On the negative side of the coin few movies can come close to “The Out of Towners”, 1970, directed by Arthur Hill and written by Neil Simon. In this film the park is portrayed as an extension of the inhospitable and menacing city landscape that surrounds it. Sandy Dennis and Jack Lemmon are forced to find refuge in the park after a series of increasingly farcical mishaps leaves them shelter less. While in the park they are mugged, attacked by a dog and then accused of child molesting. The picture we have of the park is a litter strewn no man's land populated by criminals and unfriendly policemen. (It is in fact this unrelenting negativism that ultimately undermines the comedic credibility of the movie. By the end of the movie you're rooting for dog that steals their crackerjacks.) The park itself is shot in a very unfriendly manner, with dark shadows at night and glaring sunlight during the day. There are no panoramic shots, no fountains or bridges, just old fences and scrawny bushes. It is clearly shown to be an unhealthy environment and a hazardous place at best. In fact it is not only an extension of the dangerous city that surrounds it has come to symbolize it. As far as Simon is concerned the park is the coup de gras of the many misfortunes that befall this hapless, humorless, frumpy couple.

In “The Still of the Night”, directed by Robert Benton, Central Park is shot by night, in the vicinity of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Roy Shieder is following Meryl Streep and thinks he sees her enter the park. He is in love with her, but of course suspects her of murder, a dating dilema in Manhattan that occurs with a great deal more frequency than you would like to think. He follows her figure into the park and is promptly mugged himself. The really nice twist to this scene is that after the mugger steals Roy's raincoat he is in turn murdered after being mistaken for Mr. Shieder. (If only life in the big city was always this symmetrical.) In this case the park is seen as both romantic and dangerous, a place of intrigue and allure, although certainly still not one that you would like to visit after dark.

The ultimate portrayal of Central Park as a dark and dangerous place is undoubtedly that of “Where's Papa?”, directed by Carl Reiner. It was released in 1970, the same year as Neil Simon's "Out of Towners", and carries the depiction of Central Park as a battle zone of urban violence to a hysterical degree, although probably not far from the truth in the eyes of most of the rest of America. George Segal lives with his senile mother on the Upper West Side. Ron Liebman lives with his family on the Upper East Side. George Segal calls his brother and to inform him that if he doesn't come over and get Mom, thereby leaving George at home, alone, with his date, he is going to drop her out the window. Obviously Ron Liebman is in a great hurry to get there so he decides, rather illogically, to run directly across instead of taking a cab. This has apparently happened many times before and each time Mr. Liebman has been mugged. This time is no exception. Half way through the park Mr. Liebman's character, Sidney, is accosted my four young men (One of whom is played by a young Garret Morris, pre SNL). They all recognize each other from his previous attacks. This time they decide to reenact a scene from the movie “Naked Prey”. This results in Sidney arriving at George's without a stitch of clothing to much comedic effect. The point is, though, that once again Central Park is depicted as a completely unsafe, alien landscape that is dangerous to all "normal" people - once again a far cry from its original perception or intended use.

A good example of the third characterization of the park, as simply a tree lined extension of the city around it is in “Marathon Man”, 1975, directed by John Schlesinger. In this film Dustin Hoffman plays a somewhat alienated graduate student that is training for the New York Marathon by running around the reservoir in Central Park. While the footage shot in the park is limited it is interesting for two reasons. The shots of Hoffman running show the park to be at the very least a functional landscape, a place that people can use for exercise and recreation. It is also notable for its last scene, which takes place in one of the century old pumping stations that are on either side of the reservoir. In it the evil Nazi Laurence Olivier is brought to justice, he is shot by Hoffman while being made to ingest the fortune in diamonds that he has murdered so ruthlessly to reclaim. Yet another killing in the park, but an interesting statement that it occurs only a few hundred yards from the townhouses of some of the most wealthy people in the world.