'Night of the Juggler': One of the Most NYC Movies Ever Returns to Theaters

I love when a weird movie resurfaces. It’s all well and good to check out Fathom Events when a classic returns to theaters like anniversary screenings of The Sound of Music and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, but it’s the lost features that need attention. Night of the Juggler, directed by Sidney J. Furie and Bob Butler (the latter replacing the former a third of the way into shooting), is one such a feature. The film that was almost impossible to find for the last 45 years, but will now return to theaters in 4K thanks to restoration and distribution from Kino Lorber. An incredibly gritty New York City thriller, Night of the Juggler feels like a time machine to a city that no longer exists but transports us with all of its strange vibes and idiocyncrasies.

The story follows Sean Boyd (James Brolin), a single father and former cop who now works as a truck driver. Sean loves his adolescent daughter Kathy (Abby Bluestone), but his ex-wife wants to move out to their daughter out to the Connecticut suburbs even though she likes living in the city with her dad. Where else do you get to celebrate your birthday with a plateful of hot dogs from a street vendor? Unfortunately, Kathy’s birthday takes a turn when she gets kidnapped off the street by the psychotic Gus (Cliff Gorman), who mistakes her for the daughter of a wealthy real estate mogul. Sean witnesses the kidnapping and goes on a rampage through New York City to try and rescue his daughter only to encounter lackidasical detectives and resentful cops along the way.

A quick point of clarification: I know “Night of the Juggler” is an odd title, and at no point does anyone literally juggle. It refers to Gus’ view of the elites who he feels have stolen his birthright, devaluing the property his parents owned (which leads to quite a few racial slurs on Gus’ part concerning his new neighbors). He refers to the elites’ legal and financial machinations as “juggling,” but now he says he’ll be the one who juggles. Hence the title. I’m glad we got that cleared up.

For a film that’s been out of circulation for over four decades, viewers will immediately clock how Night of the Juggler operates by John Wick logic in that if you harm a beloved innocent (pet, child), then the parent now has full license to do whatever it takes to make things right. Moral nuance and societal contracts go out the window, and we’re all cheering on James Brolin as he becomes an unstoppable object plowing through New York City. Making Sean an ex-cop is a savvy move because he has investigative skills but no accountability to the department. Moreover, the cops are largely useless here when they’re not outright hunting Sean for ratting on them to internal affairs. Watching Dan Hedaya as a cop with a vendetta against Sean, chasing him through the open streets with a shotgun, is cinema at its finest.

Part of the value of a lost film is it’s also a great “Hey, it’s that guy!” experience. The detective working the case (poorly) is played Richard S. Castellano, who audiences will immediately clock as Clemenza from The Godfather. At one point, Sean hops in a cab to chase after Gus, and who’s the cabbie? Mandy Patinkin! This is the good stuff.

Sean’s odyssey through NYC isn’t just a lost city, but specifically, “Fun City.” The term comes from former New York City Mayor John Lindsey, and coincides with the city’s attempt to open up film production through the 1970s. Although Night of the Juggler comes at the end of this era (Fun City marked more by films like Dog Day Afternoon, Little Murders, Across 110th Street, and others), the movie feels quintessentially New York in a way that few other films do. Like its protagonist, the grittiness is unrelenting, and it’s the kind of movie where you can get a great comic scene of Sean trying to get information from a peep show performer, but he has to keep popping quarters into the slot so that he can continue the conversation.

Kino Lorber’s decision to give this movie not only a 4K restortation but also put it back into theaters is a wise choice because Night of the Juggler will play great with a crowd. It’s a movie that demands hooting and hollering from the audience as Sean smashes his way through the city. The initial chase scene between Sean and Gus runs at a breathless 11 minutes, and sets the tone perfectly for the action to come. It provides the sensation of playing with your pals in a junkyard. Yeah, someone’s probably going to need a tetanus shot, but you can’t put a price on those memories.

Not every lost movie deserves to be found, but in our frictionless age, I couldn’t help but adore the tactile nature of Night of the Juggler. I certainly wouldn’t want to live in that NYC, but it’s an enjoyable place to visit through Furie and Butler’s lens. We have so many movies that say they’ll “transport” us, which means they take place in some fantastical, CGI-filled landscape. But Night of the Juggler is just as transportative if not more so because of how real it all feels despite the outsized plotting. Kino Lorber knows that we can find joy in the grime of an NYC that no longer exists, and it’s well worth taking a trip to Fun City.

Night of the Juggler will play at the Plaza Theater on Thursday, August 21st at 9pm ET as part of Plazadrome, an ongoing screening series hosted by local video rental store Videodrome. Click here to get your tickets, and click here to see where the film is playing in your area.