Broadway Danny Rose

I have never been able to relate to many of Woody Allen's films, although I would say that nearly all of them are quite well concieved and executed. Broadway Danny Rose is something quite unique, I mean that the script is simply beyond belief. How someone could concieve of all those lines is truly remarkable. It is one of the most quoteable films I have ever seen. The lines which are memorable are tinged with this incredible satiric and ironic sense of humor. The scenes are at once super realistic and very funny. Woody Allens way of making fun of people is at its best here. The opening scene where Lou Canova is at the lounge singing "I Like The Look Of You...", wow, the cast of characters assembled, how could anyone have found these people. I guess alot of credit is due to the person who cast the film. If you look at the credits you see that most of the faces which appear were appearing in their only film. This is the basis of the movie's genius. Then there are lines like: "I'll open with Volare and You Make Me Feel So Young... or "I don't know whether to go with Boulevard of Broken Dreams or Three Coins in a Fountain as an encore... or "Lou's probably drinking out of a promotional sized whiskey bottle by now.. or "If anything happens to that car I'll be furious... or "He made juice for the mob?... or "Allow me to interject one point at this juncture... or "Weinstein's majestic bungalow colony is a classy joint, I need a classy act, how about Sonny Chase, he's fast, he's funny... or "Pee Wee has been eaten by a feline, that comes under the act of God clause... or "If you take my advice, you'll probably be one of the great balloon folding acts of all time. I really wish I could find this for sale. It's a film which can be watched repeatedly without risk of boredom or redundancy. A great film around Thanksgiving time. Joe Franklin, Howard Cosell, Milton Berle. New York City circa 1972. The Waldorf. The 70's garb. New Jersey Italians by the dozen. Angelina the fortune teller and her little dog and assistant. "And yet he cares for you... Don't go to him, take care of old buisness... Time out... "Lou, the directions were good, it was a Gulf station... "A cheap blonde, Lou... I could keep spouting fragments of the script for an hour and I don't mean to be didactic or facetious.

I watched this film last weekend after having the DVD on my shelf for almost a year, not realizing what an amazingly beautiful film I have in my collection. I do not have any further insight to offer towards this movie than what some reviewers here have already put so well. But if you haven't seen this touching and funny little gem from the master Allen then do watch it. The Thanksgiving dinner finale that's mentioned in so many posts here makes you believe in the magic of cinema. One cannot help but be moved to tears just seeing that expression on Woody's face and the hope and dreams of all the "artists" present at the frozen-turkey dinner. The diners at the restaurant sums it up the best as Danny Rose being a true legend on Broadway.

It's movies like these that come along once in a blue moon that make the wait and the heap of junk one is so often subjected to, worth it.

If there's one thing that almost all of Woody Allen's comedies have in common, it's charm. Few have more of it than Broadway Danny Rose. Not Allen's best, not his funniest, but this warm and sentimental film grabs the viewer immediately and never lets up.

This is accomplished, initially, by the extremely naturalistic dialogue between the comics whose reminiscences form the bulk of the film. Notice how they all talk at once, they cut each other off, and they trample all over each other's lines. We really feel like we're listening in on a diner conversation, rather than watching a theatrical performance of a diner conversation. This gives the film an initial boost of accessibility.

This "charm factor" is cemented once we meet Danny Rose. Now, many people criticize Allen as an actor, claiming that he only ever plays one character... himself. This is absolute rubbish, and "Broadway Danny Rose" proves it. I have never seen Allen play a character so kind, warm, and accepting as Danny Rose. It was quite a pleasant surprise. Danny has to be that good, though, in order for us to accept that Tina is haunted by her betrayal of him.

That denouement, by the way, was really touching. The Thanksgiving scene took a good, funny, enjoyable movie and made it something a little more special. Compare this to the gross-out comedies of today... how many modern comedies can be as funny as "Broadway Danny Rose," and yet still create characters so real and so sympathetic that moments like the Thanksgiving scene can work?

