Night of the Juggler is set in New York City & starts as ex-cop, truck driver & loving father Sean Boyd (James Brolin) arrives home to wish his fifteen year old daughter Kathy (Abby Bluestone) a happy birthday, Sean decides to walk with Kathy to school through the park. Meanwhile the bitter & psychopathic sewer worker Gus Soltic (Cliff Gorman) has been watching a girl named Virginia Clayton (Robyn Finn) the daughter of rich property developer Hampton Richmond Clayton III (Marco St. John) who has used gangs of thugs to drive people of of his neighbourhood in order to buy the land cheaply, Gus plans to kidnap Virginia & hold her to ransom for one million dollars but his plan goes wrong & he ends up kidnapping Kathy Boyd by mistake. Having seen his daughter taken Sean sets out on a mission to find & rescue her, he has to deal with bent cops, pimps, gangs, his ex-wife & Gus himself in a final showdown to the death...
This oddly titled late 70's New York set action thriller is apparently also known as New York Killer here in the UK, Countdown in Manhattan in Germany, New York Connection in France & Pursued in Canada & was directed by Robert Butler, under any name Night of the Juggler was based on the novel by William P. McGivern & is a pretty decent film that probably doesn't deserve to be as obscure as it currently is. The plot is pretty good, the script doesn't waste much time in getting going & once Kathy is kidnapped the pace is pretty relentless as we get car chases, fights, a brawl at a peep show, hostile gangs, pimps, dirty cops & a variety of oddball character's from stripper's to homeless drunks & surprisingly helpful taxi cab driver's. I wouldn't say any of Night of the Juggler is breathtaking & I wouldn't describe it as a lost masterpiece (it's neither lost nor a masterpiece so why would I?!) but for what it is I liked it enough. The New York setting really helps, in fact the city & it's inhabitants & locations are as much the star as any of the character's, I suppose it's a touch predictable & maybe a little bit too long at 100 minutes but I had a decent time watching it. The character's are alright & serve their purpose & the script has a reasonable go at tackling some themes like racism, poverty, corruption & the basic concept of community or the lack of it.
From the skyscrapers of the city to Central park to the graffiti covered trains & tube stations to the porno district with pimps, hookers & peep shows to the dark underground sewer system to housing estates that look like someone dropped a nuclear bomb on it Night of the Juggler spans just about most of New York & it's gritty, sleazy late 70's early 80's cesspool feel & look. If nothing else Night of the Juggler is a bit of a nostalgia trip as the New York seen here is very different to the New York of today. The action scenes are pretty good, from an impressive car chase to a shoot-out in the middle of New York to fights & the final somewhat forgettable climax inside the sewer system. There's some nudity & a fair bit of violence but nothing gory or sadistic.
Filmed on location in New York you could not make Night of the Juggler now, apart from the landscape of New York looking completely different just think how much it would cost to stage the car chases & shoot-outs in filming permits alone. There's very little information about Night of the Juggler out there, as far as I am aware at this point it has never even been released on DVD. The acting is pretty good as various actor's bring the odd assortment of New York character's to life. Richard S. Castellano from The Godfather (1972) looks like he is one fry-up away from a heart attack.
Night of the Juggler is a decent action thriller with some seriously sleazy overtones, it has a decent story & good action scenes while the Big Rotten Apple as it was back then provides some stark settings. I liked it & despite the awful title I would recommend it, I didn't love it but I liked it.
This oddly titled late 70's New York set action thriller is apparently also known as New York Killer here in the UK, Countdown in Manhattan in Germany, New York Connection in France & Pursued in Canada & was directed by Robert Butler, under any name Night of the Juggler was based on the novel by William P. McGivern & is a pretty decent film that probably doesn't deserve to be as obscure as it currently is. The plot is pretty good, the script doesn't waste much time in getting going & once Kathy is kidnapped the pace is pretty relentless as we get car chases, fights, a brawl at a peep show, hostile gangs, pimps, dirty cops & a variety of oddball character's from stripper's to homeless drunks & surprisingly helpful taxi cab driver's. I wouldn't say any of Night of the Juggler is breathtaking & I wouldn't describe it as a lost masterpiece (it's neither lost nor a masterpiece so why would I?!) but for what it is I liked it enough. The New York setting really helps, in fact the city & it's inhabitants & locations are as much the star as any of the character's, I suppose it's a touch predictable & maybe a little bit too long at 100 minutes but I had a decent time watching it. The character's are alright & serve their purpose & the script has a reasonable go at tackling some themes like racism, poverty, corruption & the basic concept of community or the lack of it.
From the skyscrapers of the city to Central park to the graffiti covered trains & tube stations to the porno district with pimps, hookers & peep shows to the dark underground sewer system to housing estates that look like someone dropped a nuclear bomb on it Night of the Juggler spans just about most of New York & it's gritty, sleazy late 70's early 80's cesspool feel & look. If nothing else Night of the Juggler is a bit of a nostalgia trip as the New York seen here is very different to the New York of today. The action scenes are pretty good, from an impressive car chase to a shoot-out in the middle of New York to fights & the final somewhat forgettable climax inside the sewer system. There's some nudity & a fair bit of violence but nothing gory or sadistic.
Filmed on location in New York you could not make Night of the Juggler now, apart from the landscape of New York looking completely different just think how much it would cost to stage the car chases & shoot-outs in filming permits alone. There's very little information about Night of the Juggler out there, as far as I am aware at this point it has never even been released on DVD. The acting is pretty good as various actor's bring the odd assortment of New York character's to life. Richard S. Castellano from The Godfather (1972) looks like he is one fry-up away from a heart attack.
Night of the Juggler is a decent action thriller with some seriously sleazy overtones, it has a decent story & good action scenes while the Big Rotten Apple as it was back then provides some stark settings. I liked it & despite the awful title I would recommend it, I didn't love it but I liked it.