City Hall

City Hall (1996)

Timing: 1:51 (111 min)

5.912/10
272

6.453/10
2539

6.2/10
24000

All about film

Video 3

Photo 17

Actors and characters

Release date

1996-02-16

Country

United States

Production

Columbia Pictures, Castle Rock Entertainment

Genre

Drama, Thriller

Budget

$40 000 000

Revenue

$20 340 204

Website

Director

Harold Becker

Actors

Al Pacino, John Cusack, Bridget Fonda, Danny Aiello, Martin Landau, David Paymer, Anthony Franciosa, Lindsay Duncan, Luna Lauren Vélez, Richard Schiff
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Paul Schrader, Bo Goldman

Producer

Charles Mulvehill, Edward R. Pressman, Harold Becker, Ken Lipper

Operator

Michael Seresin

Composer

Jerry Goldsmith

Artist

Audition

John S. Lyons

Editing

Robert C. Jones, David Bretherton, Jane Nerlinger Evans
All team (37)

• The film's plot is based on a true story, the political turmoil that took place in New York in the mid-1980s. Edward A. Koch was the city's mayor at the time and played a cameo role as an announcer in the film.
• In preparation for his role, Al Pacino often had long conversations with then-Mayor of New York Rudolph Giuliani (who served as mayor from 1994-2001) and his predecessors Ed Koch (1978-1989) and David Dinkins (1990-1993).
• The scenes at the snowy station were filmed at a temperature of minus 3 degrees Celsius.
• Screenwriter Ken Lipper worked in the city administration under Ed Koch (1924-2014) as Deputy Mayor for Finance and Economic Development.
• The character of Frank Anselmo, played by Danny Aiello, was partly based on Donald R. Manes (1934-1986), a politician from the Democratic Party. He was caught in real estate fraud and attempted suicide by slashing his veins, but was saved. A couple of months later, he nevertheless carried out his intentions, stabbing himself in the heart with a kitchen knife.