Alice in the Cities (1974) on Netflix
Philip Winter cannot finish his article about the United States and tries to fly home from New York. An airline strike strands him with Lisa van Damm and her young daughter Alice.
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- Netflix4.5/5
- IMDb7.8/1015,381 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
Trailer
Plot summary
Philip Winter, a West German writer, has missed his publisher's deadline for an article about the United States. He has traveled widely and taken Polaroid pictures along the way, but has written nothing substantial. At the airport in New York City he tries to book a flight to Munich and learns that a strike by German ground crews has canceled all flights to his country. There he meets Lisa van Damm and her young daughter Alice, who are trying to book a flight too, and he gets the three of them tickets to Amsterdam for the following day. The next morning Lisa goes to help her emotionally fragile ex-boyfriend and leaves Alice with Philip, along with a note asking him to take the girl to Amsterdam, where she says she will meet them.
Cast
- Edda Köchlas Angela - Friend in New York
- Ernest Boehmas Publisher
- Sam Prestias Car Dealer
- Didi Petrikatas Woman at Swimming Park
Show all 20 cast
- Julia Baieras Young Girl on Ferry
- Peter Genéeas Man Looking at Monitor in New York Airport
- Jane Jarvisas Organist at Shea Stadium
- Micky Kleyas Woman Behind Philip and Alice on Plane
- Martin Mülleras Man on Empire State Building Roof
- Joachim von Mengershausenas Man on Amsterdam Tour Boat (uncredited)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Alice in the Cities (1974)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Wim Wenders cancelled Alice in the Cities after a friend showed him Peter Bogdanovich's Paper Moon (1973); he feared the film they were about to shoot "had already been made". Samuel Fuller, learning Wenders had already secured the financing, convinced him the cancellation was a mistake.
- Unable to pay Chuck Berry's clearance fee for footage he had shot of Berry performing "Memphis, Tennessee" in Frankfurt, Wenders instead licensed D.A. Pennebaker's 1969 Toronto Rock and Roll Revival footage from Sweet Toronto (1971), decolorizing it for the black-and-white film.
- The German band Can scored the film in a single session without having seen it: Irmin Schmidt, Michael Karoli and Jaki Liebezeit recorded while Wenders, short on time, told them the film's story and what would work.
- Wenders and cinematographer Robby Müller wanted to shoot in 35 mm with the new Arri BL camera, but it was too hard to find one and budget limits forced them to switch to 16 mm.
- The story of a young girl and a writer thrown together was inspired by Peter Handke, Wenders' long-time collaborator, and his experience of raising a child as a single parent.
