Bullets Over Broadway

In 1928, David Shayne is an idealistic young playwright newly arrived on Broadway from Pittsburgh. Desperate to gain financing for his play, God of Our Fathers, he is persuaded 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, David 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 David, who is initially angered by the intrusion but quickly realizes 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, David 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 David reminds him he cannot 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 David immediately senses the truth and argues with Cheech. Regretting his mistakes, David is dismayed to learn that Ellen is leaving him for his hedonistic Marxist friend Sheldon Flender.

On opening night, Valenti accuses Cheech of Olive's 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 David a new final line for the play. The play is a critical and commercial success, but David 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 and move back to Pittsburgh.

{{Cast listing|

• John Cusack as David Shayne
• Jack Warden as Julian Marx
• Chazz Palminteri as "Cheech"
• Joe Viterelli as Nick Valenti
• Jennifer Tilly as Olive Neal
• Rob Reiner as Sheldon Flender
• Stacey Nelkin as Rita
• Margaret Sophie Stein as Lili
• Mary-Louise Parker as Ellen
• Dianne Wiest as Helen Sinclair
• Harvey Fierstein as Sid Loomis
• Shannah Laumeister as Movie Theatre Victim
• Brian McConnachie as Mitch Sabine
• Edie Falco as Lorna
• Jim Broadbent as Warner Purcell
• Tracey Ullman as Eden Brent
• Debi Mazar as Violet "Vi"
• Tony Sirico as Rocco
• Tony Darrow as Aldo
• Benay Venuta as Theater Well-Wisher

}}

{{div col|colwidth=35em}}

• "Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo' Bye!)" – Written by Dan Russo, Ernie Erdman and Gus Kahn – Performed by Al Jolson with the Vitaphone Orchestra
• "Crazy Rhythm" – Lyrics by Irving Caesar – Music by Joseph Meyer (songwriter) & Roger Wolfe Kahn
• "You've Got to See Mamma Every Night or You Can't See Mamma at All" – Lyrics by Billy Rose – Music by Con Conrad
• "Make Believe" – Music by Jerome Kern – Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II – Performed by The Three Deuces Musicians
• "That Jungle Jamboree" – Written by Andy Razaf, Harry Brooks & Fats Waller – Performed by Duke Ellington
• "Lazy River" – Written by Hoagy Carmichael & Sidney Arodin – Performed by New Leviathan Oriental Fox Trot Orchestra
• "Nagasaki" – Music by Harry Warren – Lyrics by Mort Dixon
• "Let's Misbehave" – By Cole Porter – Performed by Irving Aaronson and his Commanders
• "You Took Advantage of Me" – Music by Richard Rodgers – Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
• "When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along)" – Written by Harry M. Woods
• "Ma! He's Making Eyes at Me" – Lyrics by Sidney Clare – Music by Con Conrad – Performed by Eddie Cantor with Henri Rene and His Orchestra
• "Thou Swell" – Music by Richard Rodgers – Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
• "At the Jazz Band Ball" – Written by Nick LaRocca & Larry Shields – Performed by Bix Beiderbecke
• "Poor Butterfly" – Music by Raymond Hubbell – Lyrics by John Golden – Performed by Red Nichols and His Five Pennies
• "That Certain Feeling" – Music by George Gershwin – Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
• "Who" – Music by Jerome Kern – Lyrics by Otto A. Harbach & Oscar Hammerstein II – Performed by George Olsen{{cite book |last= Harvey |first= Adam|year= 2007|title= The Soundtracks of Woody Allen: A Complete Guide to the Songs and Music in Every Film, 1969–2005 |location= Jefferson, North Carolina |publisher= McFarland & Company |page=34 |isbn=978-0-7864-2968-4}}

{{div col end}}

The film's locales include the duplex co-op on the 22nd floor of 5 Tudor City Place in Manhattan.{{cite news |last=Barbanel |first=Josh |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304692804577286003872833824 |title=Selling a Tudor City Treasure |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=March 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709074308/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304692804577286003872833824 |archive-date=July 9, 2017}}

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.{{Cite web |date=2014-02-13 |title=Sid Caesar 1922-2014 + Woody Allen Response |url=https://www.woodyallenpages.com/2014/02/sid-caesar-1922-2014-woody-allen-response/ |access-date=2023-05-14 |website=The Woody Allen Pages |language=en-US}}

The film featured the last screen appearance of Benay Venuta. Allen cast her in a cameo role as a well-wishing wealthy theatre patron.{{Cite news |last=Gelder |first=Lawrence Van |author-link=Lawrence Van Gelder |date=1995-09-02 |title=Benay Venuta, 84, an Actress, Singer, Dancer and Sculptor |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/02/obituaries/benay-venuta-84-an-actress-singer-dancer-and-sculptor.html |access-date=2023-05-14 |issn=0362-4331}} She died of lung cancer in September 1995.

