Treat Williams: Prince of the DVD
May 16, 2007

Checked out Warner’s new two-disc special edition of Prince of the City (street: May 22; $19.99 srp), the 1981 New York police drama by Sidney Lumet which is great when compared alongside the filmmaker’s own Q&A (1990) and Night Falls on Manhattan (1997) but not quite in the classic league of his Serpico (1972) and Dog Day Afternoon (1975). I was happy to discover that the DVD’s sole supplement was a real winner: a half-hour history and making-of by digital journeyman Laurent Bouzereau. Most notable about the featurette Prince of the City: The Real Story is the fact that Bouzereau and company managed to wrangle new interviews with many of those involved in the project, including director/co-screenwriter Lumet, star Treat Williams, screenwriter/exec producer Jay Presson Allen (who just passed away last year after shortly after recording her segment), production designer Tony Walton, producer Burtt Harris, supporting players Bob Balaban and Lance Henriksen and even former narcotics agent Robert Leuci, the real-life cop that Williams’ character Daniel Ciello is based on.

Insightful stories and memories of the production are recounted and everyone seems happy to be on board, particularly Williams, whose parting comments rank among the most positive and enthusiastic that we’ve ever heard by a star on a catalog title supplement talking about his/her earlier work (Chevy Chase and Alicia Silverstone, take notice!):

“I couldn’t be happier talking about this film. Prince of the City is by far the best film I’ve ever made dramatically in my life and it’s going to be a tough one to match,” Williams beams. “So, sitting here 25 years later talking about the DVD is one of the most exciting things I could imagine this year. It makes my day—it makes my year.”

Posted by Laurence Lerman on May 16, 2007 | Comments (0)