Broadway Danny Rose (1984) User Reviews

Charm to spare

[andrew7 · 8/10 · 25 January 2002]

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.

Allen as an actor

[christie501 · 7/10 · 19 May 2004]

One of the most commonly leveled criticisms against Woody Allen is that he has no range as an actor or is that he simply plays the same stammering intellectual in all of his films. Nothing could be further from the truth and this film is testament to this fact.

This beautifully shot film is concerned with theatrical agent, Danny Rose, a man who takes on blind xylophone players and one legged tap dancers. Terrible acts and yet Rose believes in every single one of them, no matter how badly they are doing. His big break comes with the public's newfound appetite for nostalgia, which brings egomaniac and alcoholic crooner, Lou Canova back into the public eye.

Canova flourishes and is set to make his comeback complete when he requires Rose to bring his mistress, Tina to the concert. Various complications and highjinks ensure that this is no easy task.

This is the comedy of the situation and the movie relies on this farce for its comic effect. However, what separates this from other sub-standard films is the characterisation that Allen brings to Rose. At first glance Rose is a loser, whose acts leave him as soon as they get anywhere. But the belief he has in his charges and the commitment he is prepared to put into them allows a great deal of empathy for him. Allen plays it brilliantly, allowing just the right amount of pathos and charm.

A splendid movie, full of the typical Allen one liners and with one very very funny shoot out scene with helium.

Happy Thanksgiving Mr. Allen !

[bugsnest · 8/10 · 4 November 2002]

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.

Morality Play Disguised as Comedy

[macpublish · 10 January 2003]

Although a very funny film, Broadway Danny Rose is more of character study and philosophical morality play. This film explores the life and values of Danny Rose (played by Allen)--a theatrical talent manager. Although he appears to be a hapless loser, Rose is smart enough to know how to get ahead in his business (do it to others before they do it to you) but is prevented from acting thusly by his morality and his compassion for his clients--which he treats like family. He pours all his energy into his clients' careers only to be abandoned by them when they finally hit it big. In the course of an "adventure" with the hard-bitten Farrow, his values imperceptibly rub off on her and begin working on her conscious. Her moral conversion is completed when she seeks Rose's forgiveness at the much talked about Thanksgiving dinner--a scene not about pathetic losers but rather a study of fellowship, compassion, redemption, and forgiveness.

Allen and Farrow both give career performances. Nick Apollo Forte is absolutely wonderful. The casting, locations, directing, and performances could not be better. Every aspiring film maker should study this film as the perfect example of a powerful "little" film. Watch the film several times and you'll like it more each time. It is may favorite Woody Allen film (everything else is a distant second) and one of my favorite films of all time. The film's lack of commercial and critical success speaks volumes about the sensibilities and values of our society.

Walking along the docks and reminiscing

[BrandtSponseller · 10/10 · 1 May 2005]

Writer/director/star Woody Allen plays agent/manager Danny Rose in this funny, loving, nostalgic look at the lower and fringe rungs of the entertainment industry, combined with a mob subplot and not a little "philosophy of life" contemplation.

The film begins with a gaggle of older Borscht Belt-caliber comedians sitting around a table at Manhattan's Carnegie Deli, trading stories about Danny Rose. Rose loves acts that are a bit "outside" the mainstream, so there is no shortage of laughs from our storytellers as they remember his one-legged tap dancer, his blind xylophonist, and so on.

After about 10 minutes or so of general reminiscing interspersed with footage of Rose portraying the stories, one man says he's got the Rose story to top them all, which launches us into the "film proper". It's a tale about Rose and his client Lou Canova (Nick Apollo Forte), a Louis Prima-styled singer who had one hit, "Agita", in the 1950s, but who is a has-been when Rose meets him. Broadway Danny Rose is primarily the story of how Rose gets mixed up in a comically deteriorating situation with Canova's mistress, Tina Vitale (Mia Farrow), while trying to ensure that she attends a career-restoring gig, despite the fact that Canova's wife is also going to be there.

Allen treats us to some entertaining postmodernist layering in the beginning. It seems like a normal enough film in the first few moments, but quickly turns into almost a mock documentary as our deli comedians talk about Rose. The Rose material is really all flashback, and even when it "takes over" the film during the Canova story, it still has a mock documentary feel at first. Eventually the Canova story proceeds as any film would, but the bookended storytellers emphasize the nostalgic tone of the film.

Allen is drilling in that fact that we're reminiscing. He wants the audience to reminisce about the tone of the main story, even if they don't have personal memories of the era or that segment of the entertainment industry. For Allen, the film has strong resemblances to some aspects of his personal experience as an up and coming standup comedian, and he even draws parallels such as a Carnegie Deli sandwich being named after Danny Rose in the film--in real life, you can eat a sandwich named after Woody Allen at the Carnegie Deli. Having characters in the film reminisce about what turns out to be a reminiscent mode in a flashback helps audience members outside of the relevant "nostalgia zone" to get into the proper mood.

