Author! Author!

The Al Pacino movie Author! Author! came out in 1982. It's about a struggling playwright who lives in a sprawling middle-class townhouse in Greenwich Village with a crowd of stepchildren. (Was that really possible in 1982?)

It was filmed in New York and there are a few shots of Times Square, including a scene in Sardi's, but I was most taken by the following.





In the screenshots above you can see the great Julius' bar on the right, with a much smaller window than what it has today. And in the background, there's a deli/liquor store where Three Lives & Co. bookstore is today. One of my favorite bookstores in town, it looks like it's been there forever...but there used to be Angelo's.


same corner today

In another scene around the corner, a bookstore appears at Grove and W. 4th, next to El Avram, a "Kosher Israeli-Mediterranean restaurant/nightclub, featuring a revue with Israeli singers and bellydancers."

The bookstore and El Avram are now the gay club The Monster, another place that seems like it's been there forever.

Does anyone remember a bookstore here?



Update: A reader sent me digging for this classic Reese's commercial, starring the bookshop (and Ralph Malph).



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