The cinematic cars of "Manhattan" (1979)

You don’t think of Woody Allen’s “Manhattan” as being a ‘car’ movie (although this segment was never intended to be about “car movies” in the usual sense– the less ink spilled about Tokyo Drift, the better), but there are a couple of scenes of Allen and pals driving down either side of Manhattan (v-e-e-ry slowly– truly impossible to fathom today!) that are just flat out gorgeous. Shot in pearly black and white, this might be one of the most beautifully filmed movies ever– perfectly paired to the music of Gershwin. A real slice of late-’70s Americana, NYC-style.

Watching this film, it’s impossible not to love New York.

Click the stills for links to individual scenes.

The Allen character trying to talk his friend out of buying a 356 (“I hate cars”)..

..unsuccessfully.

This is only tangentially related, but Subway by Bruce Davidson (a body of work from around the same time– maybe slightly later) makes a great yin to Allen’s yang and is another reason to love New York, although you’ll see the two artists go about it their own separate ways.