Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
Broadway Danny Rose
Collapse
X
Collapse
-
Broadway Danny Rose
Released by: Twilight Time Releasing
Released on: April 8th, 2014.
Director: Woody Allen
Cast: Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Nick Apollo Forte, Morty Gunty
Year: 1984
Purchase From Screen Archives
The Movie:
Written and directed by Woody Allen, 1984's Broadway Danny Rose begins with a scene in Manhattan's iconic Carnegie Deli where a group of comedians (played by Sandy Baron, Corbett Monica, Jackie Gayle, impressionist Will Jordan) are sitting around a table telling stories to one another about the worst talent agent in the business - Danny Rose (Woody Allen). Oh sure, he's got a good heart, he's a nice guy too, but he has a knack for picking the goofiest clients imaginable and has somehow made a career out of booking acts like an aging couple who make balloon animals.
As the four men tell their stories, one of them soon brings up what he claims is the best Danny Rose story, which segues into the main plot of the film wherein Danny decides he's going to spearhead a comeback for Lou Canova (Nick Apollo Forte), an alcoholic lounge singer who had one hit back in the 1950s. On top of Lou's drinking problem, he's also pretty full of himself, but Danny, being Danny and having the best of intentions, believes in Lou. He does what he can to start booking him better gigs and after a solid performance at the Waldorf Hotel, Lou winds up with the chance to open for Milton Berle (playing himself) for a few nights. Lou starts to crack under the pressure and tells Danny that the only way he can pull this off is if Danny becomes Lou's beard and brings his mistress Tina (Mia Farrow) in from New Jersey to sit in the audience. So he does, but after he picks her up, they wind up being tailed by some hitmen (one of whom is the late Paul Greco, who will be instantly recognizable to fans of Walter Hill's The Warriors as the leader of The Orphans). As Lou falls inside a bottle, Danny and Tina strike up an unconventional relationship.
Say what you will about where Woody Allen and Mia Farrow's relationship has gone over the years but they really did make some great movies together and Broadway Danny Rose is one of their best. Allen isn't really breaking new ground as an actor here, he plays the type of nebbish but likeable neurotic stereotype he's known for but Farrow really does think outside the box with her take on the Jersey girl she plays in this film. Normally waifish and mild, here she's brassy, tough talking and fearless and it's interesting not only to see Farrow cast against type in this part but also to note just how convincing she is in the role - you really forget that it's her for most of the movie. Nick Apollo Forte is also very good here, he's completely believable as the boisterous has been and he's definitely got the right sort of pompous swagger to pull off the performance scenes perfectly, but at the same time he's able to really communicate just how insecure his character really is. All three of the leads here really deliver great work, and the supporting cast members are all enjoyable as well, and those scenes with the four comedians in the deli are just classic.
The movie goes at a good pace, it's consistently funny throughout and as it builds to its conclusion, it develops an affectionate warmth that makes it hard to dislike. On top of that, the cinematography by Gordon Willis is flawless. There are some amazing compositions here that, like in the best of Allen's films, really makes the city as important a character in the film as any of the human performers.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Framed at 1.85.1 widescreen and presented in AVC encoded 1080p high definition, Broadway Danny Rose looks gorgeous on Blu-ray. The black and white picture is free of all but the tiniest specks of print damage while contrast and detail remain pretty much perfect. The black levels are rich and deep but shadow detail stays strong. There are no issues with noise reduction at all, so the image is sometimes quite grainy but in the best possible way. This is a very film-like transfer with nice texture and no problems at all with edge enhancement or with obvious compression artifacts. A very strong effort here, the movie looks great.
The DTS-HD Mono track, which comes with optional subtitles in English only, is fine. This is primarily a dialogue based movie but the score has some effective depth to it and there are no problems with any hiss or distortion. The levels are properly balanced and all in all this is a perfectly fine single channel track that suits the feature just fine.
Extras are limited to the film's isolated score in DTS-HD format, a theatrical trailer, an MGM 90th Anniversary promo piece, menus and chapter selection. Julie Kirgo contributes a set of liner notes on the accompanying insert booklet that do a fine job of detailing Farrow's unique performance in the film and which offer up some interesting analysis and background information on the film (including that the role played by Nick Apollo Forte was originally intended for Sylvester Stallone!).
