Penn Station
Written by Joe D on February 13th, 2012
There was a great article in the New York Times this weekend about restoring Penn Staion Manhattan to it’s former glory. The original was razed in 1963, a horrible crime against the people of NYC, driven by greedy real estate interests.
I used to commute through that station and one evening while waiting for a train to arrive, I sat in the depressing waiting room and someone stole my hat from right next to me as I dozed off. I used to watch hookers steal slices of pizza from the little pizzeria in that same subterranean waiting area. Anyway it was an incredible work of Art, all girders and glass with a delicate filigree feel and I’m sure the people of the greater metropolitan NY area would benefit from it being restored. So I started thinking what films feature the station in it’s original state. Off the top of my head I came up with a couple. First Stanley Kubrick’s Killer’s Kiss, the film opens in Penn Station. And you can watch it in HD on Netflix streaming. Another great movie that used the location, The 10th Victim, the opening of this film is shot outside the recently demolished station, Ursula Andress runs by the rubble.
Ursula in front of another magnificent structure, an interesting contrast, in Rome they preserve the great edifices of the past, in the USA nothing is safe from the wrecking ball of Greed.
I will try to find some more examples of this magnificent structure captured in the celluloid time machine.
Opening Of Killers Kiss