![Poster for The Plot Against Harry](https://s3.amazonaws.com/nightjarprod/content/uploads/sites/192/2023/12/21110458/lHPdHMW3zhwCY0vBAQIOLeUNsHs.jpg)
The Plot Against Harry
Director: Michael Roemer Run Time: 81 min. Format: 35mm Film Release Year: 1989
Starring: Ben Lang, Henry Nemo, Jacquelyn Taylor, Martin Priest, Maxine Woods
New 35mm Print!
Deadpan, small-time Kosher Nostra member and ex-con Harry Plotnick (Priest) is just released from prison and trying to regain his lost turf in a neighborhood turned topsy-turvy. After a chance reunion with his ex-wife and grown children, Harry is suddenly immersed in middle-class normality and goes meshugga when he gets into the catering biz with his ex-brother-in-law (Lang). What follows is a world of call girls, bar mitzvahs, lingerie fashion shows, Cuban-Chinese mobsters, subway parties, Mafia barbecues, dog training classes, Congressional hearings, and hotel pajama parties. Shelved by writer/director Roemer in 1969 following a laugh-less preview, THE PLOT AGAINST HARRY emerged two decades later when he overheard a technician performing a video transfer of the film laughing hysterically. On a whim, Roemer made two 35mm prints and sent them to the New York and Toronto Film Festivals (it was a hit with audiences), before releasing theatrically to great acclaim in early 1990 as a bona-fide comedy classic. – Film Forum NYC Brattle Debut!
“A jewel found in the grime of New York City… a Felliniesque comedy of Jewish despair.” – A.S. Hamrah, Screen Slate