Broadway Danny Rose [VHS] | Woody Allen, Mia Farrow

Broadway Danny Rose [VHS] | Woody Allen, Mia Farrow | About as charming as the stage from which is borrows its name...

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Akiko Wakabayashi American Academy O... Merle Oberon 1962-1992 Broadway Danny Ros...

	Broadway Danny Rose [VHS] Woody Allen, Mia Farrow average customer review:based on 44 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Often overlooked, Broadway Danny Rose has developed a cult following among select Woody Allen fans; Chris Rock, of all people, says it's one of his favorite films. Allen plays a devoted talent agent for acts whose talent is, shall we say, marginal. But one of his clients, a faded singer named Lou Canova (Nick Apollo Forte), suddenly has a chance to perform for a record executive. Nervous, Canova insists that Rose bring his girlfriend to the show--unfortunately, his girlfriend is Tina Vitale (Mia Farrow), the wife of a big-time mobster. (Farrow's performance is superb and unlike anything else in her career: loud, brassy, and comically obnoxious.) Part caper, part-show biz satire, Broadway Danny Rose would make an excellent companion to Paper Moon; both are a delightful combination of nostalgia and cutting observations about human nature. --Bret Fetzer

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"The Danny Rose Special"

When Waterbury, Connecticut's own Nick Apollo cut an album in the late 1970's at Doc Cavalier's Trod Nossel Studio, he had no idea that 100 miles away Woody Allen would eventually chance upon this private label LP. Perhaps it was the b&w cover photo of the middle-aged lounge singer with mike, or maybe Nick's recordings of his compositions "My Bambina" (a ballad) and "Agita" (a novelty) that inspired Allen. Whatever the cause, the end result is one of Woody's greatest movies, BROADWAY DANNY ROSE.

This picture, despite cartoonish elements is a poignant commentary on love, loyalty and family. We come to learn that theatrical agent Rose is motivated by far more than money. Danny is almost fanatically devoted to the stable of unbookable acts he embraces. This man will never get rich representing such "talent" as a one-legged tap dancer, a rollerskating penguin disguised as a rabbi, balloon folders or a blind xylophonist, but these eccentrics aren't simply clients-- they are Danny's FAMILY.

This point is wonderfully illustrated in the movie's penultimate scene.

Thanksgivng at Danny Rose's rent-controlled apartment includes frozen turkey dinners. His "family" couldn't care less however, for they're all together, happy and celebrating the day. When Tina Vitale (who a year earlier did our hero a terrible wrong), unexpectedly knocks on the door, the Legend of Danny Rose is born.

In what is perhaps the single sweetest moment in a Woody Allen film, Danny coldly rejects Tina's humble apology and she leaves, hurt. Danny hesitates for a moment, then that enormous heart melts and he chases after Tina. He catches up to her in front of the Carnegie Delicatessen, which is exactly where some years later the "greatest Danny Rose story" is being told by Sandy Baron to a tableful of stand-up cronies.

This clever bit of circularity is the cherry on top of a wonderful picture. If you saw "Broadway Danny Rose" years ago, do experience it again, and if you've yet to meet this strange little man, there's a rare treat in store for you. Highest recommendation!

"Broadway Danny Rose" is available on DVD.

Related item--
In Woody's Depression-era film THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO (1984), a young woman who spends hours at the movies is able to interact with the characters on the screen! (VHS) (DVD)

Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 viewer poll rating found at a film resource website.

(7.3) Broadway Danny Rose (1980) - Woody Allen/Mia Farrow/Nick Apollo Forte/Sandy Baron/Corbett Monica/Jackie Gayle/Morty Gunty/Will Jordan/Milton Berle/Jack Rollins/Joe Franklin/Michael Badalucco/Howard Cosell (uncredited: Danny Aiello)

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About as charming as the stage from which is borrows its name...

Loud, abrasive and genuinely charming, `Broadway Danny Rose' is one of Woody Allen's `hidden gems'. Not many have had the pleasure to its company since not many have even heard of it. It has taken a backseat to his more famed work, yet in my opinion, this is one of his best ventures.

