American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince
1978 film by Martin Scorsese
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American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince is a 1978 documentary directed by Martin Scorsese.[2] Its subject is Scorsese's friend Steven Prince, known for his small role as Easy Andy, the gun salesman in Taxi Driver. Prince is a raconteur who tells stories about various events in his life.[3]
- Julia Cameron (treatment)
- Mardik Martin (treatment)
- Steven Prince
- Martin Scorsese
- George Memmoli
| American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster (with Italianamerican) | |
| Directed by | Martin Scorsese |
| Written by |
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| Produced by | Bert Lovitt |
| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Michael Chapman |
| Edited by |
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| Distributed by | New Empire Films |
Release date |
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Running time | 55 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $155,000[1] |
The Neil Young song "Time Fades Away" is featured in the film.[4]
A sequel, American Prince, was released in 2009 and was directed by Tommy Pallotta.
Synopsis
Martin Scorsese and a small group of friends gather in a living room in Los Angeles with the charismatic Steven Prince. Over the course of the evening, Scorsese films Prince talking about various events in his life with a mixture of humor and gravitas. Prince recalls stories such as being a former drug addict, a road manager for Neil Diamond, and a traumatic event in which he witnessed a boy die by accidental electrocution. Scorsese intersperses home movies of Prince as a child as he talks about his family.
When talking of his years as a heroin addict, he recalls Neil Diamond offering to help Prince get clean, but he refused. Later, however, Prince goes through recovery and remembers being shocked to learn he had a green ceiling in his home. He never noticed before because his eyelids had always been half-closed as an effect of the heroin.
Prince recalls injecting adrenaline into the heart of a woman who overdosed, with the help of a medical dictionary and a Magic Marker. Years later this story was re-enacted by Quentin Tarantino in his screenplay for Pulp Fiction.[5][6]
Prince also tells a story about his days working at a gas station, and having to shoot a man he caught stealing tires, after the man pulled out a knife and tried to attack him. This story was retold in the Richard Linklater film Waking Life.
Cast
- Steven Prince as Self
- Julia Cameron as Self (uncredited)
- Mardik Martin as Self (uncredited)
- Kathi McGinnis as Self (uncredited)
- George Memmoli as Self (uncredited)
- Martin Scorsese as Self (uncredited)
Production
The film was shot over the course of two weekends.[7]
