Review of American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince (1978) by Paul Z — 28 Feb 2009

Maybe Scorsese's least-known picture, an hour-long interview with Steven Prince, friend of Scorsese's, ex-road manager to Neil Diamond, ex-heroin addict. Most famously he appeared as the gun salesman in Taxi Driver.

The movie provides a curious companion piece with Italianamerican; together they tell us a lot about Scorsese's world and influences. Scorsese gets moments of sadness and introspection from him, but mostly the stories he tells are enough.

One of his stories is about a girl he had to restart after she ODed by stabbing a needle of adrenaline into her heart; the story was lifted in its entirety by Tarantino in Pulp Fiction (Prince also appears in Waking Life, telling another story he tells here).

He's a fascinating figure, and I'm glad that another documentary about him, all these years later, is forthcoming. This is up on youtube (it's almost impossible to get - for a reasonable price - anywhere else).

Every Scorsese fan should check it out.