The Final Word:
Broadway Danny Rose is all about characters and on that level, it's quite successful. The film is clever, it's funny, it's warm and it's beautifully shot with some fantastic black and white cinematography. Twilight Time's Blu-ray debut for the film is light on extras but it looks and sounds excellent.
-
#1NolandoSenior MemberFind all postsView Profile05-08-2014, 11:28 AMEditing a commentNot just one of Allen's best films but also just another showcase for Gordon Willis' plain amazing photography work for that director, too. Glad to see it getting a proper release.
Posting comments is disabled. -
Categories
Collapse
article_tags
Collapse
- album review (218)
- album reviews (274)
- arrow video (271)
- blu-ray (3225)
- blu-ray review (4162)
- comic books (1392)
- comic reviews (872)
- comics (988)
- dark horse comics (484)
- dvd and blu-ray reviews a-f (1969)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews G-M (1711)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews N-S (1757)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews T-Z (878)
- dvd review (2512)
- idw publishing (216)
- image comics (207)
- kino lorber (391)
- movie news (260)
- review (318)
- scream factory (279)
- severin films (298)
- shout! factory (537)
- twilight time (269)
- twilight time releasing (231)
- vinegar syndrome (497)
Latest Articles
Collapse
-
Released by: Film Masters
Released on: April 23rd, 2024.
Director: Bert I. Gordon
Cast: Richard Carlson, Juli Reding, Lugene Sanders, Susan Gordon
Year: 1963
Purchase From Amazon
Tormented – Movie Review:
The late Bert I. Gordon’s 1963 horror film, ‘Tormented,’ is an effectively spooky ghost story made with an obviously low budget but no less effective for it.
The story revolves around a professional piano player...-
Channel: Movies
04-17-2024, 10:19 AM -
-
Released by: Grindhouse Releasing
Released on: March 12th, 2024.
Director: William Grefé
Cast: William Shatner, Jennifer Bishop, Ruth Roman, Harold Sakata
Year: 1974
Purchase From Amazon
Impulse – Movie Review:
Directed by the one and only William Grefé, 1974’s Impulse is one of those rare films that allows you to witness what it would be like if a really sweaty William Shatner got mad at a lady carrying balloons. Before that...-
Channel: Movies
04-15-2024, 01:20 PM -
-
Released by: Severin Films
Released on: April 30th, 2024.
Director: Andrew Legge
Cast: Emma Appleton, Stefanie Martini, Rory Fleck Byrne
Year: 2022
Purchase From Amazon
Lola – Movie Review:
Irish filmmakers Andrew Legge’s 2022 movie, ‘Lola’, which was made during Covid-19 lockdowns, is a wildly creative movie made in the found footage style that defies expectations, provides plenty of food for thought and manages to make...-
Channel: Movies
04-10-2024, 04:09 PM -
-
Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: March 26th, 2024.
Director: Jess Franco, Jorge Grau, Pedro L. Ramírez
Cast: Alberto Dalbés, Evelyne Scott, Fernando Rey, Marisa Mell, Wal Davis, Norma Kastel
Year: 1974
Purchase From Amazon
Spanish Blood Bath – Movie Review:
Vinegar Syndrome brings a triple feature of Spanish horror films of the in this new three-disc Blu-ray boxed set. Here’s what lies inside…
Night Of The...-
Channel: Movies
04-10-2024, 04:02 PM -
-
Released by: Universal Studios
Released on: April 9th, 2024.
Director: Zelda Williams
Cast: Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse, Carla Gugino, Joe Chrest, Henry Eikenberry
Year: 2024
Purchase From Amazon
Lisa Frankenstein – Movie Review:
The feature-length directorial debut of Zelda Williams, 20214’s Lisa Frankenstein takes place in 1989 and follows a teenaged girl named Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) who, two years ago, lost her mother...-
Channel: Movies
04-03-2024, 03:40 PM -
-
Released by: Severin Films
Released on: April 30th, 2024.
Director: Gianfranco Giagni
Cast: Roland Wybenga, William Berger, Stéphane Audran
Year: 1988
Purchase From Amazon
Spider Labyrinth – Movie Review:
Professor Alan Whitmore (Roland Wybenga) is an American who works as a Professor of languages studies and has a fascination bordering on obsession with translating pre-Christian religious texts. He was also locked in a closet...-
Channel: Movies
04-03-2024, 03:37 PM -