Fanspot
Bramford
– But … such awful things must happen from time to time in all buildings, said Rosemary.
– From time to time, said Hutch. But the problem is that, at the Bramford, these things happen more often than “time to time”. There are also other less spectacular accidents. For example, the number of suicides in these buildings was much higher than in buildings of similar size.
– What’s the reason, Hutch? said Gordon, pretending to be serious and worried.
Ira Levin (Rosemary’s Baby)
The second novel by Ira Levin, a playwright who is also a television writer in his spare time, Rosemary’s Baby was born out of a Broadway flop. “Looking for an idea for a thriller novel, I became interested in the conditions of fetal development. At this point, I could only imagine two possibilities: my unfortunate heroine had to carry either an alien or the Devil inside her. The subject of aliens having already been discussed, I quickly felt that I was stuck with Satan“The author stated in a 2003 New American Library reprint of the novel. Ira Levin also made it clear that he himself did not believe in the existence of the Evil One.
The editor of his first novel, A Kiss Before Dying, suggested a few ideas, but the writer ignored them and went ahead with his story, even thinking of a symbolic date for the conception of Rosemary’s baby. He chose October 4, 1965, the day the Pope came to New York and celebrated a great mass at Yankee Stadium. New York had previously been obvious when it came to setting the story, Ira Levin being a true New Yorker, born in the Bronx.
If Roman Polanski, the director who took the novel and made it into a film, chose the Dakota Building as the setting for the plot, Ira Levin chose one of Manhattan’s little-known treasures, Alwyn Court, a luxurious apartment building destined to be the scene of the Antichrist’s arrival on earth. A judicious choice, as the façade and its sophisticated sculptures, as well as the unique stature of the building, echo the issues developed by Ira Levin in his novel… Although he didn’t win any major awards with this terrifying story about a young woman condemned to give birth to the son of Satan, Ira Levin was a genuine popular success.
He went on to write other bestsellers, three of which were also adapted for the screen, namely The Stepford Wives, Sliver and The Boys from Brazil. The author ended his career with the publication in 1997 of a sequel to Rosemary’s Baby, entitled Son of Rosemary. In this one, Ira Levin imagines the advent of the Devil at the time of the passage to the year 2000.
Rosemary’s Baby has been brought to the screen twice: once in the cinema and once on television.
Alwyn Court
A remarkable work of architecture originally composed of several apartments of fourteen rooms and five bathrooms, of course reserved for the city’s elite, Alwyn Court is a jewel too often ignored.
Built between 1907 and 1909 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979, Alwyn Court was hard to fill during the Great Depression. Hence its closure until 1938, in order to renovate it and remodel the layout of its units. Its façade was restored by Beyer Blinder Belle in 1980 and 1981. The building has an octagonal courtyard with a beautiful architectural facade painted between 1977 and 1982 by the artist Richard Haas.
First published in 1968, Rosemary’s Baby is Ira Levin’s second novel. Built around questions of religious faith, the book was a great success with the public. It was adapted by Roman Polanski with Mia Farrow in the lead role. Ira Levin wrote the sequel, entitled Rosemary’s Son, in 1997.
The Fantrippers Buying Board
Fanspots Stories New York
Discover the secrets of the cult places of the greatest masterpieces of pop culture in New York!
The world capital of pop culture, New York embodies unbridled creative freedom. The city that never sleeps has been the muse of a large number of directors, actors, screenwriters, singers, musicians, cartoonists and writers…
Many have passed on their fascination for the city to the general public and made some of its places famous worldwide, making them into the legend of pop culture. These are the secrets of a hundred of them revealed in this first volume of the Fanspots Stories collection.
Did you know that?
Did you know that the filming of Rage Against The Machine’s Music Now in the Fire caused Wall Street to shut down for the first time since 1929?
Fanspots Stories New York is also
Spider-Man, Ghostbusters, Superman, Leonard Cohen, Led Zeppelin…
Directed by a team of pop culture specialists and embellished with many anecdotes, Fanspots Stories New York tells more than just a story: these are some of the most fascinating stories in pop culture.
Fanspot Stories New York
100 pop cults
a unique and new concept
224 pages of fun
a beautiful large-format book 24 x 30, round back slicefil
Content quality
Interest for fans
Value for money
Discover all the places Rosemary's Baby on our map
By Gilles Rolland
Passionné de cinéma, de rock and roll, de séries TV et de littérature. Rédacteur de presse et auteur des livres Le Heavy Metal au cinéma, Paroles de fans Guns N' Roses, Paroles de fans Rammstein et Welcome to my Jungle : 100 albums rock et autres anecdotes dépareillées. Adore également voyager à la recherche des lieux les plus emblématiques de la pop culture.