Bullets Over Broadway received a positive response from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 95% based on 60 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "A gleefully entertaining backstage comedy, Bullets Over Broadway features some of Woody Allen's sharpest, most inspired late-period writing and direction."{{cite Rotten Tomatoes|id=bullets_over_broadway|type=movie|title=Bullets Over Broadway|publisher_hide=y}}

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."{{cite news |last=Maslin |first=Janet |author-link=Janet Maslin |title=Film Festival Review; Allen's Ode to Theater and, as Always, New York |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 30, 1994 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D00EFDC1F3AF933A0575AC0A962958260 |access-date=September 20, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129034832/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D00EFDC1F3AF933A0575AC0A962958260 |archive-date=January 29, 2018}} 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."{{cite magazine |last=McCarthy |first=Todd |author-link=Todd McCarthy |title=Review: 'Bullets Over Broadway' |magazine=Variety |date=September 6, 1994 |url=https://variety.com/1994/film/reviews/bullets-over-broadway-2-1200438721/ |access-date=September 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304230613/http://variety.com/1994/film/reviews/bullets-over-broadway-2-1200438721/ |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=live}} 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."{{cite web |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |title=Bullets Over Broadway |newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times |date=October 28, 1994 |url=http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bullets-over-broadway-1994 |access-date=September 20, 2015 |via=RogerEbert.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171208215643/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bullets-over-broadway-1994 |archive-date=December 8, 2017 |url-status=live}}

The film grossed $13.4 million in the United States and Canada and $24.1 million internationally for a worldwide total of $37.5 million.{{cite Box Office Mojo|id=0109348|title=Bullets Over Broadway|publisher_hide=y|access-date=April 23, 2023}}{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|date=February 19, 1996|page=1|last=Klady|first=Leonard|title=B.O. with a vengeance: $9.1 billion worldwide}}

