Martin Scorsese’s 1977 musical homage was a chaotic, drug-fueled, and expensive studio gamble
In short: Martin Scorsese attempted to reinvent the 1950s Hollywood musical by blending it with a gritty, documentary-style approach. The result, New York, New York, was a visually stylized, big-budget production that struggled under the weight of its director's personal excesses, yet it managed to produce an enduring, iconic musical legacy.
Released in 1977, New York, New York was Martin Scorsese’s ambitious attempt to marry the musical traditions of directors like Vincente Minnelli and George Cukor with his own modern sensibilities. Starring Robert De Niro as the volatile saxophone player Jimmy Doyle and Liza Minnelli as the singer Francine Evans, the film utilized elaborate, nonnaturalistic sets to evoke the atmosphere of the 1940s. Scorsese aimed to explore human relationships through a juxtaposition of classic musical tropes and improvised dialogue, but the production was plagued by significant internal turmoil.
The filming process was deeply affected by Scorsese’s personal struggles, including a cocaine addiction and the use of lithium to manage his temper. The director later admitted that he was too impaired to properly resolve the film’s structure, noting that it was a miracle the final product made any sense. The initial cut of the movie spanned four and a half hours, and the budget ballooned to $9 million, exceeding the original $3.5 million estimate by a considerable margin. Tensions were further exacerbated by an affair between the director and his lead actress, while De Niro’s intense preparation—which involved relentlessly studying the saxophone with veteran musician Georgie Auld—added to the strain on set.
Despite the film’s box office failure, its cultural footprint remains significant. The movie provided Liza Minnelli with two of her most famous songs, “But the World Goes ’Round” and the title track, “New York, New York,” which became a global standard. While the film was not a commercial success, it serves as a fascinating artifact of a director pushing the boundaries of genre during a period of intense personal and professional volatility. Even George Lucas famously suggested that the film’s financial performance could have been improved by $10 million had Scorsese opted for a happier ending, highlighting the disconnect between the director’s artistic vision and the expectations of the era.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: New York, New York | film by Scorsese [1977] | Britannica
- Also: New York, New York (1977 film)
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