Abbé Franz Liszt Talking on a 5th Avenue Payphone as Cosima Wagner Looks On. Summer, 2016.
Not impressed by Dall-E's attempts at American-style payphones. Or Franz Liszt. Or Cosima Wagner. Or Warren Beatty.
![[VIDEO] Checking in from Yet Another “Last Payphone of New York City”](https://www.payphone-project.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/vlcsnap-2022-06-22-18h10m53s635-250x180.png)
[VIDEO] Checking in from Yet Another “Last Payphone of New York City”
I have more triggers than I thought. Others to come?
PRAY-Spotting in the Movies.
Thanks to Diggy64 in the comments section of 2020’s article “PRAYphones Gone From Midtown Manhattan” we now know that work of the immortal scratchiti artist PRAY made an appearance in 1984’s Brother From Another Planet and other films as well. Here is PRAY’s appearance from that film, at about 44:38. Look for more discussion of…
VIDEO: What Happens When Trying to Make a Call Through CityBridge’s Last “Official” Street Payphones?
I brought out my boss field recorder to get all the audio of what happens when one tries to make phone calls through CityBridge’s West End Avenue phone booths. I’ve done this before but only with partial audio recorded through my camera’s mic. This time I brought a field recorder and a Radio Shack suction-cup thingy used to record phone calls.
Red Scarf on a Warm Day
A woman wearing a red scarf on a warm day made this seem like something more than just another photo of someone using a payphone. Did she know I was taking her picture?
Working Payphone in Darien, Georgia. Photos by Daniel Hopsicker.
This working payphone stands outside the Darien Telephone Company building in Darien, Georgia. Shot on film last month this enclosure has a dome-covered light fixture resembling the prop payphone used in “Little Miss Sunshine.” No word on whether the light worked on this old enclosure in Darien. Photos are by Daniel Hopsicker, a regular contributor…
Garry Winogrand Talking on the Payphone
This photo of Gerry Winogrand, using a Midtown Manhattan phone booth in 1967, reminds me that while I have no real nostalgia for phone booths I do miss the calming, thought-slowing act of dialing a number on a rotary dial telephone.
Phone Booth Scene From “Witness” (1985)
A website visitor directed me to this phone booth scene from the 1985 film Witness, starring Harrison Ford. Ford is seen using a payphone in a phone booth at WL Zimmerman’s store (now Lestz Wholesale) in Lancaster County, PA. https://youtu.be/kiKTfMoNAOs What makes this scene different from most is that the phone booth was not a…
Some Phone Booths in Movies
A random but interesting collection of phone booth scenes from some movies I've watched either recently or not-so-recently. "One Night in Miami", "Stranger Than Fiction", "Absence of Malice", and "Three Days of the Condor" all include payphone and phone booth scenes of varying levels of interest. I mostly look for the payphone goofs, though, like Redford dialing 911 and connecting to a CIA call center.
Video: Some Midtown Payphones Revisited. May 6, 2021.
Looks like most of the payphones formerly found on the side streets of Fifth Avenue from Rockefeller Center down to 42nd Street are gone. I found a few stragglers but don't expect them to last much longer. Also visited a couple of Third Avenue phones.
Payphone Scene From “Little Miss Sunshine” (2006)
How do you make a long distance call from a payphone dialing only 5 numbers and depositing only one coin? Only Hollywood knows. And also, a real-world payphone seen in a Macualey Culkin film, and a small mystery involving a car wash in "Breaking Bad".
First American Telecommunications Corp. Payphone. August, 2012.
This phone, seen in Elmhurst in August, 2012, is long gone, but the company that owned it still appears to be hanging on, just not in New York. Assuming their bleeding-edge-design website remains relevant it looks like First American Telecommunications now conducts all its payphone business in South Florida, with display advertising its main source…
Queensbridge Payphones Represent in a Video Short From @PiffJones
Nice to see the Queensbridge payphones, among last working public telephones in Western Queens, get some screentime in this short video from @PiifJones. Look for them. The phones, that is.
Payphone of Yore at Meadow of Dan, North Carolina. Photos by Daniel Hopsicker.
Blue Porcelain Enamel and a dome top made this model unique and I love the triangular shaped sides that wing out. The pictures I took with my 1949 CiroFlex 120 dual lens reflex camera, on Kodak Ektachrome VS film.
Phone Booth Scene From “The Rose” (1979)
What a great film. I did not see the phone booth scene coming but guess I should have.
Dude Talking on a Midtown Payphone
In the last frame I think he is looking at me…
A Payphone Gem From Getty Images
A brief window into New York's payphone past in a 1-minute piece about a 30-second payphone at Penn Station. At least one remnant of the 30-second payphone survives today, not working, of course, and not at Penn Station.
West Virginia Payphone Photos By Daniel Hopsicker
Some West Virginia payphone photos shot on black and white film, including a nice old wood phone booth at the Mountaineer Hotel in Williamson.
Payphone Scene From “American Psycho”
I thought I caught a payphone goof in this short scene from the movie “American Psycho”, filmed in 1999. I noticed that the actor dials a number but it’s only 7 digits. I thought mandatory ten-digit dialing had been around a lot longer than it has. Turns out it was not made mandatory in the…
Payphone Scenes from “Airport” (1970)
A couple of scenes from the 1970 film "Airport", showing how many phone booths there used to be at the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport, where much of this movie was filmed.
Payphone Scene from “Blue Thunder”
In this brief payphone scene Frank Murphy, played by Roy Scheider, remotely accesses his answering machine messages in a way that was once mundane but today might look foreign to many.
That’s No Prop. I Remember That Payphone From “Party Monster” (2003)
I think this is the first time I've seen a payphone in a movie or on television that I recognized and had actually used. Vestiges of this payphone still remain on Broadway near Crescent Street in Astoria, Queens.
Payphone Scenes From “Scarface” (Strong Language)
New York City payphones make a couple of appearances in this violent, obscenity-filled movie.
Payphone Scene from “Before We Go” (2014)
An interesting scene which must be among the most recently-released films showing payphones as real-world present day objects. And also, a payphone movie fail near the end of the film, when a "New York Telephone" branded phone appears in a way that would not have happened in 2013, when the film was made.
Something Strange at the Old 718-729-9331
Why would a public pay telephone connect to a recorded message saying my call could not be completed because I don't have enough account credits?
Payphone Scene from “Fools Rush In” (1997)
Salma Hayek makes a somewhat frenzied payphone call in this 1997 romantic comedy. In this brief scene I might have spotted a little payphone goof I bet no one else has ever noticed.
Impossible Phone Numbers, and a Payphone Scene Excised From “John Wick 2”
Calling 212-142-8538 won't get you anything useful, but why let that spoil the fun of "John Wick 2"?
Phone Booth Scene From “The Bad News Bears Breaking Training”
A very brief appearance of a phone booth in this 1977 film captures a cultural ritual that used to be obnoxiously common: Waiting for the payphone hog to get off the phone.