Broadway Danny Rose
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Movie Reviews of Broadway Danny Rose
Movie Review: Modest But Ingratiating Allen Effort Features an Effectively Blowsy Farrow
Summary: 4 Stars
Mia Farrow is the big surprise in this minor-league Woody Allen comedy from 1984. Before he started deifying ("Hannah and Her Sisters") and then skewering ("Husbands and Wives") her image as the consummate caretaker, he cast her against type as Tina Vitale, a brassy Mafioso widow in this frequently funny paean to Allen's days on the Borscht Belt in the 1950's. She is the mistress of a loutish Vegas-type performer named Lou Canova, who is represented by his woefully unsuccessful agent, Danny Rose. Danny gets Lou a big break, a high profile gig at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel at which Milton Berle is to attend, and Lou insists that Danny take Tina to the show. Complications ensue as when Tina's mob connections think she and Danny are a couple, and much of the brief 84-minute movie is about the chase - which is frequently hilarious.
My favorite scene is when Tina and Danny are trapped by a thug in a huge warehouse where Macy's stores their Thanksgiving Day floats and their voices break into a helium pitch when the bullets hit the air tanks. As Tina, Farrow submerges herself so completely in the role that in hindsight, it seems a shame she didn't push for a greater variety in her film roles. For once, Allen plays a completely sympathetic character, a nice guy caught up in ludicrous circumstances that are truly not of his own doing. I am not sure who Nick Apollo Forte is, but he is completely convincing as Lou especially when he's onstage singing like Tony Bennett and acting like Vegas mainstay Danny Gans.
As a framing device for the story, Allen assembled several famous comics at the Carnegie Deli to talk about Danny's story. Led by Sandy Baron, who later played Jerry's father's adversary on "Seinfeld", they are the ones who usually played the Catskills hotel showrooms and showed up on the Ed Sullivan Show in the 1960's. Speaking of which, I assume the story takes place sometime in the 1970's, but I'm not sure since Allen really does nothing to the set designs to make it feel like a period piece. Allen also jettisons his standard jazz score for the Italianate lounge music that Lou sings. The ending is surprisingly poignant given the shenanigans that precede it. Within his filmography, this is definitely one of his more modest efforts, but along with "Sleeper", "The Purple Rose of Cairo" and "Manhattan Murder Mystery", it's also one of his most ingratiating comedies. Other than the film's trailer, there are no extras with the DVD package.
Movie Review: "I need a valium the size of a hockey puck. "
Summary: 4 Stars
Broadway Danny Rose (1984) -written/directed by Woody Allen who played the titular character, the small time show-biz agent with the clients like "blind xylophonists, piano-playing birds, and has-been crooners with drinking problems." Danny may not be successful but the famous comics having a good time in the legendary Carnegie Deli, Manhattan, NY tell the stories about him. "Broadway Danny Rose" may be considered as a minor Allen's work but it is equally charming and amusing dramedy that pays specific homage to Damon Runyon who is famous for portrayal New York City's colorful lowlifes of the 1920s and '30s when "respectability and the demi-monde rub shoulders".
Danny's problem is that as soon as one of his clients makes it to the top, they would drop him in favor of a big-name agent. Danny stuck with a drinking, self-centered Italian crooner Lou who is attempting (and just about to make it) a comeback, and Danny, being a loyal and protective agent, unwittingly gets involved with the singer's girlfriend Tina whose family has a long memory and strong resemblance to Soprano family. No wonder poor Danny needs "a valium the size of a hockey puck". Mia Farrow is almost unrecognizable as a tough and vulgar (but not a dumb) blonde. Her philosophy is her way of life "It's over quick, so have a good time. You see what you want, go for it. Don't pay attention to anyone else. And do it to the other guy first 'cause if you don't he'll do it to you." She obviously acts on her words but in the end of the movie she realizes that the things which count most in life are "acceptance, forgiveness, love" which is Danny's philosophy. Mia Farrow was cast against the type and it worked brilliantly in the funny but touchingly nostalgic movie. "Broadway Danny Rose" is a sparkling gem from the writer/director/star, one and only Woody Allen. I never expect anything else from him.
