Lorraine B. Diehl, author of "The Late, Great
Pennsylvania Station", has picked these films because they feature
Penn. Station, but they are also terrific movies.
Most of these films are on video and can be ordered from this page by
clicking on the link. The actual processing of the order is done by Amazon.com and items
are shipped directly to you. Near the end of the page is also a link to browse through
Amazon.com's huge collection of movies, books and music.
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STRANGERS ON A TRAIN - (1951) D: Alfred Hitchcock.
Farley Granger, Robert Walker, Ruth Roman. (b/w) In this psychological thriller, Farley
Granger takes a taxi to Penn Station where he is dropped off in one of the station's
carriageways. Then, indulging in some cinematic license, Hitchcock has Granger rush down
the steps from the arcade into the station's Main Waiting Room. (He would have come
through the arcade if he were entering the station on foot from its Seventh Avenue
entrance.) The result for us is some rare footage of both the carriageway and the arcade,
with some lingering shots of the station's Main Waiting Room. |
THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK
- (1950) D: Earl McEvoy.
Evelyn Keyes, Charles Korvin, Dorothy Malone. (b/w) The best things going for this noir
film are the shots of New York, particularly Pennsylvania Station. The film opens with
Evelyn Keyes exiting a train on track level, then making her way upstairs to the
Concourse, where she slips into a phone booth. She remains in the phone booth long enough
to give us a view of the station's magnificent train shed as it was in the 1950s. That's
the only shot of Penn Station in the film, but it's enough to justify a rental.
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THE CLOCK - (1945) D: Vincent
Minnelli. Judy Garland, Robert Walker, James Gleason. (b/w) This valentine to New York
City begins and ends in Penn Station. When it opens, we see soldier-on-leave Robert Walker
ambling through the Main Waiting Room and up the steps to the arcade in time to catch up
with Judy Garland, who has ridden the escalator. Although the station's interior is
glorious in this film, it is a reproduction, shot on a Hollywood set. Catch the
escalator's lack of steps as people get off. |
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on VHS |
THE PALM BEACH STORY - (1942) D: Preston Sturges.
Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Rudy Vallee, Mary Astor. (b/w) There is a quick shot of
Penn Station's Seventh Avenue entrance in this sophisticated comedy as Claudette Colbert
pulls up in a cab. Then we're inside the Concourse with Joel McCrea pursuing her to a
train gate. We spend some time in here, but as with The Clock, this train shed is a
mock. Although this is an excellent replica of the famous train shed, it is full of
inconsistencies. Note the metal paneling at the top of the steps backdropping McCrea. It
never existed in the real station. Also, note the clock that Colbert looks at. The ones in
Penn Station were suspended beneath the steel and glass arches, not hung on a wall. |
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on VHS |
AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER - (1957) D: Leo McCarey.
Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Richard Denning. (color) If you've seen the movie, you remember
the pivotal scene when Deborah Kerr exists a taxi on 34th Street for her star-crossed
meeting with Grant at the top of the Empire State Building. Watch the film again and you
will see that Kerr gets out of the taxi near Pennsylvania Station, two long city blocks
away from her destination. This cinematic indulgence gives us a rare color viewing of the
station's Seventh Avenue facade. |
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on VHS |
THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH - (1955) D: Billy Wilder.
Marilyn Monroe, Tom Ewell, Evelyn Keyes. (color) Keyes gets her second chance to appear in
Penn Station, this time as the wife of book editor Ewell, who is seeing her and their son
off as they enter the Concourse to board a train for a Maine vacation. A rare glimpse of
the Concourse in color. Notice McKim's handsome black iron pillars defaced by a metallic
grey paint. This film was shot during the station's last days, before it succumbed to the
wrecker's ball. |
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SPELLBOUND - (1945) D: Alfred Hitchcock. Ingrid
Bergman, Gregory Peck, Leo G. Carroll. (b/w) Another suspense thriller draws Hitchcock to
Pennsylvania Station. This time Ingrid Bergman and her patient, Gregory Peck, are escaping
from the police. When they arrive at Penn Station, we see a long shot of the Concourse,
and then we meet Bergman and Peck in the Main Waiting Room, where they are standing in
line to purchase a ticket. The Concourse shot is authentic, but the scene in the Main
Waiting Room is back lot Hollywood. |
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Killer's Kiss on VHS Order
Killer's Kiss on DVD |
KILLER'S KISS - (1955) D: Stanley Kubrick. Frank
Silvera -- Look for Penn Station's concourse at the beginning and end of Stanley Kubrick's
1955 noir thriller. Actually, the shots are long enough for the eye to linger a
while and take in Charles McKim's dramatic steel and glass train shed. You
will also get a sense of the city of the Fifties, a treat in itself.
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on VHS |
DEAR HEART-(1964) with Glenn Ford and Geraldine Page
ends with a romantic clinch on the concourse. You can see several missing,
broken and covered over window panes high above them.
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on VHS |
YOU'RE A BIG BOY NOW - (1966) D: Francis Ford
Coppola. Elizabeth Hartman. It has Peter Kastner roller skating down 7th
avenue, right past the partially demolished 7th Ave. facade. You can see
the Madison Square tower rising in the back. |
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