Okay, it's over two years since I posted here and have still not found the name of this movie and it's driving me nuts.
I watched it twice on VHS, once before '93 and it wasn't so old then, then found it on VHS later and watched - i.e. I know it exists and I am positive of the time period.
It's an American made movie either released on VHS or maybe had a run, not sure. I have looked through over 1,500 comedy titles of the 80's and early 90's and also tried actors I think i remember in the movie with no luck.
It might have been sepia toned or in black and white but I remember 'sepia', and was the narrated story from one character's POV about the rise of newly arrived immigrants in Irish street gangs in either New York or a large city like Boston. I believe it had to be a mid to late 80's film and want to say it had some Brat Pack actor in it but I've looked at their film bios and cannot find this movie, but I know there were recognizable actors from that time period. This might have been some kooky film they did for fun, it had to have had a decent budget with the street scenes in it. Street scenes had horses, vegetable carts, turn of the century tenement housing, trucks like from the early 20's - 30's and lots of extras for crowds.
The story was narrated by this one main character about the lives of all the poor immigrant people in his neighborhood, was both 'historical', drama and hilariously funny. I think the narrator might have started out as a kid hanging out with older gang members and then himself getting involved more intensely and how that played out among his friends as they grew up. It had a kind of tongue in cheek flavor to it and I want to say there were old timey 'scene changes' using screens with old fashioned script like they used in silent movies.
It was definitely a funny movie and the one scene am positive I remember is of one of these 'known' actors of the 80's walking up the tenement stairs with his dirty clothes to the simple room of an old Irish washerwoman, and there's the voice over narration of who she was etc, and in the scene she flirts with the young man and saucily says "I go both ways ya know" in an Irish accent.
I thought it might have a title like Sidewalks of New York, or 'Once upon a Time ___....' 'East Side____...' but that could be contextual memory to the Eastern US location.
it is absolutely driving me crazy as I know it exists, it's not from the stone age, but appears to have vanished from the movie collective. Very odd!
If anyone knows anything, omg, you have no idea how much it would be appreciated!!!