The Panic in Needle Park
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Panic in Needle Park is a 1971 American romantic drama film directed by Jerry Schatzberg and starring Al Pacino and Kitty Winn. The screenplay was written by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, adapted from the 1966 novel by James Mills.
The film portrays life among a group of heroin addicts who hang out in "Needle Park" (then-nickname for Sherman Square on Manhattan's Upper West Side near 72nd Street and Broadway). The film is a love story between Bobby (Pacino), a young addict and small-time hustler, and Helen (Kitty Winn), a restless woman who finds Bobby charismatic. She becomes an addict, and life goes downhill for them both as their addictions worsen, eventually leading to a series of betrayals.
Plot
In New York City, Helen returns to the apartment she shares with her boyfriend, Marco, after enduring an unhygienic and inept abortion. Helen becomes ill and Bobby, an amiable small-time drug dealer to whom Marco owes money, shows unexpected gentleness and concern for Helen. Helen considers returning to her dysfunctional family, but moves in with Bobby, and when she finds him taking drugs, he explains that he is not an addict, but only uses a little.
At Sherman Square, nicknamed Needle Park for the drug addicts who use it as a hangout to get drugs and get high, Bobby introduces Helen to various acquaintances, including his brother Hank, who burgles for a living. Helen witnesses the intricate ritual of addicts shooting up heroin.
Bobby and Helen are eventually evicted from their apartment and move into a sleazier one. After Bobby asks her to score heroin for him, Helen and the dealer, Freddie, are arrested by Detective Hotch. Hotch asks Helen "Bobby's got you scoring for him already, huh?" implying this is a common trend for Bobby and his girlfriends. He then explains to Helen what it's like when there is a panic in Needle Park. A panic is when the heroin supply on the street is low and addicts begin to turn on each other, often "ratting" or turning others in to the police in return for favors. Officer Hotch unexpectedly releases Helen, who returns to Bobby, who begins to use drugs more heavily. Helen eventually begins to shoot up, too.
Bobby soon realizes Helen is using and proposes marriage to her. Hank asks what they will live on and offers Bobby work as a burglar, to which Helen objects and insists that she will get a job. However, Helen quickly quits her new waitress job, after getting customer orders muddled. Just before Bobby is to assist Hank in a burglary, he overdoses. Hank is angry with Bobby for jeopardizing his plans, but he allows Bobby to assist him on another night, during which Bobby is arrested. While he is in jail, Helen finds it harder to get drugs and ends up having sex with Hank, after which they do heroin together. When Bobby is released, he viciously beats Helen.
Bobby persuades Santo, a major drug dealer, to let him handle distribution in Needle Park, while Helen turns to prostitution for fast money. After Bobby distributes Santo's drugs, Needle Park residents are happy to have a reliable source. As Helen's health deteriorates from increasing drug use, her relationship with Bobby suffers, and Hotch keeps an eye on her. After Helen and one of her customers are detained, Hotch asks the arresting officer not to book her, as he needs her for something he is planning.
Helen's mother writes to her, inviting Helen to meet family friends who are visiting the city. Reluctantly, Helen agrees, dressing carefully to hide the track marks on her arms. Instead of meeting the friends, she picks up a customer, who Bobby scares away when he finds them together. Realizing they have been through a lot, they take the ferry to the countryside and buy a puppy. On the return trip, they discuss making a fresh start by moving away from Needle Park, but Bobby refuses and convinces Helen to shoot up in the men's room. When the puppy begins to whine, Bobby puts it outside the restroom, and when Helen discovers the dog missing, she sees it just before it falls off the end of the ferry into the water.
Helen goes to see her ex-boyfriend, Marco, but soon returns to Bobby to steal drugs from him. Needing to get high, Helen goes to a doctor claiming she needs drugs for pain. Aware Helen is an addict, the doctor gives her a few samples and tells her never to return. She is arrested for selling some pills to children, during which Hotch warns her about the dangers of the women's prison. Knowing that Bobby can lead them to Santo, he offers Helen a deal if she will help them to catch Bobby in the act of picking up a drug shipment.
In the next two weeks, Hotch approaches Helen several times, reminding her of her pending trial. Depressed, she increases her drug use, but finally agrees to help the police. One night Helen and Hotch watch a squad of policemen apprehend Bobby, who is in possession of a large amount of heroin. When Bobby spots Helen on the street, he yells at her, and months later, when he is released from jail, Helen waits for him at the gate. Although his first impulse is to rebuff her, he turns to her and asks her "Well?", and together they walk away.
Cast
- Al Pacino as Bobby
- Kitty Winn as Helen Reeves
- Alan Vint as Detective Hotch
- Richard Bright as Hank
- Kiel Martin as Chico
- Michael McClanathan as Sonny
- Warren Finnerty as Sammy
- Marcia Jean Kurtz as Marcie
- Raúl Juliá as Marco
- Angie Ortega as Irene
- Larry Marshall as Mickey
- Paul Mace as Whitey
- Nancy MacKay as Penny
- Gil Rogers as Robins
- Joe Santos as Detective DiBono
- Paul Sorvino as Samuels
- Arnold Williams as Freddy
- Sully Boyar as Doctor
- Ruth Alda as Admitting Nurse