Interestingly for this goal, even though Allen goes to the trouble to shoot the film in black & white, he doesn't attempt to remove blatantly anachronistic elements--as if he's trying to remind us that this is still artificial reminiscing. For example, a scene that takes place in a Times Square office features a window through which we can see the large flashing "Fuji" sign. On the other hand, Allen also exploits the fact that Broadway Danny Rose was shot just as the recent family-friendly gentrification of the New York City area was taking hold, as there are important scenes on the old, dilapidated West Side docks and in a Jersey City that still looks comparatively like a barren wasteland.

One of the reasons that this film is so charming is that even though Danny Rose is a loser, he's a good-hearted loser with an admirable philosophy of life, despite the fact that he's continually abused and/or given the short shrift by those he helps. Allen is still doing his "neurotic Jew" schtick here, but whereas he tends to draw that character as self-centered in other films, in Broadway Danny Rose he's almost completely altruistic. He actually tries to persuade other characters, who happen to be self-centered, to change their outlooks. He's a Tod Browning to a cadre of performing freaks, promoting and embracing them, even if to most eyes it has to involve exploiting them at the same time. But he admirably can't help seeing the best in everyone, encouraging them and honestly believing that they should be in a "higher position" than they are now. He even does this with the non-performing Tina when she makes some decorating suggestions about his apartment--suddenly, he wants to manage an interior decorating career for her, saying that she should be doing "hotels and embassies".

As is typical for an Allen film, Broadway Danny Rose is filled with amazing, often symbolic cinematography, by frequent collaborator (from 1977's Annie Hall through 1985's The Purple Rose of Cairo) Gordon Willis. It's also full of great performances (including Allen's) and it's infused with Allen's trademark pre-bop jazz, in this case heavily depending on variations of the Prima-like "Agita", somewhat similar to how "In A Persian Market" was used as a theme in the later Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001).

If you like Allen's typical style, you've surely seen this film. If you're wondering where to start or dip into Allen's works further, Broadway Danny Rose is as good a place to begin as any.

Woody "Light"? Think Again...!

[dsanchez · 10/10 · 19 July 2000]

Upon my initial viewing of "Broadway Danny Rose" ("BDR," as I will refer to it henceforth) when it opened in theaters back in 1984, I recall being somewhat disappointed at this seemingly frothy, light-weight film. Sometimes it takes additional viewings to truly appreciate the fine line between "light-weight" and "subtle." Coming off of the brilliant, sorely underappreciated "Zelig" -- and my first disappointing Allen film, "A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy" -- I approached BDR with high-hopes. I left the theater feeling let-down at it's slapstick approach, esp. after Allen's "new" direction towards "serious" cinema. (I'm a devotee of his "Annie Hall"/post-"Annie Hall" films, as opposed to his "earlier, funny films.") How wrong was I in thinking I had seen something frivolous and trivial!

The absolute beauty of BDR not only comes from (once again) Gordon Willis' inspired chiaroscuro use of black & white photography and framing, Allen's hand-picked jazz score, succinct editing and crafty art direction, but mostly from its marvelous cast of actors -- most esp. Mia Farrow's astounding, beautifully wrought and precise performance. Upon subsequent viewings, her character's soul literally exudes through the epidermis! On top of that, the so-called "slapstick," which initially I viewed askance, turned-out to be far subtler than its initial impact. The right-on performances by BDR's numerous sub-characters also proved to be far more meaningful and poignant then initially viewed.

And, that ending.... What an ending! It has got to be one of the most heartbreaking and romantic finale's in screen history! (I say this with no hyperbole.) I have seen BDR more than two-dozen times, and it has never failed to bring me to tears (as did "Annie Hall," "Manhattan" and, his subsequent, "Hannah and Her Sisters"). The start of the scene (with Farrow's character confronting a heartbroken Allen) is pure beauty and poetry. The finale of Allen running after Farrow through the wet and rough-n-tumble streets of New York, and his (inaudible) "forgiveness" in front of the delicatessen, is nothing less than magical!

In sum, sometimes it takes a different "perspective" in looking at a piece of art to realize that there's much more there than meets the eye. Sort of like Diane Keaton's character in "Manhattan," as she pontificated with much zeal over the "textural" qualities of the "steel cube." Only this time, no pontification is needed: "Broadway Danny Rose" is pure, unadulterated romance through and through! This is a "must-see." Enjoy!

Modest But Ingratiating Allen Effort Features an Effectively Blowsy Farrow

[EUyeshima · 7/10 · 20 March 2006]

Mia Farrow is the big surprise in this minor-league Woody Allen comedy from 1984. Before he started deifying ("Hannah and Her Sisters") and then skewering ("Husbands and Wives") her image as the consummate caretaker, he cast her against type as Tina Vitale, a brassy Mafioso widow in this frequently funny paean to Allen's days on the Borscht Belt in the 1950's. She is the mistress of a loutish Vegas-type performer named Lou Canova, who is represented by his woefully unsuccessful agent, Danny Rose. Danny gets Lou a big break, a high profile gig at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel at which Milton Berle is to attend, and Lou insists that Danny take Tina to the show. Complications ensue as when Tina's mob connections think she and Danny are a couple, and much of the brief 84-minute movie is about the chase - which is frequently hilarious.