• 4th – National Board of Review{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125214358/http://nbrmp.org/awards/past.cfm?year=1994|url=http://nbrmp.org/awards/past.cfm?year=1994|title=Awards for 1994|archive-date=November 25, 2010|publisher=National Board of Review|access-date=July 20, 2020}}
• 4th – Glenn Lovell, San Jose Mercury News{{cite news|last=Lovell|first=Glenn|date=December 25, 1994 |title=The Past Picture Show the Good, the Bad and the Ugly -- a Year Worth's of Movie Memories|newspaper=San Jose Mercury News|page=3|edition=Morning Final}}
• 4th – Sean P. Means, The Salt Lake Tribune{{cite news|last=P. Means|first=Sean|date=January 1, 1995|title='Pulp and Circumstance' After the Rise of Quentin Tarantino, Hollywood Would Never Be the Same|newspaper=The Salt Lake Tribune|page=E1|edition=Final}}
• 5th – Robert Denerstein, Rocky Mountain News{{cite news|last=Denerstein|first=Robert|date=January 1, 1995|title=Perhaps It Was Best to Simply Fade to Black|newspaper=Rocky Mountain News|page=61A|edition=Final}}
• 8th – Peter Travers, Rolling Stone{{cite magazine|last=Travers|first=Peter|date=December 29, 1994|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/the-best-and-worst-movies-of-1994-180969/|title=The Best and Worst Movies of 1994|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=July 20, 2020|archive-date=January 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125152931/https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/the-best-and-worst-movies-of-1994-180969/|url-status=live}}
• 8th – Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times{{cite web |last=Turan |first=Kenneth |author-link=Kenneth Turan |date=December 25, 1994 |title=1994: YEAR IN REVIEW : No Weddings, No Lions, No Gumps |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-12-25-ca-12998-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319070002/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-12-25-ca-12998-story.html |archive-date=March 19, 2021 |access-date=July 20, 2020 |work=Los Angeles Times}}
• 8th – John Hurley, Staten Island Advance{{cite news|last=Hurley|first=John|date=December 30, 1994|title=Movie Industry Hit Highs and Lows in '94|newspaper=Staten Island Advance|page=D11}}
• 10th – Yardena Arar, Los Angeles Daily News{{cite news|last=Strauss|first=Bob|date=December 30, 1994|title=At the Movies: Quantity Over Quality|newspaper=Los Angeles Daily News|page=L6|edition=Valley}}
• 11th – Janet Maslin, The New York Times{{cite web|last=Maslin|first=Janet|date=December 27, 1994|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/27/movies/critic-s-notebook-the-good-bad-and-in-between-in-a-year-of-surprises-on-film.html|title=CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; The Good, Bad and In-Between In a Year of Surprises on Film|work=The New York Times|access-date=July 19, 2020|archive-date=July 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719130530/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/27/movies/critic-s-notebook-the-good-bad-and-in-between-in-a-year-of-surprises-on-film.html|url-status=live}}
• Top 9 (not ranked) – Dan Webster, The Spokesman-Review{{cite news|last=Webster|first=Dan|date=January 1, 1995|title=In Year of Disappointments, Some Movies Still Delivered|newspaper=The Spokesman-Review|edition=Spokane|page=2}}
• Top 10 (listed alphabetically, not ranked) – Bob Ross, The Tampa Tribune{{cite news|last=Ross|first=Bob|date=December 30, 1994|title=1994 The Year in Entertainment|newspaper=The Tampa Tribune|page=18|edition=Final}}
• Top 10 (not ranked) – Dennis King, Tulsa World{{cite news|last=King|first=Dennis|date=December 25, 1994|title=SCREEN SAVERS In a Year of Faulty Epics, The Oddest Little Movies Made The Biggest Impact|newspaper=Tulsa World|page=E1|edition=Final Home}}
• Top 10 (not ranked) – Howie Movshovitz, The Denver Post{{cite news|last=Movshovitz|first=Howie|date= December 25, 1994 |title=Memorable Movies of '94 Independents, fringes filled out a lean year|newspaper=The Denver Post|page=E-1|edition=Rockies}}
• Top 5 runners-up (not ranked) – Scott Schuldt, The Oklahoman{{cite web|last=Schuldt|first=Scott|date=January 1, 1995|url=https://oklahoman.com/article/2488346/oklahoman-movie-critics-rank-their-favorites-for-the-year-without-a-doubt-blue-ribbon-goes-to-pulp-fiction-scott-says|title=Oklahoman Movie Critics Rank Their Favorites for the Year Without a Doubt, Blue Ribbon Goes to "Pulp Fiction," Scott Says|work=The Oklahoman|access-date=July 20, 2020|archive-date=July 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200720075932/https://oklahoman.com/article/2488346/oklahoman-movie-critics-rank-their-favorites-for-the-year-without-a-doubt-blue-ribbon-goes-to-pulp-fiction-scott-says|url-status=live}}
• Honorable mentions – Mike Clark, USA Today{{cite news|last=Clark|first=Mike|date=December 28, 1994 |title=Scoring with true life, 'True Lies' and 'Fiction.'|newspaper=USA Today|page=5D|edition=Final}}
• Honorable mention – Duane Dudek, Milwaukee Sentinel{{cite news|last=Dudek|first=Duane|date=December 30, 1994|title=1994 was a year of slim pickings|work=Milwaukee Sentinel|page=3}}
• Honorable mention – Michael MacCambridge, Austin American-Statesman{{cite news|last=MacCambridge|first=Michael|date=December 22, 1994|title=it's a LOVE-HATE thing|newspaper=Austin American-Statesman|page=38|edition=Final}}
• Guilty pleasure – Douglas Armstrong, The Milwaukee Journal{{cite news|last=Armstrong|first=Douglas|date=January 1, 1995|title=End-of-year slump is not a happy ending|newspaper=The Milwaukee Journal|page=2}}

