project almost went to Hitchcock-obsessed Brian De Palma, deemed unsuitable. Instead, with great serendipity, the intense, young director of Mean Streets, Martin Scorsese, and his soft-spoken star, Robert De Niro, were attached. Nothing less than magic was captured during that difficult summer shoot, plagued by beastly heat and a Manhattan garbage strike. Travis Bickle, our cracked hero, cruises through unruly Greenwich Village and the unpredictable streets of Hell’s Kitchen. The story may be all in his head: a deranged man’s dream of vanilla romance with Cybill Shepherd, unchecked fury at political impotence and the compulsive urge to right every wrong, no matter how slight. Because Taxi Driver is so pungent and real, it tops our NYC list. Because it speaks to the lonely devil in all of us, it tops any list.—Joshua Rothkopf

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(31 ratings)

What about Last Exit to Brooklyn? One of the bleakest and most powerful NY films.

JW50 About 13 days ago
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The wanderers is better than 90% of this list.

Matt Wed May 15
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Great list but where is "Ghost"? That surely has to be included here!

Louis Lilakos Sun May 12
Rated as: 4/5
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"We will gather data from El Paso neighborhoods in spring 2014 using trained student-researchers from UTEP and begin analyzing the results that summer," Curry said. The Gucci replica products are always the best in the sphere and that is the reason they always come up with some unique and extraordinary work.. Thoughtful. The french are indeed the most designer savvy among us, and often choose to purchase higher end clothing, but the rationale is for fit, and durability, as opposed to the Americanized appeal of sporting outward brand labels on every piece of clothing/accessory we have. Echaud茅s par les d茅convenues ant茅rieures, les leaders du MNLA ont proclam茅 solennellement le 6 avril l'ind茅pendance pleine et enti猫re de l'Azawad.

XRwogannimeieTest Tue May 7
Rated as: 2/5
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Ghost Dog was filmed in Jersey City. This is a well known fact so why is it in this list? And yes, I'm from Jersey City.

John O'Hara Thu Apr 25
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Where is Scent of a Woman?

casey Mon Mar 25
Rated as: 2/5
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What about "LIMITLESS" and "How to Lose A Guy In 10 Days" ????????????

AM Wed Mar 20
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coming to america Home alone 2 Big Daddy the list here is shi*

Dean Tue Mar 19
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What about Breakfast at Tiffanys? Coming to America? Sister Act? The list goes on. I will say that you guys did a good job of putting "Do The Right Thing" in the Top 10.

Jordan Sun Mar 17
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How could you not include "An Affair to Remember" and even "Working Girl"? aacch!!

liz Sat Mar 9
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