My favorite scene is when Tina and Danny are trapped by a thug in a huge warehouse where Macy's stores their Thanksgiving Day floats and their voices break into a helium pitch when the bullets hit the air tanks. As Tina, Farrow submerges herself so completely in the role that in hindsight, it seems a shame she didn't push for a greater variety in her film roles. For once, Allen plays a completely sympathetic character, a nice guy caught up in ludicrous circumstances that are truly not of his own doing. I am not sure who Nick Apollo Forte is, but he is completely convincing as Lou especially when he's onstage singing like Tony Bennett and acting like Vegas mainstay Danny Gans.

As a framing device for the story, Allen assembled several famous comics at the Carnegie Deli to talk about Danny's story. Led by Sandy Baron, who later played Jerry's father's adversary on "Seinfeld", they are the ones who usually played the Catskills hotel showrooms and showed up on the Ed Sullivan Show in the 1960's. Speaking of which, I assume the story takes place sometime in the 1970's, but I'm not sure since Allen really does nothing to the set designs to make it feel like a period piece. Allen also jettisons his standard jazz score for the Italianate lounge music that Lou sings. The ending is surprisingly poignant given the shenanigans that precede it. Within his filmography, this is definitely one of his more modest efforts, but along with "Sleeper", "The Purple Rose of Cairo" and "Manhattan Murder Mystery", it's also one of his most ingratiating comedies. Other than the film's trailer, there are no extras with the DVD package.

Compares to Chaplin's best

[DonE-2 · 10/10 · 16 January 1999]

This was never embraced as one of Woody Allen's best pictures, but it certainly ranks alongside Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters and Annie Hall, although it is far removed in subject matter from any of these. Danny Rose is an empathatic character whose heart goes out to the underdog. He is a former comic who becomes an agent, representing acts that no one else will touch. He has been kicked down many times, but he continues to plod along, always believing he will hit the big time with a special act. But late in this story, told by a comic to fellow comics who know Danny Rose, he comes to the realization that his life is going nowhere. That scene, on Thanksgiving Day, is filled with pathos. Mixed with the comedy throughout, that one scene makes this one of the most touching films imaginable. Mia Farrow gives a strong performance as the would-be interior decorator who is having an affair with a Rose client, a has-been, one-hit wonder from the '50s played by Nick Apollo Forte. This is a must-see for Allen fans, and would be a good introductory film for those not familiar with his work.

"It's important to have some laughs, but you gotta suffer a little too, because otherwise you miss the whole point to life."

[ackstasis · 7/10 · 23 September 2007]

Clustered around a table over lunch at New York's Carnegie Deli, a group of film critics are having an enthusiastic discussion about Woody Allen, who has been among the most influential comedy directors since the 1970s. The group toss around the titles of a few of his films - 'Annie Hall,' 'Manhattan,' 'The Purple Rose of Cairo' - and everybody nods in silent agreement, recognising each of these as classics of cinema. A fourth critic, emboldened by the candidness of his companions, tentatively suggests 'Broadway Danny Rose,' but is not quite met with the enthusiasm he had hoped for. These critics, it seems, cannot quite agree on this particular film.

CRITIC A: "OK, you've asked that I explain myself, and I personally believe that 'Broadway Danny Rose' is one of the director's best efforts… out of the films of his I've seen, in any case. The title character, played by Allen, is a truly tragic figure, a dedicated "little man" who pours his heart and soul into the performers he manages, only to be unceremoniously dumped as soon as they make it big. Allen is excellent in the role – as always – and his character is given more than enough witty and quotable lines. You wouldn't think that an ordinarily meek and delicate actress like Mia Farrow could play a hard-edged, chain-smoking Italian (ex)-mob wife like Tina Vitale, but she manages to pull it off perfectly. Also spare a moment to consider Nick Apollo Forte in his first and only appearance in a film, convincingly portraying Lou Canova, the childish, drunken has-been crooner who, thanks to Danny Rose's management, is finally making a comeback."

CRITIC B: "I'm afraid I wasn't quite so enthusiastic about the film as you were. Yes, the acting was very good, but the story itself left a lot to be desired. Danny and Tina's day of adventures involving the Italian gangsters was fun and entertaining, but it didn't really amount to anything significant. The only truly memorable part of the film was the final ten or so minutes, with Danny ditched by his protégé despite all his hard work. Even then, the conclusion seemed to be stretched out for too long, but I'll admit that it was made up for by Danny's touching silent reconciliation with Tina on a snowy New York street. Additionally, I know that Mr. Allen is fond of filming in black-and-white, but it just didn't seem to be serving any real purpose here. Maybe he just thinks that cinema looks better without colour."

