Broadway Danny Rose is vintage Woody Allen. Danny (Allen) is a down-at-heel theatrical agent whose regular clients include talking bird acts and a man who twists balloons into animal shapes. His faith in these eccentrics never fails, despite the fact that everyone leaves him for another agent in the end. Complications ensue when one of his clients, an overweight crooner, starts a romance with a mafia widow (excellently played by Allen's partner of the time, Mia Farrow). The mob think Danny is her boyfriend, forcing the two of them to take evasive action, at one point... dodging bullets among giant floats for a forthcoming Fourth of July parade. The script is witty, the acting superb, the situations inventive. The film is shot in black and white and looks superb for it. On the DVD: The DVD is widescreen, with extremely clear sound so you won't miss a single wisecrack. Dialogue is available in French, German, Italian and Spanish as well as English. It's a pity, however--since the film is so short (84 minutes)--that there are no extras apart from the theatrical trailer. --Ed Buscombe [show more]
Broadway Danny Rose is a nostalgic look back at the golden days of New York variety acts, with Woody Allen in the title role as a talent agent who specializes in the most marginal, strange, and washed-up acts around. To enhance the feel of nostalgia, not only is the film shot in black and white, like many of Allen's films from this period, but the story of Danny Rose is told as a series of reminiscences and funny stories by a group of comics hanging out in New York's famous Carnegie Deli. The main story concerns the Italian singer Lou Canova (the real lounge singer Nick Apollo Forte, who had never acted before) and his gangster moll, Tina (Mia Farrow). On a crucial night for Lou's slowly improving career, Danny has to go pick up Tina and spend the night pretending to be her date for the benefit of Lou's wife. Instead, Danny gets sucked into an increasingly wild series of adventures with Tina, with the mob hot on their trail the whole time. It's a lot of fun, and Woody milks as much humor as he can from his over-the-top stereotypes of Italian mob families. The broad humor of these stereotypes is balanced by some of Woody's most sensitive, complicated characterizations -- the relationship between his character and Mia Farrow's Tina is sweet, funny, and simultaneously both totally improbable and (because of the sensitivity of the leads' performances) totally believable. Farrow is in rare form here, in a part most people never would have believed her capable of playing. Her Tina is crude, temperamental, spontaneous, funny, tough, and surprisingly intelligent behind her huge ever-present sunglasses and poofed hair. Woody is fantastic as well, exaggerating his own already exaggerated mannerisms for the portrait of fast-talking agent Danny Rose. The black and white NYC cinematography is gorgeous throughout, and there are several stellar scenes that will likely stick in the memory forever. The Thanksgiving dinner at the end of the film is foremost among these, and the atmosphere of the comics discussing old times at Carnegie Deli. Less poignant, but much funnier, is the chase scene through a warehouse filled with parade floats, which halfway through turns from suspense to farce with an entirely unexpected and hilarious twist. Broadway Danny Rose is a masterpiece in Allen's career, and it belongs in the company of his other bittersweet, nostalgic masterworks like Annie Hall and Manhattan.
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A hopeless theatrical agent (Woody Allen) tries to revive the career of one of his singers who is involved with the Mafia Suddenly the agent finds himself at the centre of a gangland war With Mia Farrow and Nick Apollo Forte Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play
Woody Allen writes, directs and stars in this classic comedy which follows hopeless theatrical agent Danny (Allen) as he tries to revive the career of Lou Canova (Nick Apollo Forte), a singer who is involved with the Mafia. Unable to perform without his mistress Tina (Mia Farrow) at his concerts, Danny offers to bring her along as if she was his girlfriend so as not to arouse suspicion with Lou's wife. However, the pair soon find themselves running for their lives, when two mobsters mistakenly think Danny is attempting to make a move on Tina behind Lou's back.
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