Steve Rubell
Studio 54 was the epicenter of 70s hedonism - a place that not only redefined the nightclub, but also came to symbolize an entire era. Its co-owners, Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, two friends from Brooklyn, seemed to come out of nowhere to suddenly preside over a new kind of New York society. Now, 39 years after the velvet rope was first slung across the club's hallowed threshold, a feature documentary tells the real story behind the greatest club of all time.
In 1979 Richard Wenk directed a bizarre short film by the name of Dracula Bites the Big Apple. It begins in sepia and a quote from Hamlet, but quickly moves into colour and disco as the titular Count boards a plane to New York to check out the “pulsating night life”. What follows is a blend of some very obvious gags, a handful of more imaginative ones, over-egged performances and an irresistible musical number revolving around a cover version of King Harvest’s Dancing in the Moonlight. Oh, and the owner of Studio 54, Steve Rubell, pops up in a cameo playing himself. It really is a genuine curiosity, an odd mix of comedy, horror, musical and love letter to New York which Wenk absolutely refuses to take seriously. Dracula Bites the Big Apple enabled Wenk seven years later to create the Grace Jones vehicle Vamp.