CRITIC C: "I'd also like to say a thing or two about 'Broadway Danny Rose.' You just mentioned that the story itself seemed light-weight to you. Perhaps it was, and Allen just wanted to deliver some good ol' light entertainment (who can forget the hilarious shoot-out around a leaking helium container?!), but that ending is certainly not light-weight, and it hits you when you are least expecting it. The film is a very sensitive, contemplative exploration of an anguished character: Danny Rose is confident and witty on the outside, but inside he harbours a large amount of grief. Whenever he pours his heart into an inept performer, he loses everything as soon as he has succeeds in making them a star, and must start back at the beginning. Perhaps the most depressing thought of all is that he knows that this will never change. This isn't Woody Allen's best movie, but I would recommend it without a second thought."

Having reached something of an agreement, the table of film critics acknowledge their assent with a quiet murmur and return to their lunch. As you've no doubt already noticed, these characters are sheltered within my own mind. And, believe it or not, I actually agree with all of them!

Neither didactic nor facetious

[the_mad_mckenna · 10/10 · 31 August 2002]

This is my favorite Woody Allen movie. I think you can see the glee that he secretly has, playing the nebbishy Danny Rose, in his world of untalented types reaching for the stars. The Mobsters are almost like a preview for the Sopranos; the unexpected love story is sweet and charming. And it even has the return of Howard Cosell to a woody movie. I remember seeing this one in the Theatre when it was released - lines like "weinstein's majestic Bungalow colony" - and why that line is a side splitter - shows the fact that woody played this one close to the vest.

Barney Dunn!!!

Lou is one of Woody's best characters, but this is not one of his best films.

[Ben_Cheshire · 7/10 · 30 June 2004]

The gimmick is a group of friends sit in a bar and tell stories about theatrical agent Danny Rose (Woody Allen), whose discoveries always leave him as soon as he makes them famous. Danny Rose is a pathetic figure, but a very likeable one. The main story they tell is his relationship with past-his-time singer Lou Canova.

This is another one of those pictures where Woody has used black and white to both recall an old world and convince us this is classic material. He did the same thing with Manhattan. This picture is less self-conscious than Manhattan, and its performances are better, but its still very measured.

It lacks narrative drive, and starts stretching out and meandering at the one hour mark. This is not one of Woody's best pictures. Its not as fun as Manhattan Murder Mystery, not as cohesive as Husbands and Wives, not as beautiful as Manhattan, not as memorable as Annie Hall.

But Danny Rose is a good character, and ex-matinee idol Lou is a wonderful character. I'd recommend you see this movie to aquaint yourself with Lou, one of Woody's best and most memorable characters.

6/10.

"I need a valium the size of a hockey puck. "

[Galina_movie_fan · 9/10 · 21 June 2006]

Broadway Danny Rose (1984) -written/directed by Woody Allen who played the titular character, the small time show-biz agent with the clients like "blind xylophonists, piano-playing birds, and has-been crooners with drinking problems." Danny may not be successful but the famous comics having a good time in the legendary Carnegie Deli, Manhattan, NY tell the stories about him. "Broadway Danny Rose" may be considered as a minor Allen's work but it is equally charming and amusing dramedy that pays specific homage to Damon Runyon who is famous for portrayal New York City's colorful lowlifes of the 1920s and '30s when "respectability and the demi-monde rub shoulders".

Danny's problem is that as soon as one of his clients makes it to the top, they would drop him in favor of a big-name agent. Danny stuck with a drinking, self-centered Italian crooner Lou who is attempting (and just about to make it) a comeback, and Danny, being a loyal and protective agent, unwittingly gets involved with the singer's girlfriend Tina whose family has a long memory and strong resemblance to Soprano family. No wonder poor Danny needs "a valium the size of a hockey puck". Mia Farrow is almost unrecognizable as a tough and vulgar (but not a dumb) blonde. Her philosophy is her way of life "It's over quick, so have a good time. You see what you want, go for it. Don't pay attention to anyone else. And do it to the other guy first 'cause if you don't he'll do it to you." She obviously acts on her words but in the end of the movie she realizes that the things which count most in life are "acceptance, forgiveness, love" which is Danny's philosophy. She was cast against the type and it worked brilliantly in the funny but touchingly nostalgic movie. "Broadway Danny Rose" is a sparkling gem from the writer/director/star, one and only Woody Allen. I never expect anything else from him.

Watchable, pretty funny and well-acted...but it just needed a little more.....

