I love a good, random NYU student film. Living here in the veritable crotch of NYU, as I do, I used to frequently see ersatz student-film crews trudging in and around Washington Square Park, setting up and breaking down their gear, trying to capture cinematic magic to impress and placate some weary film professor. It always struck me as somewhat lazy. Given the sprawl of possible locations to pick from around Manhattan alone, were I the professor in question, I believe I’d immediately deduct points from a student director for shooting in Washington Square Park, arguably the very epicenter of NYU’s ever-expanding campus. Get out there and show me something I haven’t seen a million times, fer chrissakes.
In any case, I happened on the film below quite by accident (not unlike these other discoveries). Dubbed “The Vendor” and shot in Lower Manhattan at some point in the mid-to-late`80s, this short film tenuously tells a love story about a mysterious blonde in a top hat and a hot dog vendor whose paths cross after fetching top-hat blonde is pursued by a meat-necked bro in a suit in City Hall Park. The vendor unconvincingly intervenes, the blonde is smitten and we’re off to the races.
The movie isn’t going to change your life, but it’s at least fun to play “spot the location.” The woman in the top hat, incidentally, is one Jessica Tuck, who’d later go on to appear in soap operas like “One Life to Live” and prime-time series like “Judging Amy” and “True Blood,” none of which I’ve ever watched. The vendor, meanwhile, was played by one Craig Gillespie, an aspiring Australian filmmaker who’d later go on to direct ventures like “Lars and the Real Girl,” “Fright Night,” “I, Tonya” and “Cruella.” I haven’t seen any of those, either, but hey … good on him.
The music, as you’ll doubtlessly recognize, is by period-incongruous bands like The Rolling Stones and The Kinks.
The photo of the hot dog cart at the top is my own.
Enjoy "The Vendor"
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