Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York
6.2 /10 1 Votes6.2
Genre Comedy Country United States | 6/10 IMDb Duration Language English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Release date 16 May 1975 (USA) Cast (Sheila Levine), (Sam Stoneman), Rebecca Dianna Smith (Kate), Janet Brandt (Bernice), (Manny)Similar movies Birdman , Salt , Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles , X-Men: Days of Future Past , The Night Before , Independence Day Tagline Sheila Levine is every single girl who has had to attend her younger sister's wedding. |
Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York is a 1975 film directed by Sidney J. Furie, about a shy young woman who moves to New York City and falls in love with the boyfriend of her extroverted roommate. The film was co-written by Kenny Solms and Gail Parent, and based on her novel. The film was shot on location in New York City.
Contents

Plot

Painfully shy Sheila Levine relocates from Pennsylvania to New York City against the wishes of her parents who want her to get married. Sheila moves in with Kate, a sexy, extroverted aspiring actress with a busy social life. At Kate's suggestion, Sheila visits a nightclub, where she meets Sam, a bachelor doctor who persuades the naive Sheila to spend the night with him. Sheila has the first good sex of her life with Sam, but when she expresses romantic feelings for him, he lets her know he considers their encounter just a one-night stand, "satisfying an urge". Sheila leaves his apartment upset, saying she never wants to see him again.

Some time later, Sheila and Sam meet again when he arrives at her apartment to take Kate on a blind date. Sheila and Sam find they are still attracted to each other, but when Kate appears, she easily lures Sam's attention away from Sheila. To Sheila's chagrin, Kate and Sam begin a steady relationship. When Sheila's younger sister marries, Sheila moves back to her parents' home in Pennsylvania, planning to stay, but she quickly realizes she no longer fits in there and misses Sam, who by now is living with Kate. Sheila returns to New York City and tries to win Sam back, only to find that Sam and Kate are engaged and that Kate is pregnant. Kate later tells Sheila that Sam is only marrying her because he thinks the baby is his, but it is actually another man's child, and Kate plans to have a secret abortion after she and Sam are married. Sheila remains in New York and concentrates on her new career as a producer of children's records. Sam eventually faces the fact that he loves Sheila, not Kate, and he and Kate break up. Sam proposes to Sheila; the film ends before she gives him her answer.
Critical reception

Vincent Canby of The New York Times did not care for the film, although he liked the novel on which the film was based.

Despite an advertising campaign featuring a poster with the quote "Jeannie Berlin triumphs!" from critic, the film was given a BOMB rating in Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide, panned with the sentence, "Dead is right."
Soundtrack
References
Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York WikipediaSheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York IMDb Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York themoviedb.org