Between the Lines

Between the Lines (1977)

Fun, Adventure, Romance on $75 a Week

The staff of the Back Bay Mainline, a Boston underground newspaper that rose to prominence in the 1960s, struggles with the shifting social climate of the '70s amid rumors that the paper is about to be sold to a media giant.

Date of release
1977-04-27
TMDB
5.5 / 10 (32)
Runtime
1h 41m
Genres
Comedy, Drama
Director
Joan Micklin Silver

Casting

Interesting facts

Between the Lines is a 1977 American ensemble romantic comedy-drama film from Midwest Films. It was directed by Joan Micklin Silver and produced by her husband Raphael D. Silver. The film was nominated for three awards at the 27th Berlin International Film Festival, winning two of them. For her work as director, Silver was awarded the New Generation Award at the 1977 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards.

Production

Fred Barron, who had written for both The Phoenix and The Real Paper, used his and Harper Barnes' alternative newspaper experiences as the basis for his Between the Lines screenplay. Joan Micklin Silver had herself worked for The Village Voice. Doug Kenney, co-founder of the National Lampoon, has a cameo role.

It was largely filmed on location in Boston for two weeks, with locations including pawn shops, record stores, bars, porn theaters, strip clubs, and derelict apartments. The remainder of filming was done in New York City, though no scenes are set in New York.

The film marked the screen debuts of John Heard, Joe Morton, and Marilu Henner. Robert Costanzo makes a brief appearance as a hired goon, his second film role.

The Real Paper, Boston Phoenix, Los Angeles Free Press, SoHo Weekly News, and the Village Voice are thanked in the end credits.

The success of the film led to an unsold 1980 TV sitcom pilot, with Sandy Helberg, Adam Arkin, Gino Conforti, and Kristoffer Tabori, also titled Between the Lines.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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