purple rose of cairo

I imagine every filmmaker also considers themselves a movie fan. But when they succumb to the temptation to make a movie about the movies, things can get dicey. Tarantino, for example, seems to have lost himself in self-reflexive homages whose only function is to validate his inspirations. Meanwhile, back in 1985, Woody Allen took a right turn into pure fantasy with The Purple Rose of Cairo, a tender yet tragic story of the golden age of cinema brought to life…quite literally.

Living hand-to-mouth during the Depression, Cecilia (Mia Farrow) finds escape from the drudgery of a boring job and a bad marriage at the local movie theater, which projects exciting, romantic and heroic exploits that provide a sort of temporary amnesia. One evening during her third or fourth screening of The Purple Rose of Cairo, starring charming up-and-comer Gil Shepherd (Jeff Daniels), the character he plays, Tom Baxter, steps right out of the screen and sweeps her off her feet.

Multiple repercussions follow, as you might expect. Cecilia is thrilled at the attention lavished on her by her cinematic admirer (who’s never in a bad mood and whose hair never gets mussed), meanwhile the rest of the cast is stuck there on the silver screen with nothing else to do but play cards and bicker while Tom is out enjoying the “real world.” Back in Hollywood, actor Gil Shepherd is beside himself at the idea of a carbon copy running amok disparaging his name along with the film’s producer who is facing lawsuits from angry theater owners and patrons.

The Purple Rose of Cairo grounds all these fantastical elements in a simplistic, period setting; no special effects or explanation needed. A throwaway line - “Anything can happen in New Jersey!” - suffices quite nicely. Allen plugs in just enough inside jokes to keep things clever but the heart of the story is Cecilia’s – and the audience’s – longing for Hollywood perfection to bleed into our real lives.

As the virtuous Tom Baxter and the ambitious Gil Shepherd, Jeff Daniels seesaws between dream suitor and just another disappointment. But both performances reap the benefits of the actor’s ability to make the ’30-style “gee-whiz” affability seem genuine. So much so that he all but overwhelms Farrow, who mostly serves as a stand-in for Allen’s own quirks and mannerisms. Some of the best bits in the film, however, come from the abandoned cast of the movie within the movie, including Edward Herrmann and Zoe Caldwell who exchange quips with the understandably perturbed audience.

For Allen, who continues to crank out films at a pace that matches those Golden Age directors he’s nudging here, The Purple Rose of Cairo was probably nothing more than an extended comedic bit stretched to feature length (it still only runs a scant 82 minutes). But he unwittingly connects with an audience who shares the same hope and nostalgia for those cinematic confections that always ended with a kiss and a swelling orchestral score.

Twilight Time’s 3000-copy limited edition Blu-ray bumps this fan favorite up to hi-def resolution and includes the original theatrical trailer along with an isolated score track. Pick up a copy at while they last!