Garry Marshall has been a part of our entertainment culture for decades and has his fingerprints on some of the most memorable projects of all time, from The Dick Van Dyke Show and Happy Days to Pretty Woman and Runaway Bride. But according to Marshall, there was something particularly special about directing the film New Year’s Eve. It was on a New Year’s Eve nearly 50 years ago that Marshall proposed to his wife, Barbara. “She was wearing a dress the same color as the dress Halle Berry wears in the movie,” he says. “We were in love, we were dancing, and we said, ‘Well, let’s see how it works out.’ It’s always been her favorite holiday.”
Marshall was born and raised in the Bronx, and the film is in part an ode to New York City, which arguably becomes the center of the world each New Year’s Eve when Times Square fills with close to a million people waiting for the ball to drop. “It was always a big night for me, even as a kid,” he says. “In our family it was all about banging pots and pans and yelling out the window. Then, when I was a little older, I went to Times Square to watch the ball drop, and later, as a musician, I played in some of the clubs there.
“It was terrific to relive those moments making this movie,” Marshall adds. “But that’s what New Year’s Eve does to people; it stirs up memories. It makes you look forward and back at the same time and think, ‘Where will I be this time next year?’”
New Year’s Eve is available starting May 1 on Video On Demand. Check your cable system for availability.
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© 2012 Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.
