Bullets Over Broadway

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For the Broadway musical based on the film, see Bullets Over Broadway (musical).
Bullets Over Broadway
Bullets over Broadway movie poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byWoody Allen
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyCarlo DiPalma
Edited bySusan E. Morse
Distributed byMiramax Films
Release date
  • September 4, 1994 (1994-09-04) (Venice)
  • October 14, 1994 (1994-10-14) (United States)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20 million[not verified in body]
Box office$13.4 million[not verified in body]

Bullets Over Broadway is a 1994 American black comedy crime film directed by Woody Allen, written by Allen and Douglas McGrath and starring an ensemble cast including John Cusack, Dianne Wiest, Chazz Palminteri and Jennifer Tilly.

The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Allen and co-writer Douglas McGrath for Original Screenplay, Allen for Director, Tilly for Supporting Actress and Palminteri for Supporting Actor. Wiest won Best Supporting Actress for her performance, the second time Allen directed her to an Academy Award. It's considered one of Allen's best works.

Summary[]

In 1928, David Shayne is an idealistic young playwright newly arrived on Broadway. Desperate to gain financing for his play, God of Our Fathers, he is convinced by producer Julian Marx to cast actress Olive Neal, the girlfriend of gangster Nick Valenti, in a minor role.

Compensating for his frustration with the demanding and talentless Olive, Shayne is thrilled to cast alcoholic faded star Helen Sinclair in the lead role, along with the dieting British thespian Warner Purcell. Rehearsals are soon thrown into chaos when Olive shows up escorted by Cheech, a mob henchman, who insists on watching rehearsals.

Eventually Cheech starts giving notes on the script to Shayne, who is initially angered by the intrusion but quickly realises the ideas are excellent. Cheech, who barely learned to read before burning down his school, has a natural talent for playwriting, but is not interested in taking any credit. The cast members herald the revised script as genius, disparaging his initial draft as dull and pompous.

Buoyed by their imminent success, Shayne and the actors succumb to their vices. His partner, Ellen, catches him cheating on her with Helen. Warner indulges in overeating and begins an affair with Olive, which he attempts to break off when Cheech threatens his life. Growing increasingly frustrated with Olive's poor acting, Cheech tries to have her fired from the production. After Shayne reminds him he can't get rid of Olive, Cheech murders her and dumps her body in a river.

Olive's murder is widely assumed to be part of an inter-gang conflict, but Shayne immediately senses the truth and argues with Cheech. Regretting his mistakes, Shayne is dismayed to learn that Ellen is leaving him for his hedonistic Marxist friend Sheldon Flender.

On opening night, Valenti accuses Cheech of the murder, which he denies. Henchmen Rocco and Aldo chase Cheech backstage while the play is being performed, shooting him. With his dying words, Cheech gives Shayne a new final line for the play. The play is a critical and commercial hit, but Shayne skips the after party to confront Flender. He confesses his lack of talent and proposes marriage to Ellen, who accepts his newfound desire to leave high society.

Cast[]

Production[]

The film's locales include the duplex co-op on the 22nd floor of 5 Tudor City Place in Manhattan.[1]

The film's title may have been an homage to a lengthy sketch of the same title from the 1950s television show Caesar's Hour; one of Allen's first jobs in television was writing for Sid Caesar specials after the initial run of the show. The film featured the last screen appearance of Benay Venuta. Allen cast her in a cameo role as a well-wishing wealthy theatre patron. She died of lung cancer months after the film opened.

Soundtrack[]

Reception[]

Bullets Over Broadway received a positive response from critics. The review-aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes reports 97% positive reviews from 58 critics, with the consensus "A gleefully entertaining backstage comedy, Bullets Over Broadway features some of Woody Allen's sharpest, most inspired late-period writing and direction."[3]

Janet Maslin of The New York Times described the film as "a bright, energetic, sometimes side-splitting comedy with vital matters on its mind, precisely the kind of sharp-edged farce [Allen] has always done best."[4] Todd McCarthy of Variety similarly called it "a backstage comedy bolstered by healthy shots of prohibition gangster melodrama and romantic entanglements" and wrote, "In its mixing of showbiz and gangsters, this is a nice companion piece to Allen's Broadway Danny Rose, and about as amusing."[5] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised, "Bullets Over Broadway shares a kinship with a more serious film by Allen, Crimes and Misdemeanors, in which a man committed murder and was able, somehow, to almost justify it. Now here is the comic side of the same coin. The movie is very funny and, in the way it follows its logic wherever it leads, surprisingly tough."[6]

Year-end lists[]

Awards and nominations[]

Won[]

Nominated[]

Stage musical[]

Allen adapted the film as a stage Jukebox musical, titled Bullets Over Broadway the Musical. The musical is directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman, produced by Julian Schlossberg and Allen's younger sister Letty Aronson, with a score from the American songbook using songs from the 1920s and 1930s.[25] The new musical premiered on Broadway at the St. James Theatre on April 10, 2014.[26] A staged reading was held in June 2013.[27] The cast features Zach Braff as David Shayne, Brooks Ashmanskas, Betsy Wolfe, Lenny Wolpe, and Vincent Pastore.[28] Marin Mazzie stars as Helen Sinclair,[29] and Karen Ziemba appears as "Eden Brent."[30] Musical supervisor Glen Kelly has adapted and written additional lyrics for songs including "Tain't Nobody's Bus'ness," "Running Wild," "Let's Misbehave" and "I Found A New Baby".[26] The musical closed on August 24, 2014, after 156 performances and 33 previews.[31]

