BROADWAY DANNY ROSE
As you are probably aware, the Preshow Entertainment was two of my early student films sewn together called- "A Pair of Shorts".
These were supposed to be 3 minute sound films (not dialogue, just music), and one was to be a chase film. Okay, so I went overboard. I made two 9 minute films and threw a trailer for THE EXORCIST in between. This was before home video. Somewhere I still have that 16mm trailer.
Anyway, the first was a Jerry Lewis-type comedy called "How To Make Money." Here, our main character, a loser (played by guess who) reads a book. Each chapter gives him a new idea, which ultimately fails. Looking back, I'm clearly playing the part of Wyle E. Coyote. Of course, the last chapter of the book finds our hero getting a J-O-B. Now if only art would imitate life...
The second short, the chase film, was "Jaws 4". Of course, after JAWS 3, I never would have thought they would make YET ANOTHER ONE. Oh well. So, anyway, my best friend built me a 10 foot shark out of paper mache. You know the rest. A film junkie gets chased through NYC (taxis, subways, Staten Island Ferry, etc.) by a shark. Is it real?
I'm pretty proud of these silly pieces. They were ambitious and stupid, which means I haven't changed much.
A footnote: One (well, more than one, but I'm only telling you about THIS one) scene wound up on the cutting room floor. The POV of the shark swims by NYU and sees a film student hanging out, smoking a cigarette, minding his own business. He swims away, then decides to double back and eat him. Before he's about to chow down, he looks the NYU-er up and down once more. Deciding he's not worth it, he swims away.
Welp, we knew it was a matter of time. Owning just about all the Woody Allen and Marx Brothers films means that once every year or so, we'll get to see one.
BROADWAY DANNY ROSE was April's RMC pick. Woody Allen plays Danny Rose, a talent agent with a less than spectacular roster of clients (a one-legged tap dancer, a balloon folding act, etc.). But his big act, Lou Canova, won't go on unless Tina (his mistress, played by Mia Farrow) comes to see him. It's up to Danny to get her to NYC from Jersey. Little does he realize he is in Soprano territory.
Woody has created a great character in Danny. Very likable. I mean, he's almost the adoptive (insert your own joke here) father to his clients. There's this wonderful, bittersweet scene where he hosts a Thanksgiving Dinner for them.
The movie is frameworked by a group of Carnegie Deli regs; old timer Borscht-belt comedians who reminisce, each claiming to have "the best Broadway Danny Rose story."
COINCIDENCE ALERT: There is a short moment in a Jersey backyard where two thuggish types are arguing over money. They begin taking bills from their wallets, and ripping them in a call and response of the male ego. One of those actors, credited as "money ripper," is Michael Badalucco, who plays Jimmy Berluti in "The Practice." We did one of those "Oh my God, look how young he looks!", as if he aged, and we didn't. Anyway, the following evening, we go to see the live show "The Godfather Workout", and there, sitting in front of us, is Michael Badalucco. He was talking to some people who he bumped into. Otherwise, I was going to ask him, "Say, aren't you that money ripper guy?"
SECOND COINCIDENCE ALERT: Danny Aiello has a bit part as a deli owner, which makes this his second RMC in a row (FINGERS).
In 1 degree of separation (I think), please note that the movie THE PROFESSIONAL finds Michael Badalucco and Danny Aiello among its cast members.
"There's an Ax?" - Danny Rose (Woody Allen) in BROADWAY DANNY ROSE, 1984
Tags: random movie club, broadway danny rose, woody allen
