Times Square UK Press Kit (post 2 of 4)

30 July, 2016 Sean 0 Comments

The UK press kit contains a photo caption sheet indicating that there should be 11 photos, and indeed there are, but they don’t match up with the captions. This is the main reason I don’t think my copy of the press kit is complete. On the other hand, it means there are a few photos in it that are complete bonuses, since I’ve never come across them elsewhere.

So, here’s Photo #1.

Nicky and Pammy about to enter the subway after escaping from the cop who chased them through the Adonis Theater. Version one of the first photo (best guess) from the UK TIMES SQUARE press kit. The text from the caption sheet: 1. ROBIN JOHNSON (left) and TRINI ALVARADO (right) as Nicky and Pamela, the teenage runaways who team up to roam the seamier streets of New York City.
1. ROBIN JOHNSON (left) and TRINI ALVARADO (right) as Nicky and Pamela, the teenage runaways who team up to roam the seamier streets of New York City.

We can tell it’s #1 because there’s a tiny “1” taped into the print, there at the lower right. But we immediately run into trouble, because although there’s no photo numbered “2”, Nicky and Pammy about to enter the subway after escaping from the cop who chased them through the Adonis Theater. Version two of the first photo from the UK TIMES SQUARE press kit. This version is cropped differently and has slightly lower contrast, and replaces the identification number "1" in the lower right corner with the US-style number TS-22-11 in the lower left.one of the remaining ten photos is this one:

Exactly the same picture! Except, it isn’t. It’s cropped differently: there’s less at the top and left and more on the right. It’s printed a little better, with less harsh contrast. And most importantly, there’s no little “1” taped into it. Instead, at the lower left it has the code number TS-22-11, in the style of the American press kit photos.

 

The caption for Photo 2 is: “2. TRINI ALVARADO and ROBIN JOHNSON join music’s ‘new wave’ as The Sleaze Sisters.” There are two photos that match up with that description, but neither of them have a “2” on them. One has no number at all, and one has US-publicity-style code printed on it. I’ll get to them later; for now, let’s skip to Photos 3 and 4.

 

A shot not appearing in the film, that would have belonged to the sequence where the girls look for Nicky's father. The caption from the UK Press Kit's photo descriptions page: 3. ROBIN JOHNSON (l) and TRINI ALVARADO (r), the two teenage runaways, become familiar figures in New York’s street society.
3. ROBIN JOHNSON (l) and TRINI ALVARADO (r), the two teenage runaways, become familiar figures in New York’s street society.

 

 

 

Photo 3 is another shot from the deleted scene of Nicky and Pammy searching for Nicky’s dad in Times Square. Considering the entire sequence was deleted and replaced by the short scene of the girls on the subway, there sure were a lot of photos taken. I wonder how much of it was actually filmed. Was there any footage taken of Nicky’s dad, and if so, who played him? And did the guy in this photo have a part in the film?

 

 

 

 

Tim Curry as Johnny LaGuardia in the WJAD studio, in the UK press kit photograph numbered 4. The text from the press kit's photo captions page: 4. TIM CURRY stars as an all-night disc jockey, who, perched in his studio high above Times Square follows and encourages the progress of the runaway girls, who thanks to his efforts become minor media celebrities.
4. TIM CURRY stars as an all-night disc jockey, who, perched in his studio high above Times Square follows and encourages the progress of the runaway girls, who thanks to his efforts become minor media celebrities.

 

 

 

 

 

While it doesn’t appear in the US press kit, we’ve seen Photo 4 before. It appeared in The Aquarian way back in April 1980, and then again in the September-October 1980 Mediascene Prevue, both times paired with a shot of the girls singing “Your Daughter Is One” that hasn’t yet turned up anywhere else. Both of those published versions have been cropped from this one.

 

 

Text: TIMES SQUARE, a Robert Stigwood production, stars ROBIN JOHNSON, TRINI ALVARADO and TIM CURRY. Directed by Allan Moyle from a screenplay by Jacob Brackman, based on an original story by Moyle and Leanne Unger about two runaway girls and their adventures on the streets of New York0 Produced by Robert Stigwood and Jacob Brackman, with Kevin McCormick and John Nicolella as executive producers and Bill Oakes as associate producer. TIMES SQUARE has been acquired by EMI for world-wide distribution. 1. ROBIN JOHNSON (left) and TRINI ALVARADO (right) as Nicky and Pamela, the teenage runaways who team up to roam the seamier streets of New York City. 2. TRINI ALVARADO and ROBIN JOHNSON join music's “new wave“ as The Sleaze Sisters. 3. ROBIN JOHNSON (l) and TRINI ALVARADO (r), the two teenage runaways, become familiar figures in New York’s street society. 4. TIM CURRY stars as an all-night disc jockey, who, perched in his studio high above Times Square follows and encourages the progress of the runaway girls, who thanks to his efforts become minor media celebrities. 5. TIM CURRY stars as an all-night disc jockey, who, perched in his studio high above TIMES SQUARE follows and encourages the progress of the runaway girls, who thanks to his efforts become minor media celebrities. 6/7/8. 15-year-old screen newcomer ROBIN JOHNSON stars as Nicky Marotta, a street-wise young runaway who, thanks to a radio DJ's patronage, is able to fulfil her fantasies of becoming a star of the "new wave". 11. TRINI ALVARADO, 12-year-old star of Robert Altman's RICH KIDS, is Pamela Pearl, daughter of a well-to-do New York family who runs away to find a new and exciting life in the city’s streets.

Here’s the full caption sheet. I have no photos numbered 2, 6, 9, or 10. There are no captions for photos numbered 9 or 10. I suppose it’s possible that there never were photos 9 and 10, and as this copy of the press kit went from person to person someone along the line stuck in 3 more photos to bring the total to 11 as the sheet implies. We may never know.

 

I do, however, have a photo numbered “34”. Which raises the question, are there photos numbered 12 to 33 somewhere out there?

 

[Added 18 June 2017: I recently acquired a photo numbered “29”, and in writing a post about it remembered that I have long had a photo numbered “36”. So, that may mean there even more UK publicity stills than I thought yet to turn up.]

 

 

 

TIMES SQUARE UK Press Kit photo 1
TIMES SQUARE UK Press Kit photo 1a TS-22-11
TIMES SQUARE UK Press Kit photo 3
TIMES SQUARE UK Press Kit photo 4
black-and-white prints (photographs), AAT ID: 300128349; 8 in (H) x 10 in (W); 1980 (works);
TIMES SQUARE UK Press Kit photo_1_1080px.jpg
TIMES SQUARE UK Press Kit photo_1a_TS-22-11_1080px.jpg
TIMES SQUARE UK Press Kit photo_3_1080px.jpg
TIMES SQUARE UK Press Kit photo_4_1080px.jpg
1080 px (W), 96 dpi (images);
 
TIMES SQUARE UK Press Kit Caption Sheet, 8.27 in (W) × 11.7 in (H) (work);
1980 TIMES SQUARE UK Press Kit text page – 0042_1080px.jpg, 764 px (W) x 1080 px (H), 96 dpi, 2.227 KB (image)

 

Times Square ©1980 StudioCanal/Canal+

 

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