I have asked the question, “Did you see the movie 29th Street?” to quite a number of people and nearly every single time the answer has been, “No. What’s that?”
The one time I asked and got an affirmative response was when I asked my Twitter friend, ACSpollen. Her reply was similar to an Elaine Benes “GET OUT!” response. “Nobody has seen that movie!”
She’s right. Nobody has seen this movie.
And let me tell you: You’re missing out on a classic.
The movie tells the (mostly) true story of Frank Pesce, who was a finalist in the first lottery in the state of New York. Pesce is an actor you may recognize from movies like ‘Beverly Hills Cop’:
Pesce is in 29th Street, portraying his own older brother Vito. The movie however, belongs to Danny Aiello who plays Frank Pesce Sr. and Anthony LaPaglia who plays the younger Frank.
The movie centers around the two Franks. Frank Sr. is a hard working man who gambles too much always seems to have trouble getting work. His son, Frank Jr. is a dreamer. He wants to do big things but is content to spend most of his time hanging out with his buddies.
The story is told over a period of 20 years with much of it devoted to this strange “lucky star” Frank Jr. has. For example, he was able to avoid Vietnam by being declared mentally unfit for duty. He went on a date with a woman from Spanish Harlem and was subsequently stabbed by her older brother. However, his trip to the hospital revealed a pre-cancerous tumor they were able to remove. There were downsides as well. When Frank and his father schemed to pretend their was car stolen to collect insurance money, it “luckily” kept getting found and returned.
The film comes to a head when Frank Jr. who with the purchase of a single ticket, becomes a finalist in the NY State Lottery, learns his father owes a local mobster a large gambling debt. The mobster, Louie Tucci (Vic Manni) is well aware of Frank Jr’s lucky star. He offers to wipe the elder Pesce’s gambling debt clean in exchange for said ticket.
The movie is a well blended mixture of comedic and dramatic moments, punctuated by the great performances of the cast. In addition to Aiello, LaPaglia and Pesce, the film features Lainie Kazan as the family matriarch, Robert Forster, Rick Aiello and Tony Sirico (aka Paulie Walnuts from The Sopranos) playing — what else? — a mobster.
Check out the original trailer below:
Unfortunately, the movie is not available to stream on Amazon or Netflix. In fact, the movie was not released on Region 1 DVD until 2005. However, if you search YouTube, you can find it as somebody uploaded the entire movie.
If you get a chance, check it out. It will quickly become one of your Christmas favorites.