Union City

Exciting news! My monograph on the 1980 film, Union City, is available to pre-order from PS Publishing (via their Electric Dreamhouse imprint) from today.

The following is the official press release:

“Before Twin Peaks there was Union City” – Everett McGill

 

As soon as the first Electric Dreamhouse publications were announced back in 2018 I knew I wanted to write something for the imprint. Applying myself to an entire film seemed wondrously decadent. Devotion decided, the only decision required was what film I would write about. Many of my favourites (Mulholland Drive, Donnie Darko, Way Out West, El Topo) were too well-known and had plenty of existing coverage, and I felt that some other contenders (Pierrot le Fou, Sátántangó) wouldn’t fit the genre requirements for PS. I narrowed it down to three films: Spoorlos (English title, The Vanishing, directed by George Sluizer), The Exterminating Angel (Luis Buñuel), or Union City (Marcus Reichert) which starred Deborah Harry in her first starring role. Whilst I loved Spoorlos, I was wary of a language barrier when conducting interviews, and having already written a short pamphlet about the Buñuel film I decided to go for Union City. Chris Stein of Blondie had written the score, and I’d previously had interactions with him on Instagram. So I reached out and he agreed to be interviewed. Suddenly, the ball was rolling.

I’d first seen Union City on television almost thirty years ago, and had subsequently reviewed it for an online magazine when it appeared on DVD in 2006. I believe it to be a forgotten masterpiece. The plot is quite simple. Harlan (Dennis Lipscomb) and Lillian (Deborah Harry) rent an apartment in a tenement block in the eponymous city situated in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey. Their lives have become stale, the marriage mundane. Harlan becomes fixated by a ‘milk thief’ who drinks from their morning doorstep delivery. An unhealthy obsession develops and after a convoluted ploy to wake and catch the thief he does so. Assuming moral superiority backdropped against the impotency of his life, Harlan attacks and accidentally kills the man. The remainder of the film explores his paranoia and fear of being found out.

If this sounds like the plot of a simple noir thriller then indeed it is. The film is based on The Corpse Next Door, a short story by the crime writer Cornell Woolrich. I felt the film was ripe for examination, and as it happened my timing was perfect. Having contacted Chris Stein in November 2019, most of my initial interviews with the cast and crew were conducted during 2020, when the world was in lockdown. From my tiny terraced house in Norwich, UK, I conducted in-depth telephone conversations with some major film industry names in Hollywood, who were at home instead of on location and therefore had the time and inclination to chat, considering they could do little else! Most especially, I was able to cultivate a close friendship with Marcus Reichert (the director), which led to us talking regularly, reading each other’s work, and providing insights I hadn’t expected. Reichert had become completely disillusioned with the film industry following the release of Union City (for reasons which I discuss in the book). The writing of my book was to prove cathartic for him, enabling reconnections with those he had been involved with during that time, and a reassessment of that period of his life. He was very grateful for my efforts, and thankfully was able to read and offer approval (if not always agreement) over the finished draft, before he regretfully and suddenly passed away in 2022.

 

In addition to extensive interviews with Marcus, my book includes a scene by scene run through of the film together with chapters on film noir, colour, comedy, the hitherto unknown proposed sequels, and writer Cornell Woolrich; plus interviews with the following: Monty Montgomery (who went on to produce films with David Lynch and who also had an acting role as The Cowboy in Mulholland Drive), Ed Lachman (the cinematographer, who has also worked with directors Werner Herzog and Wim Wenders, and most recently with Todd Haynes), Stefan Czapsky (the gaffer, who since went on to work with Tim Burton, among others, as a cinematographer), Fred Caruso (the line producer who has also worked with Sergio Leone and David Lynch), Deborah Harry (lead singer of Blondie), Chris Stein (guitarist with Blondie who scored the film), Everett McGill (actor who went on to have a role in Twin Peaks and other Lynch films), Irina Maleeva (actor whose career started with Federico Fellini), and Sam McMurray (an actor now known for his US TV work).

 

For those who have seen the film, I feel this in-depth movie monograph will provide many surprising insights and fresh information. For those who have yet to watch the film, I hope my book will encourage them to seek it out. As a precursor of neo-noir and with several of the crew latterly working with David Lynch, it inhabits a pivotal role in cinematic history and remains – for me, certainly – an essential watch.

Union City can be pre-ordered direct from the publisher here.