Just finished watching the 1976 film HARRY AND WALTER GO TO NEW YORK. It used to come on one of the local stations all the time when I was a lad and fulfilled all three of my youthful requirements for a good movie: 1) It had Elliott Gould in it. 2) It was a heist movie. 3) It contained hapless vaudeville routines a la Hope and Crosby in THE ROAD TO UTOPIA. I was curious to see if it still held up now that I'm so much more sophisticated and fancy. Perhaps this is nostalgia for irrevocably lost youth talking, but I found it satisfying indeed. Diane Keaton was utterly charming. Now HERE is the astonishing coincidence you have been waiting for. I called McNeil to see if he likewise remembered HAWGTNY from all its many airings on our local NBC affiliate of yore. But McNeil could not answer the phone because he was talking to his daughter about THE LITTLE GIRL WHO LIVES DOWN THE LANE. Specifically, McNeil was telling his daughter how much the movie had impacted him WHEN IT AIRED ON A LOCAL TELEVISION STATION OF OUR YOUTH. And get this: TLGWLDTL came out the same year as HAWGTNY: 1976! I know, your mind is reeling. Wow! HAWGTNY also featured Jack Gilford (pictured) a great old-time comedian who appeared in another "fave" heist film, WHO'S MINDING THE MINT, which has been mentioned here before. And there was a small role for Dennis Dugan, who has directed a number of Adam Sandler films, though not BILLY MADISON, which was discussed on this "blog" earlier today but gosh, wouldn't it have been something if he had? Oh baby! "Blog"tigue is over, people. I am so proud and relieved to say that I am once again ranting semi-coherently about dull personal ephemera with the best of them. Hooray!