[mattymatt4ever · 6/10 · 26 July 2001]

"Broadway Danny Rose" is not a bad film--though I don't ever recall any of Woody's movies being "bad." I just felt it lacked something. Maybe it was the energy. Maybe it needed more focus. I laughed a fair deal of times, though I'm used to laughing a lot more during Woody's comedies. The performances are superb. Mia Farrow turns in a very impressive performance and so does Nick Forte. I guess the plot needed more zest. It's not a cliched story, but it's quite ordinary. It's an ordinary romantic comedy with its only twist being the gangster subplot. I'm not asking for anything spectacular; I just wanted more. Mind you I'm a good fan of Allen's work. In fact, I think this movie and "Deconstructing Harry" are his only films that I've had less-than-satisfying opinions about. Of course, I'm still a budding fan of Woody. I haven't checked out all his work, but I'm constantly more and more curious about the gifted writer/director with a sharp, extremely original sense of humor. So recently I've been checking out more and more of his movies--old and recent.

Judging by many excellent reviews I've read, maybe I'm wrong by calling this a minor work for the great director. But that's simply the effect it had on me. Then again, many people called "Small Time Crooks" a very minor work for Allen. I still thoroughly disagree, being that the movie made me laugh more than virtually every comedy I've ever seen! So I guess it's always a matter of opinion.

My score: 6 (out of 10)

Overlong and marginally unfunny

[mnpollio · 3/10 · 20 April 2011]

I freely admit it. I am not a Woody Allen fan. I know there are legions of people that worship at his altar, but I just do not get the Allen love. That is not to say that I have never seen a good Allen picture. It is to say that I really do not understand the overwhelming passion that people have for his body of work.

For instance, Broadway Danny Rose. Allen predictably casts himself in the central role as a dorky talent manager, who finds himself attempting to reconcile washed-up lounge singer Nick Apollo Forte on the comeback trail with his floozy mistress Mia Farrow, but finds himself mixed up with mobsters.

The biggest problem is that - like many of Allen's films - the premise sounds like it should be a riotous broad comedy and it isn't. The humor is restrained and when it does work only registers a mild smile rather than any generous belly laughs. Part of the problem is that Allen is such an off-putting actor. He yammers on incessantly and comes off as someone who thinks he is funnier than he actually is - although his army of sycophantic fans with no doubt disagree with me. He is not remotely credible in the role of the beleaguered agent. Second, it is inconceivable that a grade-C talent like Forte portrays in this film would be on the comeback trail for any reason. We have nothing invested in Forte's comeback nor in his character in general. He is merely the plot device that sets the wheels of the story in motion and nothing more. We honestly could care less whether he gets reunited with his mistress and whether he is able to perform.

The film itself seems overlong and draggy - padded out even longer by the interjection of annoying clips of a group of real-life has-been performers who sit around a table and reminisce about Allen's character as though he were a legend of some kind. Their reverence of Danny Rose and his misadventures seem incredibly misplaced considering that nothing we see from these reminiscences is especially compelling either dramatically or comically.

The one lone bright spot in the film comes courtesy of an unrecognizable Mia Farrow, who portrays the ditzy platinum blonde mistress with the thick Italian accent. Farrow at leasts seems to be aware that she is in a supposed comedy and plays the role for all its worth. The fact that the role is on the one-note side is not her fault. It is a shame that she has gotten so few chances late in her career to stretch like this because she proves up to the challenge.

Allen's Best By Far

[mikej-4 · 9 April 1999]

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.

"Danny Rose" is familiar Woody but warmer and more universal

[Movie_Muse_Reviews · 8/10 · 1 September 2010]

"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.

Acceptance, Forgiveness, Love!

[Attillio · 10/10 · 23 July 2006]

Oh, wow, what a great film, with comedians Jackie Gayle, Morty Gunty, Will Jordan, Sandy Baron, among others, reminiscing (hilariously!) over lunch, about the irrepressible Broadway Danny Rose! Mr. Allen is such a poor (but, extremely-likable) nebbish, who you just cannot help rooting for, as he contends with an egotistical, has-been singer named Lou Canova (portrayed by Nick Apollo Forte, who looks a heck of a lot like former New York Ranger hockey great, Phil Esposito), and the singer's "wise-guy widow" girlfriend, Tina Vitale (portrayed by the wonderful Mia Farrow, as the no-nonsense Jersey-girl with really big, blonde hair!). I'm grateful that several of the other posters here, have explained the meanings of so many of the Italian and Yiddish words used in this uproariously funny flick. I got a big laugh, when that wise guy's over-protective mother, flashed a Universty of Texas Football-like "Hook-Em, Horns!" gesture at poor Danny in front of everyone at that lawn party, and shouted: "Corno d' oro!" as in the Italian expression, "Horns of Gold," meaning that the entirely-innocent Danny had made a cuckold of that lady's gangster-son, by getting to "know" Tina in the "Biblical sense"! And, Mr. Allen exhibited a keen eye for New York/New Jersey details, when he had Danny driving a humble Chevy Nova (a real "Jersey-mobile"!) over the George Washington Bridge on his way to pick Tina up for Lou, in Bergen County, N.J. Tina's Garden State apartment, with the majestic view of the New York City skyline, looks as if it's located in either Fort Lee or Cliffside Park (next to the world-famous amusement park, formerly situated in Palisades Park, N.J.), all just south of the G.W. Bridge. Alas, the Liberty View Diner in Jersey City (where the two thugs "rearrange" Danny's beloved Nova in the diner parking lot with a couple of baseball bats) is no longer there. The now-demolished diner was just off of the "beautiful" N.J. Turnpike, and next to Liberty State Park, which affords visitors an absolutely spectacular view of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and lower Manhattan along an extensive walkway on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. How could you not like a film that features the eclectic likes of Howard Cosell, Milton Berle, Sammy Davis, Jr., New York City's venerable, former "Mr. Late-Night-Local T.V. Talk Show Host," Joe Franklin, a very young Ricky Schroeder, and, the film's comedic "dark horse," the one-and-only, Barney Dunn, ventriloquist/unwitting romantic "beard" par excellence!?!

