Bullets Over Broadway (1994)

Director:

Woody Allen

Writers (WGA):

Woody Allen (written by) and
Douglas McGrath (written by)

Release Date:

18 January 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

A killer comedy!

Plot:

In 1920s New York, a struggling playwright is forced to cast a mobster's talentless girlfriend in his latest drama in order to get it produced.

Plot Keywords:

Turkish Bath | Prohibition | Shakespearean Quote | Cotton Club | Espresso

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 15 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

John Cusack	...	David Shayne
Dianne Wiest	...	Helen Sinclair
Jennifer Tilly	...	Olive Neal
Chazz Palminteri	...	Cheech
Mary-Louise Parker	...	Ellen
Jack Warden	...	Julian Marx
Joe Viterelli	...	Nick Valenti
Rob Reiner	...	Sheldon Flender
Tracey Ullman	...	Eden Brent
Jim Broadbent	...	Warner Purcell
Harvey Fierstein	...	Sid Loomis
Stacey Nelkin	...	Rita
Malgorzata Zajaczkowska	...	Lili (as Margaret Sophie Stein)
Charles Cragin	...	Rifkin
Nina Sonja Peterson	...	Josette (as Nina Sonya Peterson)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:14+ (Ontario) | Finland:K-11 (cinema release) (1996) | Netherlands:MG6 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | France:U | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

110th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Miramax Films

Trivia:

At the start of the scene where the three mobsters (Rocco/Tony Sirico, Nick Valenti/Joe Viterelli, Cheech/Chazz Palminteri) are paying their respects, an establishing shot of a number of headstones is shown. A large headstone prominently shows the name "Sorice", which is the name of both the Master Scenic Artist (Jim Sorice) and the Stand-by Scenic Artist (Cosmo Sorice). Over the years Jim Sorice has been the scenic artist in many Woody Allen movies.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Helen gives David a gift on his birthday, she calls him a Scorpio, but two scenes later it is only September 24th. The Sun does not enter the sign of Scorpio until the end of October. David is a Virgo or a Libra.

Quotes:

David Shayne: I've become involved with Helen Sinclair, and I feel terrible. But I can't help myself. She's so charismatic, and she's brilliant and beautiful. I mean, a real artist, and, and we speak the same language.
Sheldon Flender: You're wracked with guilt.
David Shayne: I'm wracked with guilt.
Sheldon Flender: You're wracked with guilt. You are wracked with guilt.
David Shayne: I don't know whether... I can't sleep.
Sheldon Flender: Guilt is petit-bourgeois crap. An artist creates his own moral universe.
David Shayne: I know that. I know...
Sheldon Flender: Well? What is the problem then? I'm gonna give you some advice. The same advice that was given to me many years ago when I had a very similar dilemma.
David Shayne: Similar to mine. To...
Sheldon Flender: Yes. Yes.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Round Up: Deposing 'The Usual Suspects' (2002) (V)

Soundtrack:

Make Believe

Intelligence and humour

Woody Allen is a genius indeed. Once more in this movie he presents us with a mixture of intelligence and humour conveyed by his famous witty dialogues where the characters seem to play with serious things but are indeed giving us through humour an image of what people think and feel about life nowadays and about the relationships that spring among them. This story mix up with considerable success two ingredients that "a priori" seem not to combine very well: the world of theatre with the world of mafia and gangsterism in the crazy twenties of last century. All the characters are very typical and greatly performed: the young playwright looking for a place in the sun, the ham actress who overacts a lot even in real life, the mafia boss who imposes his girlfriend on the playwright as an actress, the Greenwich Village intellectuals and so on. In my opinion however the feeblest character is the one of the gangster who becomes also playwright from a certain moment on. Some of his interventions lack authenticity. But this is only a minor flaw in the whole. Like all the other Woody Allen's movies this one seems superficial at first sight but it's well made and deep enough to amuse us and simultaneously make us think and feel life in it.