NIGHT OF THE JUGGLER (1980)

The grit and intensity of late-1970s New York City is depicted in stark detail in this relentlessly action-packed cult classic. Twenty-four hours of nerve-jangling tension and suspense begin when a twisted psychotic (Cliff Gorman, Cops and Robbers, All That Jazz) kidnaps a teenaged girl, mistaking her for the daughter of a wealthy real estate developer. Her determined father (James Brolin, The Car, The Amityville Horror), a hard-hitting ex-cop, doggedly pursues them through New York’s seamy streets, decaying, burned-out Bronx tenements, and the grimy subterranean corridors beneath the city itself. Based on the novel by William P. McGivern (The Big Heat, Odds Against Tomorrow) and co-starring Richard S. Castellano (The Godfather), Julie Carmen (In the Mouth of Madness), Dan Hedaya (Blood Simple) and Mandy Patinkin (The Princess Bride), Night of the Juggler is a thrilling example of no-holds-barred, pure adrenaline-fueled filmmaking. The film’s original director Sidney J. Furie (The Ipcress File, The Appaloosa) was replaced by Robert Butler (Up the Creek, Turbulence) a few weeks into production.