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.{{cite magazine|last=Rooney|first=David|title=Susan Stroman to Shepherd Woody Allen's 'Bullets Over Broadway' to Stage|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/susan-stroman-shepherd-woody-allens-337857|access-date=14 August 2012|magazine=The Hollywood Reporter|date=June 14, 2012|archive-date=18 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618150152/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/susan-stroman-shepherd-woody-allens-337857|url-status=live}} The new musical premiered on Broadway at the St. James Theatre on April 10, 2014.{{cite magazine |last=Hetrick |first=Adam |url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/189909-The-Verdict-Critics-Review-Woody-Allen-Musical-Bullets-Over-Broadway |title=The Verdict: Critics Review Woody Allen Musical Bullets Over Broadway |magazine=Playbill |date=April 10, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140623083150/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/189909-The-Verdict-Critics-Review-Woody-Allen-Musical-Bullets-Over-Broadway |archive-date=June 23, 2014}} A staged reading was held in June 2013.{{cite magazine |last=Hetrick |first=Adam |url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/179080-With-Reading-Underway-Woody-Allen-Musical-Bullets-Over-Broadway-Will-Test-Legs-in-Fall-Lab |title=With Reading Underway, Woody Allen Musical Bullets Over Broadway Will Test Legs in Fall Lab |magazine=Playbill |date=June 12, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906081329/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/179080-With-Reading-Underway-Woody-Allen-Musical-Bullets-Over-Broadway-Will-Test-Legs-in-Fall-Lab |archive-date=September 6, 2013}} The cast features Zach Braff as David Shayne, Brooks Ashmanskas, Betsy Wolfe, Lenny Wolpe, and Vincent Pastore.{{cite magazine |last=Hetrick |first=Adam |url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/179577-Zach-Braff-Brooks-Ashmanskas-Betsy-Wolfe-Vincent-Pastore-Set-for-Bullets-Over-Broadway-Opening-in-April-2014 |title=Zach Braff, Brooks Ashmanskas, Betsy Wolfe, Vincent Pastore Set for Bullets Over Broadway, Opening in April 2014 |magazine=Playbill |date=June 27, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130905233933/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/179577-Zach-Braff-Brooks-Ashmanskas-Betsy-Wolfe-Vincent-Pastore-Set-for-Bullets-Over-Broadway-Opening-in-April-2014 |archive-date=September 5, 2013}} Marin Mazzie stars as Helen Sinclair,{{cite magazine |last=Hetrick |first=Adam |url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/185162-Marin-Mazzie-Lands-Coveted-Leading-Role-in-Woody-Allen-Musical-Bullets-Over-Broadway?tsrc=hpt2 |title=Marin Mazzie Lands Coveted Leading Role in Woody Allen Musical Bullets Over Broadway |magazine=Playbill |date=December 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110131702/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/185162-Marin-Mazzie-Lands-Coveted-Leading-Role-in-Woody-Allen-Musical-Bullets-Over-Broadway?tsrc=hpt2 |archive-date=January 10, 2014}} and Karen Ziemba appears as Eden Brent.{{cite magazine |last=Hetrick |first=Adam |url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/186325-Karen-Ziemba-Joins-Woody-Allens-Bullets-Over-Broadway-Casting-Now-Complete?tsrc=hph |title=Karen Ziemba Joins Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway; Casting Now Complete |magazine=Playbill |date=January 9, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110131700/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/186325-Karen-Ziemba-Joins-Woody-Allens-Bullets-Over-Broadway-Casting-Now-Complete?tsrc=hph |archive-date=January 10, 2014}} 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". The musical closed on August 24, 2014, after 156 performances and 33 previews.{{cite magazine |last1=Hetrick |first1=Adam |last2=Gans |first2=Andrew |url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/curtain-comes-down-on-woody-allen-musical-bullets-over-broadway |title=Curtain Comes Down on Woody Allen Musical Bullets Over Broadway |magazine=Playbill |date=August 24, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826114933/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/curtain-comes-down-on-woody-allen-musical-bullets-over-broadway |archive-date=August 26, 2014}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb title}}
• {{Mojo title}}
• {{Rotten Tomatoes}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20101214100712/http://bostonreview.net/BR20.1/stone.html Where's Woody? in Boston Review]: article discussing the Nietzschean influences in Bullets Over Broadway

{{Woody Allen}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bullets Over Broadway}}

Category:1994 films

Category:1994 black comedy films

Category:1990s American films

Category:1994 crime comedy films

Category:1990s English-language films

Category:1990s satirical films

Category:American black comedy films

Category:American crime comedy films

Category:American satirical films

Category:English-language crime comedy films

Category:Films about playwrights

Category:Films about actors

Category:Films about theatre

Category:Films adapted into plays

Category:Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award–winning performance

Category:Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe–winning performance

Category:Films directed by Woody Allen

Category:Films with screenplays by Woody Allen

Category:Films with screenplays by Douglas McGrath

Category:Films produced by Robert Greenhut

Category:Films set in 1928

Category:Films set in a theatre

Category:Films set in New York City

Category:Films set in the Roaring Twenties

Category:Films shot in New York City

Category:Mafia comedy films

Category:Miramax films

Category:English-language black comedy films