Broadway Danny Rose
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''Broadway Danny Rose'' is a 1984 American
black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...
comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...
written and directed by
Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...
. It follows a hapless theatrical agent who, by helping a client, gets dragged into a love triangle involving the mob. The film stars Allen as the titular character, as well as
Mia Farrow Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow ( ; born February 9, 1945) is an American actress. She first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the television soap opera ''Peyton Place (TV series), Peyton Place'' and gained further recogn ...
and Nick Apollo Forte. ''Broadway Danny Rose'' was screened out of competition at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival and received positive reviews from critics. It is considered one of Allen's stronger efforts, being praised particularly for Farrow's performance.


Plot

The story of Danny Rose (Woody Allen) is told in flashback, an anecdote shared amongst a group of comedians over lunch at New York's Carnegie Deli. Rose's one-man talent agency represents countless unorthodox, unsuccessful entertainers, including washed-up lounge lizard Lou Canova ( Nick Apollo Forte), whose career is on the rebound. While shown to be willing to hire almost anyone, Danny is also shown to work extremely hard for his acts—often catering to almost every one of their needs, both personal and professional. On those rare occasions any of Danny's acts do succeed, they invariably leave him for more professional representation. Lou, who has a wife and three kids, is having an affair with a woman, Tina (
Mia Farrow Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow ( ; born February 9, 1945) is an American actress. She first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the television soap opera ''Peyton Place (TV series), Peyton Place'' and gained further recogn ...
), who had previously dated a gangster (a man still in love with her). Lou wants her to accompany him to a big gig Danny has landed for him at the Waldorf Astoria, where he will perform in front of Milton Berle, who could potentially hire him for even bigger things. At the singer's insistence, Danny acts as a "
beard A beard is the hair that grows on the jaw, chin, upper lip, lower lip, cheeks, and neck of humans and some non-human animals. In humans, beards are most commonly seen on pubescent or adult males, though women have been observed with beards ...
," masquerading as Tina's boyfriend to divert attention from the affair. Tina's ex-boyfriend is extremely jealous, and believing Tina's relationship with Danny to be real, he orders a hit on Danny, who finds himself in danger of losing both his client and his life. The ex-boyfriend's brothers find Danny and Tina and hold them in an abandoned warehouse. Danny and Tina narrowly escape as Danny, at gunpoint, claims that Tina's real boyfriend is a talentless ventriloquist. Danny tells Tina that the ventriloquist is on a cruise, making him temporarily safe. While the gangsters search for the supposed boyfriend, Danny and Tina manage to escape. They eventually arrive at the Waldorf, only to find Lou drunk and unprepared for his performance. Using a unique concoction he has developed over the years, Danny sobers up Lou. As a result, Lou delivers an outstanding performance, after which he tells Danny that he plans to sign with a more professional manager. Tina, having previously urged Lou to drop Danny, refuses to speak up on Danny's behalf despite their experiences together. Danny, feeling cheated, goes to the Carnegie Deli where he hears that the ventriloquist he "ratted on" to save himself was beaten up by the hit men (the cruise had been cancelled) and is now in the hospital. Danny goes to the hospital to console the victim and pays his hospital bills. Lou, who has left his wife and kids to marry Tina, becomes a success. Tina, feeling guilty for not sticking up for Danny, is depressed and they eventually split up. It is now Thanksgiving and Danny is hosting a party with all of his clients there. Tina shows up to the door and apologizes, asking Danny to remember his uncle Sidney's motto, "acceptance, forgiveness, and love." At first Danny turns Tina away, but later catches up with her and they appear to make up. During this closing shot, the voiceover of the group of comedians telling the story is heard. They praise Danny, and say that he was eventually awarded Broadway's highest honor: a sandwich at the Carnegie Deli was named after him.


Cast

Steve Rossi claimed he was offered the Lou Canova role but Allen reneged when Allen was told that the film would be known as an Allen and Rossi film.
Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director, and film producer. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of List of awards and ...
and
Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Gardenzio "Sly" Stallone (; born July 6, 1946) is an American actor and filmmaker. In a Sylvester Stallone filmography, film career spanning more than fifty years, Stallone has received List of awards and nominations received by Syl ...
both turned down the role.


