Product Details

• Actors: Jack Lemmon, Anne Bancroft, Gene Saks, Elizabeth Wilson, Florence Stanley
• Directors: Melvin Frank
• Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: March 30, 2004
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00013WVLC
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,496 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Mel Edison, a soon-to-be-unemployed advertising executive, is driven to the brink of a nervous breakdown by New York City living. In an attempt to escape from a garbage strike, nosy neighbors and an unreliable air conditioner in the middle of a head wave, Mel and his long-suffering wife Edna visit his brother in the country. Unfortunately, the dark cloud of tribulation seems to follow Mel in this comic nightmare.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LEMMON & BANCROFT ARE IN TOP FORM IN THIS CLASSIC!, August 16, 2008

By	! MR. KNOW IT ALL ;-b "DR SHOCK" (TRI STATE AREA) - See all my reviews

Yet another Simon and Lemmon partnership that still holds up well today! Lemmon and Bancroft are teriffic in this very funny film. In the same vein as 'The Out-Of-Towners, but I think this film is a bit better. This DVD has a nice transfer and some interesting extras.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quintessential Neil Simon comedy, September 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Prisoner of Second Avenue [VHS] (VHS Tape)

My favorite team strikes again in this wonderful adaptation of the stage play, that team being Neil Simon and Jack Lemmon. First there was "The Odd Couple", then "The Out-of-Towners", both classics in my opinion. But "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" may be the finest of the three because it allows its players to flex every bit of acting muscle they've got. Lemmon displays a broad range of emotions--convincingly--and has the viewer alternately laughing and crying as the movie progresses. Anne Bancroft is good as his steady, patient wife Edna, who remains true to Mel as he battles his crises. This is a must see, and unless you purchase the video, you'll probably encounter difficulty finding it at the local video store.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another underrated classic. , August 17, 2004

By	D. R Hayes "D.R. Hayes" (Clermont, FL. United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is one of my all time favorite movies. It shows the funny side of people only concerned about themselves. You have Jack Lemmon as a recently unemployed adman, and Anne Bancroft as his sympathetic yet let's be practical wife. I feel that this is both thier finest hours in this movie as the chemistry shows that they really enjoyed working with each other. I find Lemmon's character is one who just can't believe that his career is over, and he's nowhere near the age of retirement, and plus he's from the old school where the woman stayed at home while the man goes out, and gets the meat. When Bancroft's character goes to work it causes a breakdown in Lemmon's character as his perfect world continues to crumble making him hostile towards everyone; his family, friends, his wife, the upstairs neighbor(which the arguments between them are simpily hilarious), and Lemmon's own character's desire to get even, and win one for his own glory; so he ends up mugging a man in Central Park (played by Sylvester Stallone)because he thought it was the other way around. Bancroft's character is also becoming unglued by the constant work, and then she's laid off. There's also Lemmon's character's brother who's in love with hearing himself talk about how analytical his thinking is, and don't forget that upstairs neighbor who just wants peace and quiet in his perfect world because he has his own worries to deal with. Filmed in New York City I guess Neil Simon would know what NYC is like from a personal experience which is why this is so funny, and let's not forget the narrator who takes us through the news stories throughout. Should be allowed to come back on the t.v. again, and give America something funny to watch.