The Beard.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 28 May 2010]

After "Annie Hall" Allen began getting serious, alternating dramas with comedies of varying quality. This one is a success, as was "Hollywood Ending." Not that you should look for anything resembling Allen's earlier anarchic comedies. His later attempts were more rooted in reality, so to speak. The premise was off, and the jokes followed from that, as they almost might in actual life.

Here the premise is that he's mistaken by Italian mobsters for the womanizer who is breaking the heart of a Mafia family. Hit men pursue him and the young lady in question, an almost unrecognizable Mia Farrow, to a diner in New Jersey, thence to Manhattan. Allen and Farrow wind up being shot at in the warehouse that contains the floats for the upcoming Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. It also houses a couple of tanks of helium that are punctured by bullets, leading to a furious conversational exchange between the killers and the two intended victims, except that the shouts come out of helium-filled lungs and sound like Donald Duck's voice. (Who thinks of something like that?) That's about as outrageous as the comedy gets. It's the point of the plot at which the greatest distance from everyday life is achieved. The rest of the gags center around Allen's character. Allen has it in him, and he recognizes this, to play two kinds of characters -- the failed intellectual neurotic and the frazzled street-level hustling neurotic. Here he's the latter, a theatrical manager whose life is one long panic attack and whose conversation consists of stock show-biz phrases -- "God bless ya, darling," and, "May I interject just one concept at this point?" The acts he manages are on the level of one-legged tap dancers, birds who peck out tunes on the piano, virtuosos who play "Daisy" on the water glasses, and Nick Apollo Forte as a has-been Italian pop singer.

Forte's character is one of the least interesting. Among the more interesting, Allen's character aside, are the Italian family he and Farrow visit in New Jersey, especially the son who writes egregious poetry and is in love with Farrow after having had a fling with her. And the poet's mother -- wailing operatically that her son has drunk iodine, her eyes rolling, shouting curses and invoking the evil eye. One wonders if Allen hadn't recently seen a couple of movies by Scorsese and Coppola and decided to do a number on the milieu.

It's pretty funny. I could swear that one scene is set in the Tick-Tock Diner but North Jersey has so many many diners that it's easy to confuse them.

Did You Hear the One About Danny Rose?....

[evanston_dad · 8/10 · 31 March 2008]

A pretty funny Woody Allen comedy, in which Allen himself plays Danny Rose, small-time talent agent who finds himself falling for the mistress (Mia Farrow) of one of his clients (Nick Apollo Forte) when he has to pretend to be the mistress's date at one of his client's shows (it's a long story). Before long, Allen and Farrow are engaged in an escape from a gang of hoods that climaxes in a shootout in the storage warehouse for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Allen is hilarious as usual, but Farrow is the one who impressed me with her acting here. I already knew she was a fine dramatic actress, but here she gets to show her comedic side, playing a brassy floozy with a Joisy accent and enormous glasses.

The film is framed as a story one famous comedian is telling to a group of other famous comedians at New York City's Carnegie Deli, and the whole film has the patina of nostalgia for NYC that so often infuses Allen's films. Like "Manhattan," "Broadway Danny Rose" is filmed in black and white and looks fantastic.

Grade: A-

Woody and Mia wriggle with Mafiosos...