Soundtrack

* Agita - Written and Performed by Nick Apollo Forte * My Bambina - Written and Performed by Nick Apollo Forte * Funiculi, Funicula (1880) (uncredited) - Music by Luigi Denza * The Band Played On (1895) (uncredited) - Music by Chas. B. Ward * All of You (1957) (uncredited) - Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter * You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You (1944) (uncredited) - Written by Russ Morgan,
Larry Stock Larry Stock (born Lazarus Goldberger; December 4, 1896 – May 4, 1984) was an American songwriter. He is most known for being a songwriter and composer for many songs including " Blueberry Hill" which was later recorded by Fats Domino. Early li ...
, and James Cavanaugh * Torna a Surriento (Return to Sorrento)(1902) (uncredited) - Music by
Ernesto De Curtis Ernesto De Curtis (4 October 1875 – 31 December 1937) was an Italian composer.Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...
* Ciribiribin - Music by Alberto Pestalozza - Lyrics by Carlo Tiochet


Reception


Box office

''Broadway Danny Rose'' opened on January 27, 1984 in 109 North American theatres, grossing $953,794 ($8,750 per screen) in its opening weekend. When it expanded to 613 theatres on February 17, its results were less impressive - $2,083,455 on the weekend ($3,398 per screen). Its total domestic gross was $10,600,497, off an $8 million budget.


Critical response

''Broadway Danny Rose'' received a very positive reception from critics. It holds a 100% positive "Fresh" rating from critics on
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
based on 26 reviews, with a
weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
of 8.10/10. The site's consensus reads: "Woody Allen's hard-working, uphill-climbing Broadway talent agent is rendered memorably with equal parts absurdity and affection."
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'' awarded the film three and a half stars out of four, praising Allen, Forte, and Farrow, whom he described as "the real treasure among the performances." Janet Maslin of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' described Danny Rose as "one of the funniest and most touching characters Mr. Allen has yet created" and added, "''Broadway Danny Rose'' ..proceeds so sweetly and so illogically that it seems to have been spun, not constructed." '' Time Out'' praised the combination of style and substance, stating, "The jokes are firmly embedded in plot and characterisation, and the film, shot by Gordon Willis in harsh black-and-white, looks terrific; but what makes it work so well is the unsentimental warmth pervading every frame." In a 2016 poll of ''Time Out'' contributors, ''Broadway Danny Rose'' was ranked Allen's sixth greatest film, with editor Joshua Rothkopf praising "Mia Farrow's brassy Italian ballbuster, a wild transformation you’ll never forget." Sam Fragoso of IndieWire also lauded Farrow's "wonderfully out-of-type performance" and listed the work as a highlight of Allen's career. ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' film critics Robbie Collin and Tim Robey named it the director's ninth best effort, praising Farrow's acting and writing for making the film's titular character "one of Woody’s most snugly tailored roles: instantly funny, a little sad, and right up at the most endearing end of the characters he’s played." In October 2013, ''Broadway Danny Rose'' was voted by '' Guardian'' readers as the fifth best film directed by Allen.


Accolades


Release


Home media

''Broadway Danny Rose'' was released through
MGM Home Entertainment MGM Home Entertainment LLC (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment, d/b/a MGM Home Entertainment and formerly known as MGM Home Video, MGM/CBS Home Video and MGM/UA Home Video) is the home video distribution arm of the American med ...
on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
on November 6, 2001. A limited edition
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of 3,000 units was released by Twilight Time on April 8, 2014.


Legacy

Actor
Alec Baldwin Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor and film producer. He is known for his leading and supporting roles in a variety of genres, from comedy to drama. He has received List of awards and nominations received by A ...
has discussed how he has, with some degree of regularity, "hosted parties where the only activity is just watching ''Broadway Danny Rose'' together".
Safdie Brothers Josh Safdie, Joshua Henry Safdie (born April 3, 1984) and Benny Safdie, Benjamin Safdie (born February 24, 1986) are independent American filmmakers and actors based in New York City, who frequently collaborate on their films. They are best know ...
have both mentioned it as among their favorite films. '' The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'' episode " The Testi-Roastial" (2023) was inspired by this film.


See also

*" Pepino the Italian Mouse"


References


External links

* * * {{Authority control 1984 films 1980s screwball comedy films American screwball comedy films American black-and-white films Films directed by Woody Allen Films set in New York City Films shot in New Jersey Films shot in New York City Orion Pictures films Films with screenplays by Woody Allen Films produced by Robert Greenhut Films whose writer won the Best Original Screenplay BAFTA Award 1984 comedy films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films English-language comedy films