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The Prisoner of Second Avenue

1975 · 98 min

A sweaty, claustrophobic slow burn that wrings nervous laughs from urban misery and middle-age unraveling.

Directed by
Melvin Frank
Genres
Comedy
Tagline
...and you think you've got problems.
Overview
Mel Edison has just lost his job after many years and now has to cope with being unemployed at middle age during an intense NYC heat wave.

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Directed by
Melvin Frank
Genres
Comedy
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • darkstrength 2 of 3
  • satiricalstrength 2 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
  • tensestrength 1 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • work
  • identity
  • isolation
  • family
  • class
Places
  • big city
  • home
Era
contemporary
Audience
adult
Form
None
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language mild
  • Violence none
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action1
Horror1
Humour6
Realism8
Romance3
Tension5
Darkness6
Complexity5
Emotional weight7

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Cast

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Details

Genres
comedy
Directed by
Melvin Frank
Written by
Neil Simon
Starring
Jack Lemmon, Anne Bancroft, Gene Saks, Elizabeth Wilson, Florence Stanley, Maxine Stuart, Ed Peck, Gene Blakely
Music
Marvin Hamlisch
Cinematography
Philip H. Lathrop
Runtime
98 min
Country
United States of America
Languages
English

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