Editing Atlantic City (1980 film) (section)

==Production==
[[File:Burt Lancaster filming Atlantic City.jpg|thumb|Burt Lancaster on the set of ''Atlantic City''.  Director Louis Malle on the left.]]
''Atlantic City'' was filmed on location in and around [[Atlantic City]] and South Jersey, Philadelphia, and New York City. Although filmed in the United States, the film was a co-production between companies based in France and Canada.

=== Development and writing ===
The production companies allotted Louis Malle the money to make a film with the stipulation that it be made before the year 1979 ended. Malle had a difficult time finding the right script to direct and with time running out his then girlfriend Susan Sarandon suggested using a story written by her friend [[John Guare]], a playwright most notable for his plays ''[[House of Blue Leaves]]'' and ''[[Six Degrees of Separation (play)|Six Degrees of Separation]]''. Guare suggested that the story take place in Atlantic City, which was still for the most part suffering from the urban deterioration that prompted the legalization of gambling as a solution to save the city. The three met over dinner in early 1979 to work out quirks in the script and began shooting within a few months.

=== Casting ===
Aside from [[Burt Lancaster]], [[Susan Sarandon]], and local extras, most of the cast originated from Canada or France. The film allowed Canadian actors such as [[Al Waxman]] to successfully transition into American film and television roles.

=== Filming ===
Principal photography commenced on October 31, 1979, and was largely finished by December 30 (although a few exterior and location shots were filmed until January 5, 1980). Malle filmed at an opportune time in that he was able to capture old Atlantic City: gambling was still in its early stages there, with only two casino hotels open ([[Resorts Atlantic City|Resorts]] and [[Caesars Atlantic City|Caesars]]; Bally's Park Place opened on December 30 toward the end of the principal photography). Most of the city's old resorts and entertainment piers were still standing, albeit in a severe state of disrepair. Within a couple of years of the filming, most of these old hotels would fall victim to the wrecking ball as they were replaced with new casinos. To frame the picture, Malle foreshadows the great transition of the famous resort town in the opening credits by featuring footage of the implosion of the once-grand and historic [[Traymore Hotel]] on the Atlantic City Boardwalk.

The opening shot of the old Traymore Hotel being demolished is shown to convey the notion that the city's old hotels were being demolished to make way for the new casinos. However, the Traymore was in fact demolished in 1972,<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/22/nyregion/atlantic-city-the-town-that-smiled.html | work=The New York Times | first=Bill | last=Kent | title=ATLANTIC CITY; The Town That Smiled | date=July 22, 1995}}</ref> years before the gambling referendum passed in New Jersey. The referendum passed in 1976 and the first hotel to open up was Resorts, formerly the Chalfonte-Haddon Hall, in 1978.

When Dave and Chrissie are seen hitchhiking into Atlantic City from Philadelphia, they pass a large model elephant on their way into town. The elephant, named [[Lucy the Elephant|Lucy]], was a tourist attraction built in 1881 to lure potential land buyers to South Atlantic City (now called [[Margate City, New Jersey|Margate]]), a small town south of Atlantic City. The model elephant had been left to deteriorate over the years; on the brink of its demolition in 1971, the residents of Margate had raised the money to have it restored. Today, Lucy still stands in Margate and is on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].

The club where Dave and Lou meet was [[Club Harlem]], which opened in 1935 on Kentucky Avenue, and became the premier nightclub for black tourists visiting Atlantic City. The club opened and closed frequently from 1968 on and eventually closed forever at the end of the eighties. It was torn down in 1992.

Scenes also were shot in the [[Knife and Fork Inn]] and [[White House Sub Shop]], both landmarks in Atlantic City.

=== Music ===
Louis Malle hired composer [[Michel Legrand]] to write a score for the film, which he did. In the end, however, Malle decided against using a score for the film, and opted for all the music in the film to be [[diegetic music|diegetic]]: the only music used is that which exists in the world of the characters (i.e. radios, musical instruments, etc.).  The music that Susan Sarandon's character plays from her tape player is the aria "Casta Diva" from [[Vincenzo Bellini]]'s opera ''[[Norma (opera)|Norma]]''. Featured in the beginning of the film, when Dave and Chrissie enter Resorts, and during the credits is the song ''[[On the Boardwalk (In Atlantic City)]]''.