References[]

  1. ^ Barbanel, Josh. "Selling a Tudor City Treasure", The Wall Street Journal, March 18, 2012
  2. ^ Harvey, Adam (2007). The Soundtracks of Woody Allen. US: Macfarland & Company,Inc. p. 34. ISBN 9780786429684.
  3. ^ Bullets Over Broadway at Rotten Tomatoes
  4. ^ Maslin, Janet (September 30, 1994). "Film Festival Review; Allen's Ode to Theater and, as Always, New York". The New York Times. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  5. ^ McCarthy, Todd (September 6, 1994). "Review: 'Bullets Over Broadway'". Variety. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  6. ^ Ebert, Roger (October 28, 1994). "Bullets Over Broadway". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  7. ^ "Awards for 1994". National Board of Review. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  8. ^ Lovell, Glenn (December 25, 1994). "The Past Picture Show the Good, the Bad and the Ugly -- a Year Worth's of Movie Memories". San Jose Mercury News (Morning Final ed.). p. 3.
  9. ^ P. Means, Sean (January 1, 1995). "'Pulp and Circumstance' After the Rise of Quentin Tarantino, Hollywood Would Never Be the Same". The Salt Lake Tribune (Final ed.). p. E1.
  10. ^ Denerstein, Robert (January 1, 1995). "Perhaps It Was Best to Simply Fade to Black". Rocky Mountain News (Final ed.). p. 61A.
  11. ^ Travers, Peter (December 29, 1994). "The Best and Worst Movies of 1994". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  12. ^ Turan, Kenneth (December 25, 1994). "1994: YEAR IN REVIEW : No Weddings, No Lions, No Gumps". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  13. ^ Hurley, John (December 30, 1994). "Movie Industry Hit Highs and Lows in '94". Staten Island Advance. p. D11.
  14. ^ Strauss, Bob (December 30, 1994). "At the Movies: Quantity Over Quality". Los Angeles Daily News (Valley ed.). p. L6.
  15. ^ Maslin, Janet (December 27, 1994). "CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; The Good, Bad and In-Between In a Year of Surprises on Film". The New York Times. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  16. ^ Webster, Dan (January 1, 1995). "In Year of Disappointments, Some Movies Still Delivered". The Spokesman-Review (Spokane ed.). p. 2.
  17. ^ Ross, Bob (December 30, 1994). "1994 The Year in Entertainment". The Tampa Tribune (Final ed.). p. 18.
  18. ^ King, Dennis (December 25, 1994). "SCREEN SAVERS In a Year of Faulty Epics, The Oddest Little Movies Made The Biggest Impact". Tulsa World (Final Home ed.). p. E1.
  19. ^ Movshovitz, Howie (December 25, 1994). "Memorable Movies of '94 Independents, fringes filled out a lean year". The Denver Post (Rockies ed.). p. E-1.
  20. ^ Schuldt, Scott (January 1, 1995). "Oklahoman Movie Critics Rank Their Favorites for the Year Without a Doubt, Blue Ribbon Goes to "Pulp Fiction," Scott Says". The Oklahoman. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  21. ^ Clark, Mike (December 28, 1994). "Scoring with true life, 'True Lies' and 'Fiction.'". USA Today (Final ed.). p. 5D.
  22. ^ Dudek, Duane (December 30, 1994). "1994 was a year of slim pickings". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 3.
  23. ^ MacCambridge, Michael (December 22, 1994). "it's a LOVE-HATE thing". Austin American-Statesman (Final ed.). p. 38.
  24. ^ Armstrong, Douglas (January 1, 1995). "End-of-year slump is not a happy ending". The Milwaukee Journal. p. 2.
  25. ^ Rooney, David (June 14, 2012). "Susan Stroman to Shepherd Woody Allen's 'Bullets Over Broadway' to Stage". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  26. ^ Jump up to: a b Hetrick, Adam. "The Verdict: Critics Review Woody Allen Musical 'Bullets Over Broadway'" Archived June 23, 2014, at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, April 10, 2014
  27. ^ Hetrick, Adam. "With Reading Underway, Woody Allen Musical 'Bullets Over Broadway' Will Test Legs in Fall Lab" Archived September 6, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Playbil, June 12, 2013
  28. ^ Hetrick, Adam. "Zach Braff, Brooks Ashmanskas, Betsy Wolfe, Vincent Pastore Set for 'Bullets Over Broadway', Opening in April 2014" Archived September 5, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Playbill, June 27, 2013
  29. ^ Hetrick, Adam. "Marin Mazzie Lands Coveted Leading Role in Woody Allen Musical 'Bullets Over Broadway' " Archived January 10, 2014, at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, December 5, 2013
  30. ^ Hetrick, Adam. "Karen Ziemba Joins Woody Allen's 'Bullets Over Broadway'; Casting Now Complete" Archived January 10, 2014, at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, January 9, 2014
  31. ^ Gans, Andrew and Hetrick, Adam. "Curtain Comes Down on Woody Allen Musical Bullets Over Broadway " Archived 2014-08-26 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, August 24, 2014

External links[]

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