Times Square (film) - Production

Production

Times Square was directed by Allan Moyle from a script written by Moyle and Jacob Brackman. The movie was inspired by a diary, found in a second-hand couch bought by Moyle, detailing the life on the streets of a young mentally disturbed woman. According to the DVD commentary, the original title of the project was "She's Got the Shakes."

The original cut of the film contained lesbian content which was mostly deleted from the final print (which still has subtle lesbian overtones). Moyle revealed in the DVD audio commentary that the film's integrity was compromised by the removal of the more overt lesbian content, and the addition of several "inappropriate" songs to the film's soundtrack at the insistence of producer Robert Stigwood. Stigwood wanted the film to be another Saturday Night Fever and insisted that the soundtrack be a double album to make the film more commercially viable. Moyle and Johnson remarked on the audio commentary that the loss of key scenes made the narrative disjointed and damaged the story's emotion and characterisations. They give as examples the film's focus jarringly changing from Pamela to Nicky and how the increasingly outlandish and unrealistic story undermines the movie's gritty, on-location documentary style. Moyle left production before the film was completed, and further scenes were shot under the supervision of others, mainly footage backed with the new soundtrack additions. The version of the film released to theatres was not Moyle's preferred cut; however, he still acknowledges the finished film's importance as it documents a Times Square that no longer exists. The film was shot on location and captured Times Square's seedy, grindhouse atmosphere before it was cleaned up in the mid 1990s.