[moonspinner55 · 6/10 · 21 September 2010]

Wispy-thin Woody Allen comedy: classy and perfectly enjoyable on a minor scale, though somehow seeming more an innocuous jaunt rather than a highlight of Allen's cinematic oeuvre. A group of comics in a New York City deli reminisce about a past acquaintance, a theatrical manager whose clientèle consists mainly of outcasts and has-beens. Allen plays Danny Rose somewhat differently than he does the struggling Lotharios of "Annie Hall" and "Manhattan"; he turns the tables on himself, begging booking agents to hire his curio acts, and acting like a mother hen to his single star attraction, a hefty Italian singer who once had a hit in the 1950s. As a writer, Allen gets the Italian-Mafia scenario down perfectly, while his bits of visual satire are as cutting as they were in "Stardust Memories" (though without the sour aftertaste, this film being far more inoffensive). Cinematographer Gordon Willis gives the picture a sharp, stylized look, and his use of white light contrasted with deep shadows is probably unsurpassed, however "Danny Rose" seems too little a project for such a heady visual presentation--it leads viewers to hope for something more. There are laughs all the way through, and yet the movie never really takes off, hovering somewhere between zany and nostalgic. It stays pleasantly grounded, an affable time-filler. **1/2 from ****

Light and Warm

[jzappa · 10/10 · 2 September 2007]

Woody Allen writes, directs, and usually stars in at least one movie every year and has for nearly forty years now. He is easily among my top three favorite filmmakers, but even if I've yet to see a film of his that is anywhere near bad, you can't make that many movies and pack a punch every time. Broadway Danny Rose is a wonderful little dramedy that despite its heartfelt morale is very light on its feet almost like an old Leo McCarey comedy. It is set in a black-and-white 1970s, even though there is a marquee listing Halloween III: Season of the Witch, but don't most movies have fleeting, minor factual errors?

One of my favorite things about Woody Allen's movies is the warm realism of the company one keeps while watching them. In Broadway Danny Rose, he pinpoints a specific and rarely as acutely portrayed sort of people. The story of Woody Allen's character is told through the simple dialogue of a group of old comedians populating a table at a deli reminiscing about old times. These guys, to me, are the essential point of reference when using the words "chum," "pal," and "buddy o' mine." They're middle-aged men that will not be bred into a similar sort of mold ever again, because they're dialect, mannerisms and earthy, customary approach to everything are a product of growing up in the early to mid-20th century. When it was said that women are the ones made of water and earth, elements of emotion and practicality, and men were made of fire and air, metaphors for energetic expression, mentality, and sociability, these were the ones they were talking about. Having grown up with parents and an uncle from that generation, knowing their friends, I was reminded of the coziness and complete absence of pressure in sitting around talking with that kind of easy, mild, expected value sort of man, and Woody Allen writes and directs them with an endearing and intelligent notability.

The love of the company doesn't just taper away after the kitchen-sink-style deli comedian narrators, sort of a device I would imagine in a Cassavetes film if Cassavetes ever used narration. Woody Allen's character, Danny Rose, the man with the thankless job of doing everything he can to harbor his acts and make them successful, no matter how ridiculous and hopeless they are. He goes out of his way, just out of heart, to keep them happy and focused on their careers, only to be used a stepping stone and a laughing stock. But he keeps pushing new acts and never thinking of building up a shell or an edge with them. He keeps himself available in every way. The movie's farce comes from his beautiful self- sacrificial motive to keep his especially self-centered Italian crooner, played effectively by Nick Apollo-Forte, focused and satisfied for his shortly upcoming performance, even though the gigantically risky thing Danny must do only comes out of the latently aware must-have- everything-my-way mentality of Apollo-Forte.

The film is not a suffocatingly side-splitting masterpiece like many of Woody's other comedies, but it does have its great moments and one-liners. Allen at one point refers to his aunt as "looking like something you would find in a live bait store." One of his best yet, don't you think? There's a great non sequitur in the middle of being chased by a Mafia hit man where because of an odd, objectless circumstance, a sequence of dialogue that would normally be a serious, obligatory piece of the plot is spoken by Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, and said hit man all in high pitch as an effect of the inhalation of leaking helium. What a great way to spice up what would've been a rather dull, only necessary scene.

"You gotta suffer a little too, because otherwise you miss the whole point to life"

[JamesHitchcock · 6/10 · 25 February 2010]

A group of comedians are having lunch together at a New York restaurant and start recounting anecdotes about a theatrical agent named Danny Rose. Billy Crystal, in his film "Forget Paris", was also to use the device of telling a story through the reminiscences of a group of friends having a meal together, and Woody Allen himself was to do something similar in "Melinda and Melinda". The actors who appear in the restaurant scenes are, apparently, all well-known American comedians, but this point is likely to be lost on non-Americans; I had just about heard of Milton Berle, but names such as Sandy Baron, Morty Gunty and Corbett Monica meant nothing to me.

Danny is generally regarded in the entertainment world as a big joke, largely because most of the performers he represents are totally lacking in talent. The one partial exception is an Italian-American singer named Lou Canova whose once-successful career has gone into a decline, but is hoping to make a comeback. Lou is married but is having an affair, and persuades Danny to masquerade as the boyfriend of his mistress, Tina, in order to divert attention from the affair. Unfortunately, Tina turns out to be the former girlfriend of a gangster, who gets jealous at the idea that she might be romantically involved with another man. Danny suddenly finds that he is in danger from the Mob.

