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Broadway Danny Rose
1984
In this Woody Allen comedy, a group of Borscht Belt comedians gathers at the Carnegie Deli to reminisce and tell anecdotes about showbiz legend Danny Rose (Allen). Danny is a no-luck Broadway talent agent with a heart of gold who shepherds his flock of dead-end performers with a sense of compassion and loyalty that borders on .. Read more
| Starring | Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Milton Berle, Sandy Baron |
|---|---|
| Director | Woody Allen |
| Genres | Comedy |
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Broadway Danny Rose
In this Woody Allen comedy, a group of Borscht Belt comedians gathers at the Carnegie Deli to reminisce and tell anecdotes about showbiz legend Danny Rose (Allen). Danny is a no-luck Broadway talent agent with a heart of gold who shepherds his flock of dead-end performers with a sense of compassion and loyalty that borders on lunacy. The few sad-sack clients of his who managed to garner some modicum of success ended up dropping Rose like a hot potato. Then along comes full-bodied Lou Canova (Nick Apollo Forte), a throwback crooner with golden tonsils. Danny realizes that Lou has the ability to go somewhere, given the current nostalgia craze, and he coddles the big guy hoping that he'll be his ticket out of palookaville. Rose eventually finagles a gig at the Waldorf; with Milton Berle in the audience scouting talent for his new television special, this could be Canova's big night. But Lou's troubled love life throws a shroud over the entire evening. The married singer has a girlfriend (Mia Farrow) with mob connections, and after an argument with Canova she refuses to go to the show. Lou starts drinking again and in the midst of a mawkish emotional tirade threatens to cancel the performance if she doesn't show up. Danny must somehow infiltrate a mob wedding and get the blonde moll to the Waldorf on time; if he fails, his last, best hope for success will go down the drain.
| Starring | Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Milton Berle, Sandy Baron, Jackie Gayle |
|---|---|
| Director | Woody Allen |
| Studio | MGM ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 21 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Comedy |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Dubbed | French, German, Italian, Spanish |
| Hearing-impaired | English |
| Subtitles | DVD: Danish, Dutch, English, French, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish |
| Released | DVD: 11 Feb 2002 Production year: 1984 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (3)
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Romping gleefully rather than analysing deeply, Woody Allen as director, writer and star brings his own light touch to every frame of this comedy. Putting egotistical, arty Manhattan on hold, and cutting down on his verbal wit to boot, Allen rings the changes not only by taking us to the swamps of New Jersey but also by squeezing humour primarily from situation and character rather than dialogue. Allen the director keeps the caper aspect on a beautifully tight leash at all times and, as the star, he sparkles with eccentricity as a small-fry showbiz agent, while Mia Farrow is amusingly, nasally blunt as a gangster's moll with daft hair.
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Admittedly slighter than its immediate predecessor Zelig, this is still a delightful comedy that sees Allen as a... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
He's a horrible, dishonest, immoral louse, and I mean that with all due respect...
This was the second Woody Allen movie I saw, and made me a fan. Woody Plays the eponymous Danny Rose, theatrical agent to some of New Yorks more unual (and low end) acts; think one armed juggler, one legged tap dancer, a penguin skating on stage, dressed as a rabbi... you get the picture. Into this eclectic mix bursts Lou Canova, a has been crooner who is riding a nostalgia wave and has another chance at making it big. He asks Danny to act as a cover and bring his girlfriend, Tina Vitali, to a big performance so that Lou's wife won't get suspicious, and against his better judgement, Danny agrees. When Danny arrives to collect her all hell breaks loose as the volatile Tina argues with Lou and storms off, leaving Danny following in her wake, all the while pleading for her to come with him to the performance.
Aside from Rosemary's Baby, this is the only movie I have seen where Mia Farrow was convincing - it took me a while to realise that it was her under the huge glasses and the wig - but she is fantastic as Tina. Particularly good scenes are the visit to a local medium and watching the other stand-ups discussing Danny's early career as an entertainer. If you have never enjoyed Mr Allen, this might be the movie that changes your mind... -
Most recent members' review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Short and perfectly formed
Never at the top of people's favourite Woody movies but has to be one of the best. An 80-minute wonder.
Mia Farrow gives her best performance, even more amazing since she spends the entire film wearing enormous sunglasses.
There's plenty of slapstick sequences reminiscent of Allen's earlier films but at heart it's a story about love and loyalty - and dodgy cabaret acts. Great stuff... -
News and features
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Whatever Happened to Woody Allen?
- 21 May 2008
He's made (at least!) a film a year since 1970, a record that's all the more remarkable when you realise that he's written and directed all of them, and starred in most. They include some of the best-loved and most quoted comedies in cinema history: Annie Hall, Manhattan and Hannah and Her Sisters take some beating, and that's to ignore "the early, funny ones" (Sleeper, Love and Death, Bananas); the lovely miniatures from what I consider his finest period (the early 80s gave us Broadway Danny... Read more
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