4.5/5
Movie Review: "You Can't Ride Two Horses With One Behind"
Summary: 4 Stars
I love the opening sequence of this movie, you know the scene of the big party somewhere in New Jersey with the cast of future Soprano rejects. Danny Rose pulls up in his vintage Plymouth Volare, looking like he fits right in. Yea Right! He fits in like I fit in with the Bolshi Ballet. OK, so the second half dosn't quite hold up in the laughs department with the beginning. But overall you've gotta love it. Danny desperately trying to propell his cheap lounge act Lou Canova/Nick Appollo Forte into the big time. All the while Danny plays the beard to Lou's mistress, Tina, played to perfection by Mia Farrow. As Danny tries to smooth things over between Lou and Tina, the boys from Jersey want to sit Danny down and fit him for cement shoes. They think Danny has cursed Tina, with the "malaoccio", the evil eye. For this, their vendetta knows no bounds!
Now here's where it gets real with me. About two years after the movie came out. My wife and I decide to spend a romantic weekend in the Poconos...Where do we end up? Of course, Mt. Airey Lodge. And who do you suppose is the big act in the lounge. NO....You can't be serious....Come on.....I don't believe it. Yep...Nick Appollo Forte. Let me tell you. Nick didn't need any direction for his part in Broadway Danny Rose. He is exactly the same character you see up on the screen. And when I told him how much I enjoyed his performance, he introduced me to his wife as one of his biggest fans. It was priceless.
So wheather you're munching on a pastrami on rye at the Carnagie Deli or you're catching Nick's act in the lounge at Mt. Airey Lodge, it dosn't get any more real than Broadway Danny Rose. "Allow me to interject a few words here about my Aunt Sadie...Not a very good looking woman...She looked like something you'd find in the reptile house at the zoo. She'd say, You can't ride two horses with one behind".
Movie Review: A lovely modern fable
Summary: 4 Stars
A sweet, fun, well-told, Damon Runionesque fable about a well meaning if pathetic theatrical manager who gets caught up with the mob. Perhaps it's not quite as amazing or ground-breaking as Allen's very best films, but there's a touching, gentle, funny humanity that runs through it all.
Mia Farrow gives what is arguably the strongest performance of her career -- she certainly stretches way beyond her usual image-- to play a tough, gum chewing mafia gun mol. It's also interesting to see Woody play a bit more of a 'character' than usual. The film is full of lovely black and white images, though it's not as visually striking as the greatest of the Gordon Wills/Allen collaborations like 'Manhattan'.
If you have any interest in Allen's work (and if you're a film fan it's hard not to), then it's well worth seeing - or re-seeing.
It's also yet another of Allen's films that's 'currently unavailable' -- a very disturbing trend among his films. Hopefully this indicates a series of forthcoming re-releases and perhaps upgrades to blu-ray, but it's been months since even the classic 'Annie Hall' officially went out of print, with no announcement about a replacement. I worry that this could be one of those rights battles or other situations that deprives film fans of some of the greatest cinematic works. So you might consider stocking up on Allen's work while you can!
Movie Review: Rediscover Broadway Danny Rose
Summary: 4 Stars
I originally saw Broadway Danny Rose 20 years ago at a college movie night as a second run release just as it was about to fade into obscurity. I had fond (but dim) memories of this release and have tried to rent it over the years to no avail. I do not know whether it was just bad luck or whether this movie is truly obscure but I have never been able to find it for rent in the video stores.
I finally broke down and purchased the DVD and it was well worth it. Like Zelig, this early 80's flick is high-caliber Woody Allen in a modest package and seems to have gotten lost in the wake of the late 80's Woody Allen resurgence / renaissance of Hannah and Her Sisters, Radio Days, etc.
Broadway Danny Rose is refreshing in that although Mr. Allen portrays a stock "Nebbish" character, he plays off an atypical leading lady in Mia Farrow's Brassy-Blonde Tina Vitale. Also very welcome is the supporting role of the has-been Italian lounge singer Lou Canova (Nick Apollo Forte). Mr. Forte is the too good to be true real deal and one of the most original characters of any of Mr. Allen's films.
This entertaining film at once stands out in the Woody Allen cannon and sits comfortably in it. If you only saw this in the theater like me, do not let another 20 years go by.