The film follows a talent agent, Danny Rose, as he attempts to `do right' by his most talented act, washed up singer on the verge of a comeback, Lou Canova. Canova is two-timing his wife with the obnoxious (in a god way) Tina Vitale. Canova has a big opportunity come his way and the only way he feels he'll make the most of it is if Vitale is there, but Canova's wife presents a problem and so Canova convinces Danny to pose as his beard, picking up Vitale and sporting her as his girlfriend. When Danny (hesitantly) goes to pick up Tina, he is met with an adventure he never expected, an adventure that includes fortune tellers, gangsters, parade balloons and betrayal.

With influences stemming from all walks of cinema (from De Sica to Bogart to Bogdanovich to obvious Jazz Era adoration), `Broadway Danny Rose' is chuck full of reasons to love it.

One cannot really call Woody Allen a great actor. To be bluntly honest, he has one character that he plays in every film. Sometimes he hits the nail on the head, other times he falls short. It all really depends on the film he's crafted around his shtick. Here, he works beautifully (and I have to say, the tenderness with which he plays his final scenes adds a really nice touch here). Nick Apollo Forte is genuinely effective here and deserved a nomination as Supporting Actor, for he shines up beautifully. This film BELONGS to Mia Farrow though. She is a revelation as Tina. It reminds me in a way of Michelle Pfeiffer's turn in `Married to the Mob', but Farrow has a little more edge and spunk to her turn here. She chews up every ounce of scenery, adding depth and color to what could have been a clichéd stock character. She is fun, witty, charming (in her own little way) and adorably OVER-THE-TOP!

With gags that almost always land (the helium scene is priceless) as well as banter that reminds me of the best of Tarantino (having the story told by a group of comics was genius) and performances that were all ROBBED of Oscar nominations (I give my win to Farrow BTW), `Broadway Danny Rose' deserves more than a standing ovation, it deserves pleadings for an encore!

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great movie, fun, excitemnet, drama, etd, etc

What a wonderful story, I have lived this movie!!!

Buy it, you won't be sorry.

A should-have-been great film

Allen plays a struggling agent who specializes in keep struggling vaudeville acts afloat in the 1970s. His greatest client is Lou Canova, (played well by "real life" Nick Apollo Forte) a New York area cabaret/lounge singer who managed to dent the Top 100 back in the '50s. But this guy's...got something. Some good original songs and arrangements, a very entertaining act, and the kind of charisma to capture home wreckers like Tina Vitale (Mia Farrow, in a totally unexpected characterization).
A very funny story, filmed in dull black and white, in many famous spots like The Carnegie Deli in New York and the Stonehenge Apartments in West New York, it builds beautifully in a Harold Lloyd kind of way, as
Rose gets caught up playing Canova's "beard" so as to ensure that Tina arrives at his big Waldorf gig attended by Milton Berle...and a more successful Personal Manager, she met along the way.
Sounds fantastic, but the whole thing fizzles in the last ten minutes or so...in fact the viewer at that point feels as much sympathy for Canova than Rose! And the cliche emerges: does the "schlemiel" with the great wit and insight get the girl? FOUR STARS.
(Watch for Sid Scott, Producer-Host of the Radio Series, "Just Jazz", as the Waiter).

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Woodrow Woody

Woody Allen will certainly go down in history as a very good film maker, but this film and several others I can think of place him as one of America's great preservationists. Woody works very hard to recreate lost worlds, here the world of vaudeville, the hustler days of B'Way, lost to real estate development (Rockefeller Center) and skyrocketing real estate prices, among other things. Woody like his Jewish counterparts Neil Simon and Mel Brooks loved this world of bimbos and hoodlums. Woody is all sentiment and comedy; as in "Bullets Over Broadway," he can't find anything to criticize. This is a love letter to a world long gone, if it ever actually existed. Curiously, the last effort to give homage to this world came in the first act of the recent "King Kong," an equally well-crafted recreation, without the love and humor of Wood Allen.

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