On the Bowery (1956)

Lost Souls On Skid Row

The 2001 documentary "Sunshine Hotel" was set in the late 1990s in one of the few remaining flophouses in New York City's Bowery. I was fascinated when I watched "Sunshine Hotel" recently. I wanted to learn more about the Bowery and found this 1956 film "On the Bowery". The venerable old skid row deserves its memorialization in these two outstanding films.

An ambitious young filmmaker, Lionel Rogosin (1924 -- 2000) directed "On the Bowery" after spending several months on location becoming familiar with the area. The film combines a documentary style with storytelling. Rogosin hired Bowery residents, including newcomer Ray Salyer and old Bowery resident Gorman Hendricks to essentially play themselves in a thin storyline. In addition to the story, the movie offers a rare portrayal of the Bowery and its residents as they were in the mid-1950s and for many years prior. Thus, the film differs from Sunshine Hotel" which covers essentially a single flophouse during the Bowery's last years in offering a view of the Bowery in its entirety when it had the full character of a skid row.

A highlight of the film is the Third Avenue El. The train no longer was running but the elevated track remained intact casting its gloomy shadow over the Bowery. The old Elevated brings a great deal of atmosphere to this movie, as it did to the Bowery itself. The movie takes the viewer along the streets to show the exteriors of the old buildings, bars, and flophouses. The lost, wayward men set on the steps and often sleep outside when they don't have the price of a flop. There are scenes of street life and fights, of men looking for work, of panhandling, and of outdoor markets where those with little would sell old ragged clothing for the price of a drink. The influence of alcohol is everywhere.

The movie also takes the viewer inside the flophouses and bars. Much of the interaction between Salyer and Hendricks takes place within a bar with the presence of many other Bowery residents under the hard eye of the bartender. An excellent scene of the film takes place in the Bowery Mission with a sermon by George F. Bolton. Bolton had himself been an alcoholic on the Bowery who ultimately became an ordained minister and served the people of the Bowery for many years. Following the sermon, the men who were so inclined and who were able to stay sober had a meal in a soup kitchen and a place to sleep at the Mission.

In 2008, "On the Bowery" was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Ray Salyer was offered but declined a Hollywood contract after his role in the film and died in 1963 on the street. Gorman Hendricks died shortly after the film was completed. "On the Bowery" offers an unforgettable portrayal of an American street of the lost. It is a beautifully sad film about those at the bottom of life with dreams and with no place to go.

Robin Friedman