Sidewalk Stories (1989)

Such a frustrating disappointment

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

I've often heard the name Charles Lane spoken as the great new independent director, an artist to rival the best of the golden age, and I am shocked to find that he has only made two feature length films. "Sidewalk Stories" alone is enough to place him among the great creative legends who turned pathos into art and gave the audience his heart in return. Here, he plays a gentle homeless man, making few dollars a day with his sketches, then sneaking into an abandoned park structure at night to sleep. Lane has an angel like presence as his sweet natured character is often used and abused, taken advantage of, and ultimately pretty much sacrifices everything for a little girl. There's a combination of Chaplin and a modern street tough sensibility in this film as Lane (combination writer, director and star) makes this identifiable to modern audiences as well as touching the hearts of classic cinema fans still craving the Charlie Chaplin like sentimentality.The best moments are often the smallest, including a scene where Lane must shoplift to get some clean clothes for his little charge. The big hearted store owner is amused and touched by his obvious affection, and in turn takes surprisingly heartfelt steps. It's not ripping off "The Kid", but giving a modern twist on it that hopefully inspires young artists to look back at the classics that made film what it is today. Filming it silent (except for a fitting musical score) and black and white makes it all the more touching. A scene in a park further down Sixth Avenue shows Lane dealing with some uppity white women in a most amusing manner. A brief gratuitous bit of sex seems out of place, but it's simply another effort to modernize what Chaplin couldn't get away with in the 1920's and 30's. Don't confuse all of Lane's roles in this as Ed Wood like ego in being another Chaplin or Orson Welles. If he didn't have the chops, he would not have been so successful at getting this done as well as it was. The West Village 6th Avenue location shoot (just around the corner from Washington Square) is ironic for me, having seen a double bill of Chaplin nearby at the film forum where this has been re-screened with Mr. Lane present, making this now a modern cult classic. Nicole Alysia (Lane's real daughter) adds to the charm of this film, so adorable and sweet as the little girl who comes to depend on him.

I had wanted to see "Sidewalk Stories" ever since I read a rave review of it from Roger Ebert over twenty years ago. But for some reason, the movie never got a release on video (at least in North America) right after its theatrical release. And when it finally got released on DVD a couple of years ago, all the video stores were gone. Fortunately, thanks to Turner Classic Movies, I finally got to see the movie, and it was well worth the wait. It's a brave movie, not only being a silent movie in black and white, but also that there are no title cards to tell us what the characters are saying or doing. There are a couple of moments when some written text would have cleared up things a little, but otherwise the movie is all the same very easy to follow. Charles Lane clearly boned up on the movies of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, because the movie really has the feel of many of those classic comedians' movies - though interestingly, Lane's movie is mostly serious in tone instead of being more comic. (Though there are some genuinely humorous moments here and there.) And while its main intent is to entertain, Lane does manage to make some effective statements on homelessness. A sex fantasy sequence does seem out of place, and the final scene - where we finally hear dialogue - also was a misguided touch. But apart from those minor quibbles and a few others, "Sidewalk Stories" is an independent film triumph that you'll remember for a long time.

It takes a lot of nerve to update a classic silent comedy, and do it again as a silent film, but that's the idea behind this Reagan-era remake of the 1921 Chaplin comedy 'The Kid'. Writer/producer/director Charles Lane himself takes the Little Tramp role, playing a homeless New York City street artist who reluctantly adopts an abandoned toddler (in real life Lane's own daughter). Both have big shoes to fill, Lane most of all because, unlike Chaplin, he isn't exactly a creative genius, and his attempts at visual comedy are never more than mildly amusing, at best.But silence is golden, and more to the point for a struggling independent filmmaker, it can be economical as well. By muting the voices on screen Lane succeeds in muting the harsh impact of poverty, bringing some charm to what could have been a merely depressing backdrop. So why introduce the panhandler's begging voices in the final scene, when their faces alone would have been eloquent enough? It amounts to thematic overkill in an otherwise engaging novelty (if not much else), with a likable underdog as its director and star.

I saw this film a number of years back---circa 1990---on PBS. It got ONE airing...and I never saw it again. I had even forgotten the title...until I ran across it by accident.Charles Lane pays homage---in a manner of speaking---to Chaplin...by way of default. This was a period when Blacks were still struggling to get any film made...and struggling to have films released. Lane ran out of dollars, evidenced by some few moments of sound.But he manages to salvage the film in the style of pantomime...like the "ol' time flickers". This film is more a commentary on the times, than an homage to any particular screen idol of the past. Homelessness and poverty are its main themes, and the struggle to survive is intensified when the hero takes on the added responsibility of caring for a child whose parent has gone down in an "unfortunate happenstance".The acting is natural, not campy, and there are a few "hot scenes". But, all in all the film is a good watch, rather touching at points, filled with 'Chaplin-esque' pathos (a la "The Kid"...but it doesn't get quite that intensely mushy). However, the closing scene is pretty intense, and reveals a bit of the pain, misery and suffering all too pervasive during that time---all in the name of greed--and much of which remains with us to this day.Charles Lane needs to make other films, and he needs to put this one back into circulation--it merits an across the board viewing. This one is a stand alone of the genre of Black films and, though it had nothing even close to the budget of Mel Brook's "Silent Movie", its point are well taken. It is a movie that you will enjoy...and I would caution having the kids watch due to some sexual situations and a little violence. But enjoy. I don't know if this film is back in circulation---I understand it has been out of circulation for some time...but I would not mind coming into possession of a copy.