I try not to harp on about how funny Allen's comedies are, because you either like his humor or you don't. If you like it, you don't need me to tell you it's funny, and if you don't, you won't believe me anyway. So why bother? I don't know, but I will say that this film had a good six or eight laugh out loud moments, at least, and it kept me smiling throughout.

Also, after a good debut in "A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy" and a reduced, subdued role in "Zelig", this is the film where Mia Farrow really comes into her own as Allen's leading lady. For the first time, I don't miss Diana Keaton.

This is a chamber piece, shot during Allen's black and white period. The first time I saw it, in a cinema, I found it disappointing, somehow uncinematic. I saw it a second time, on television and it seemed much more comfortable in that medium.The third time I saw it, some twelve years later, it seemed like a little gem.

A squeaky voiced Mia Farrow disguised in a curly blonde wig and dark glasses foreshadows Mira Sorvino's performance in Mighty Aphrodite. The rest of the cast are unknown, some of the actors being real-life Jewish comedians and speciality acts. It is interesting to reflect on the interchangeability of Jewish and Italian behaviour in the film, the exaggerated emotions and the theatrical gestures. This is something that is apparent in other films such as Dirty Dancing or Moonstruck, which would have worked equally well as Jewish films or Italian films.

Allen gives one of his best performances as the hapless Danny, promoting a portfolio of one-legged tap-dancers, one-armed jugglers, balloon folders, parrot acts and glass harmonica players. He achieves a pathos which is lacking in his more autobiographical roles. The reconciliation scene at the end is reminiscent of Chaplin in City Lights.

"Broadway Danny Rose," other than featuring Woody Allen as a neurotic character attached to the entertainment industry in some fashion, has a much wider appeal than much of Allen's other work. Instead of targeting the upper-middle class with societal rants and characters more concerned with their personal and social lives than anything else, "Danny Rose" is for the working-class folk, a story that aims to humble the Hollywood or Broadway ego that believes that you have to be self-serving to be in show business.

The story of the film is told by a bunch of entertainers at the Carnegie Deli in Manhattan, reminiscing about Rose (Allen), an agent for the most obscure acts in New York back in the '50s and '60s. One of them claims to have the best Danny Rose story and his telling serves as narration to the film.

The story revolves around Rose and his biggest talent, Lou Canova (Nick Apollo Forte), an old-fashioned Italian crooner doing covers of Sinatra and all kinds of classic tunes from what back then was considered a "bygone era," but Lou is having a resurgence. Problem is he's an alcoholic and a womanizer. He insists on having the woman he's having an affair with attend his big performance at the Waldorf (that could get him a national gig). Other problem is, this Tina (Mia Farrow) was told Lou was cheating on her, so now she's run off to her Italian mob family and through strange circumstances, the mob wants to knock Danny off.

There are elements of classic comedy here, which is why the black and white works for "Danny Rose." At the same time, it's a nostalgic film (the early '80s was full of that for Allen) and an intimate one.

Without spoiling too much, the key to "Danny Rose" relies in the conflict between self- interest and dependency on others. In a way, it's Allen's way of saying thank you or perhaps apologizing to those that have been part of his personal journey.

No one does it alone, especially not Danny Rose, a character whose living is dependent on the talents and aspirations of others and who lives solely by the advice he remembers from deceased relatives. Then there's Lou, who can't perform unless Tina is there but loves his wife dearly, and then Tina, who can't make any major decision without consulting a psychic elderly woman.

"Danny Rose" has some memorable Woody Allen quotes and classically comical situations such as he and Farrow's Tina "wriggling" their way out of some ropes tying them together as a former escape artist client of Danny's used to say, or when they're chased into the Macy's Day Parade balloon warehouse.

The film is simplistic but truthful and it's nice to see Allen make a point that's so universal instead of one about affluent people solving their life crises.