Location: Punks vs. Warriors

[GonzoNYC]

I found another article by Furie turned sportwriter Rob Ryder. It tells a little background as his job as location scout on the movie;


"The Warriors." New York City. Spring of 1978. I'd been bumped up from p.a. (production assistant) to locations scout, and I finally got my own car. No more surly teamsters.

Assignment: Find a bathroom for the subway brawl between the Warriors and the Punks. ASAP.

So I hit every high school, every seedy hotel, every YMCA, hospital, movie theater and public park from the Village to the Bronx and from Queens to Hell's Kitchen. I'd double-park, rush up with Polaroid camera in hand, find the bathroom, hold my breath and step in to check if the layout was right.

(And who said movie work wasn't glamorous?)

Pity the poor bastard just looking for a few moments of peace and quiet in there, reading the sports section. Suddenly there's this lunatic shouting over the stalls.

"Hey, everybody, I work for Paramount. We're making a movie! So just sit tight and keep the doors closed while I take some pictures, all right?"

"Que?"

"Uh ...you know, movie, uh, cinema ... ?"

Until finally, I just started walking in and shooting -- boom boom boom boom boom. Five quick shots, doing the panorama. Then I'd run back out to the car, where I'd tape them together and rush them over to that day's location, looking to catch the director, Walter Hill, at a good moment so I could present my latest discovery.

"Too small," he'd say.

And I'd spin on my heel and head back into the teeming fray.

"Too big."

"Too many windows."

"Not enough windows."

This went on for three grueling days, and I could tell that Walter was taking great delight in my increasing frustration.

Finally, I worked up my nerve and said, "Are you f------ with me?"

Walter laughed.

"Not you. Paramount."

(beat)

"I'm gonna make 'em build me a bathroom."

Ah. So this is how it's done. Paramount was tightening the purse strings and Walter was fighting back (in classic passive-aggressive style). I was just a flunky stuck in the middle.

I called Walter a couple days ago to reminisce. He said, "You know, by them not giving me more money to make that movie, I think it turned out better. There's a simple quality to it that I would've missed with a bigger budget."

[War Chief]

That's really cool. I totally agree with the low budget thing, as it kept things raw and real.

[CleonsChoice]

To add a bit more information, the bathroom set was built at Kaufman-Astoria Studios in Queens. It is just next to the American Museum of the Moving Image, which incidentally recently screened The Warriors as part of a NYC Subway film fest. Kaufman-Astoria has been used on countless film and television productions and has been around since the early part of the century.

[Irishfan]

Thats some good onfo.

[Tantive7]

Great Info..
WARRIORS FOREVER

[The Rogue]

yo that was some aweosme information man were do u get stuff like this

[Lion]

That's really cool. I totally agree with the low budget thing, as it kept things raw and real.

Indeed Warchief.  I love when films keep it real.  If a dirty nasty bathroom is what they were looking for, I am sure they found plenty of those in the subway stations.

[Swan 1979]

Well is what gave the Warriors its gritty street fighting movie not 90 minutes of special effects.

[Hector]

Nice Information. Good Work!!!

[GramercyRiff99]

If a dirty nasty bathroom is what they were looking for, I am sure they found plenty of those in the subway stations.

Well, time for me to use that subway knowledge that I have far too much of.

By 1979, there was actually not a single bathroom in the entire NYC subway system. Every one of them had been closed off or taken out by then, as they were a haven for drug dealers, addicts, and (as in the novel) prostitution. So even if they did want to film the Punks fight in a real subway bathroom, it would have been impossible to do. They didn't start reopening subway bathrooms until the early 1990s.

This has been a GramercyRiff99 Transit Moment.

[adam88]

Good point GR99, sometimes I am surprise that they did re-open them.  I mean even now a days, if I had to go really bad, I would not be caught dead in those things.  In my opinion, it probably still a haven for drug dealers.  And if no one is in there, God knows whats crawling in there.  I shiver when I think of those hell wholes.

[theSleepiLizzie_of_2006]

yep...its true none of those bathrooms are available to the public anymore...now they've might have changed it to a Transit office of some sort...and that was the only scene that was filmed in a Film studio...however it took them about a week to film that shot and many many hours along with it...

[emissary]

That set was perfect.  It enhanced the movie.  You couldn't run away.  You had to level the others then walk out.

[furiesunleahed]

good amount of info nice