The film is sometimes quoted in support of the contention that Allen has a wider range as an actor than that with which he is normally credited, but to my mind Danny Rose, a neurotic Jewish New Yorker, is not all that different from the average Woody character, although less intellectual and more working-class. (Woody was to widen his range more successfully in some other films, such as "Small Time Crooks"). Actually, Woody is pretty good here, and gives a performance which is well up to his normal standards, making Danny a lovable loser who remains convinced, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary, that he might just one day be a winner. The script also contains some classic Woodyisms such as "You know what my philosophy of life is? That it's important to have some laughs, but you gotta suffer a little too, because otherwise you miss the whole point to life".

And yet "Broadway Danny Rose" has never been my favourite Woody Allen film. Woody, apparently, felt that Mia Farrow was not really right for the part of Tina, a "tough Italian broad", so she wears dark glasses virtually throughout the film in an attempt to make her look tougher. Mia never looks comfortable as Tina, and it would have been easier to have cast another actress in the role and dispensed with the sunglasses, but Woody seems to have felt himself honour-bound, in both his "Diane" and his "Mia" periods, to cast his current lady-love in a leading role in every film he made. (Thank goodness Soon-Yi has not taken up an acting career).

Like a number of Woody's other films, this one is shot in black and white, although the cinematography is never as distinctive as it is in his great black-and-white masterpiece, "Manhattan". The main reason, however, why the film is not my favourite is that story is not a very involving one. In films like "Annie Hall", Manhattan" and "Hannah and her Sisters", Woody is able to combine humour with a deep understanding of the psychology of human relationships and with characters one can care about. All he serves up in "Broadway Danny Rose" is a familiar tale about mobsters, revolving around the normal Hollywood clichés about Italian-Americans which form the basis of most American films about organised crime. Danny may be a lovable schmuck, but there is nothing lovable, or even likable, about most of the other characters, which means that the story fails to hold our interest. Fortunately, Woody made a return to form with his next two films, "The Purple Rose of Cairo" and "Hannah and her Sisters", both ranking among his best. 6/10

A sweet, charming & funny film

[paulklenk · 9/10 · 20 December 1998]

Woody Allen needs to make more movies like Broadway Danny Rose. It is clever, witty and always entertaining.

So many favorite scenes: the helium-induced, squeaky-voiced gun-shooting chase; the pathetic Holiday party; the menagerie of losers Danny represents; the stupid, wiggle-assed rancorous little bitch played by Mia Farrow.

One of my favorite things about the film is Allen's choice of a narrator, a group of show-biz comedians and agents sitting around having lunch. There's so much affection in their derision of Danny, and of course, affection for Danny by Woody.

This film takes Allen's love for New York and features one slice of it, his love of show business, especially the old New York that none of us will ever experience first hand. But we feel as if we have experienced it authentically, including its tastes, smells, sounds and feelings.

Truly one of Woody's most pleasurable and underrated films. I can't find it on video anywhere (probably out of print) so I'd appreciate it if someone would tell me where I can find a copy.

A classic Woody Allen delight.

[killercharm · 7/10 · 14 May 2020]

Not only is this classic Woody Allen but he's up to his best ploy, which is to say, his character and his female dodging bad guys (Manhattan Murder Mystery). The story is funny and sometimes sweet, with hilarious exaggerated archetypes. The best part is the character of Danny. Especially funny is his meandering method of dealing. I love how invested he is in his aside story when the wiseguy tells him to shut UP. Danny Rose is an agent for loser acts and one that might finally make it, a big fat boozer guido crooner who cheats on his wife with Tina (Mia Farrow). There is also the beautiful chiaroscuro B&W cinematography. The scene where Danny and Tina escape their bonds (one of the funniest) and then escape the warehouse is a knock-out, when their "jailer" sees them from his window his silhouette on half the screen, priceless.

Woody was all wrong for this

[Whoosez · 3/10 · 10 July 2006]

This seems like it should be one of those films where Woody Allen goes off his usual beaten path, comes up with something fresh, and strikes gold (like The Purple Rose of Cairo). It isn't. It's a good idea but he messes it up by casting himself in the title role. And it isn't the usual whine that he isn't a good actor--because he can be great--but this isn't the role for him. You can tell the first time you see him doing the bit of talking with his hands trying to sell a client. I'm sure Woody has seen this type of guy and he certainly seems the type whom comedians would sit around to talk and laugh about. But Allen is clearly just imitating those moves and never seems that guy. Why not hire an older actor who actually can do those moves naturally? And this miscasting messes up the whole movie and reduces it to just a gimmick instead of a truly funny and affectionate study of some offbeat little character. Strangely, Mia Farrow does better with a character who also very far removed from herself. Woody Allen was a better actor early in his career (maybe he just had more energy to give it then) or when he works just as an actor for other directors. He's able to give it more focus and he usually does a fine job. I think this might be his worst acting. He seems much too sharp to have not known someone better than himself for this role. It would have been worth the effort to find him.