Saints of the Bowery: a screenplay

Immigrants of diverse cultures from around the world, desperate to escape persecution and hard times, are drawn to the golden city of opportunity, New York City, 1907. They arrive only to find a new kind of nightmarish terror awaiting them in the infamous Bowery. The few demeaning and arduous jobs they can find pay a slave’s wage. The streets are dirty and dangerous. Their families are starving. The prettiest of the young women are courted by con men to perform illicit acts. Gangs of adolescent boys roam the streets, ready to beat, maim or kill. Deadly drugs and poison-spiked alcohol are rampant. Prostitutes openly commit suicide as a form of entertainment at saloons, such as McGurk’s Suicide Hall. Life, for them, appears hopeless, with no real future.Matters are truly desperate, until a dynamic missionary couple from England, the Reverend William Stonehill, and his wife, Emilie, arrive on the scene, and everything in the neighborhood is turned upside down. Using unorthodox means, and with a genuine selfless love for their fellow man, they battle in their own unique way to transform the lives of the destitute immigrants. They are challenged by the saloon culture bosses, when they disrupt the flow of business and steal away their best clients and prostitute prospects. But for the Stonehills, success is seemingly short lived, when their verve and tenacity takes them on a path that will cost them dearly. The future of the very heart and soul of the Bowery is now at stake.Tensions rise to a head when they form an unexpected alliance with Big Mame, a local brothel madam, and her prostitutes. Their brave mission now becomes froth with life threatening dangers, as they work together to take down the destructive, decadent saloon culture, and the powerful, corrupt authorities that protect them. Read more