Broadway Danny Rose (1984)

Directed by Woody Allen. Starring Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Nick Apollo Forte, Sandy Baron, Morty Gunty, Corbett Monica, Will Jordan, Jackie Gayle, Howard Storm. [PG]

Luckless but loyal theatrical talent agent Danny Rose (Allen) would do anything for a client, including serve as a “beard” for the client’s mistress (Farrow) so that both she and the wife can attend the big galoot’s big singing gig. Story is told in a deli among a group of comedians, and the picture starts out quite well, with their amusing anecdotes leading into the main story. But there’s little push to this Damon Runyon-esque fable of losers, even with the involvement of the mob and helium; the whole thing peters out before the story is resolved on the expected bittersweet note. Allen isn’t at his sharp best, but he’s playing more of a sweetheart here (something of a tragic one at that, considering that it’s revealed early on that anytime one of his acts hits the big time, they dump him for a better agent), and he still lands several memorable one-liners. Farrow is the surprise, though, in one of her most atypical roles as a brassy broad in big sunglasses. Famed—and now-closed—Carnegie Deli in Manhattan (where the comedians are swapping stories) named a sandwich after the fictional Danny Rose: corned beef, pastrami, and side of coleslaw. Milton Berle appears briefly as himself.

75/100