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Blu-ray Review The Purple Rose of Cairo Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

Matt Hough

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The Purple Rose of Cairo Blu-ray Review

Woody Allen’s deft amalgamation of comedy, romance, fantasy, and, ultimately, heartbreak makes The Purple Rose of Cairo one of his masterpieces. Borrowing some fantastical ideas from Buster Keaton’s Sherlock, Jr. and then taking them to a farcical place before bringing his effervescent comedy inevitably back down to earth, The Purple Rose of Cairo offers one of his best-ever casts performing Woody Allen sight and verbal gags when they were at their apex. Bittersweet is an adjective that could have been invented with this movie in mind.



Studio: MGM

Distributed By: Twilight Time

Video Resolution and Encode: 1080P/AVC

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Audio: English 1.0 DTS-HDMA (Mono)

Subtitles: English SDH

Rating: PG

Run Time: 1 Hr. 22 Min.

Package Includes: Blu-ray

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Disc Type: BD50 (dual layer)

Region: All

Release Date: 01/20/2014

MSRP: $29.95




The Production Rating: 5/5

Depression era waitress Cecilia (Mia Farrow) gets no appreciation at home from her brutish, unfaithful husband Monk (Danny Aiello), but all that fades into insignificance when she loses herself in the fantasies at the local movie house. After being fired from her job, Cecilia sits though their latest offering The Purple Rose of Cairo so often that Tom Baxter (Jeff Daniels), a worldly adventurer in the film, walks right off the screen and into the audience, smitten with the fragile, dainty creature. They begin a whirlwind romance even though Tom’s experience in the real world is limited to only what his character knows in the film he’s just abandoned. Meanwhile, the other movie characters can’t continue the story without Tom and begin complaining while the astonished audience demands its money back for not getting the film they were expecting. When word of what’s happening reaches Hollywood, Gil Shepherd (Jeff Daniels) who created the character of Tom Baxter hops on a plane to New Jersey to attempt to persuade Tom to get back on screen so that producer Raoul Hirsch (Alexander Cohen) won’t start spreading around Tinsel Town that Gil's characters can’t be trusted to stay on screen. Once there, Gil meets Cecilia and he, too, is smitten with her.

Even if the idea of characters in a movie coming off the screen or characters in real life entering a film isn’t a new one, Woody Allen’s spin on the idea is so fresh and funny that originality is really beside the point. The corny RKO feature that Tom Baxter escapes is filled with character types (a playboy, his best friend, a countess, a Communist, a nightclub singer, a priest) who once they’re on their own provide their own hilarious byplay to what’s going on in the outside world that they’re witnessing (Zoe Caldwell’s Countess is filled with one-liner putdowns that are priceless). But the central part of the film remains the touching love stories that the dreamy, fantasy-prone Cecilia plays with two identical images but two entirely different men: the guileless fictional Tom Baxter (who even has an enchanting scene in a brothel with a gaggle of prostitutes whom he charms) and the career-obsessed movie star hopeful Gil Shepherd. Tom takes her dining and dancing but has only movie money with which to pay for the evening (oops!) while Gil and Cecilia bond by enjoying a musical moment with Gil singing “I’m Alabamy Bound” to Cecilia’s ukulele accompaniment. The harsh contrast between Cecilia’s hand-to-mouth depression-era existence (it’s 1935) and the luxurious fantasy world of The Purple Rose of Cairo and the real world Hollywood dream factories are continually made apparent as Allen adroitly jumps from one to the other. And when the inevitable letdown comes and we must move completely back to the real world, Allen rescues Cecilia (and us) by ushering us right back into the world of total fantasy and glowing sophistication even if it's only for a moment.

Once again, Allen offers Mia Farrow a role that combines her own dewy-eyed, willowy soft screen presence with the stars-in-your-eyes, bowled over amazement that two awe-struck men (albeit played by the same looking person) would each pledge his love for her. It’s an ultimately sweet but heartbreaking performance and one of her greatest achievements. Jeff Daniels gets to show some early career versatility as Tom/Gil etching two believably different characterizations each within a narrow sphere of existence making his work all the more admirable. (Both Farrow and Daniels were nominated for Golden Globes for their work.) Danny Aiello is a creep personified as the abusive, inconsiderate husband Monk, and Mia’s real-life sister Stephanie has a couple of very good scenes as her screen sister. As the confused characters in the movie who kvetch and insult one another and the audience once Tom leaves them high and dry, Edward Herrmann, John Wood, Van Johnson, Deborah Rush, Karen Akers (who gets to sing a delectable version of “Let’s Take It One Day at a Time”), Zoe Caldwell, Annie Joe Edwards, and Milo O’Shea are aces. Dianne Wiest seems to be having a lot of fun as the prostitute whose heart is touched by Tom’s purity and innocence.



Video Rating: 4.5/5  3D Rating: NA

The film is framed at its theatrical 1.85:1 and is presented in 1080p using the AVC codec. Looking exactly as I remember it with its brownish overall tones to suggest an earlier era, the sharpness is quite wonderful, and color is just right with believable skin tones. The black and white movie scenes offer outstanding grayscale with rich black levels and clean whites. Contrast throughout is consistent and appealing. There are occasional bits of dust and dirt to be seen (more so later in the movie), but it’s an overall fine addition to the Allen classics presently on Blu-ray. The movie has been divided into 24 chapters.



Audio Rating: 4.5/5

The DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 sound mix is consistent with the Woody Allen audio mantra of mono mixes from this era of his career. Dialogue so crucial to the movie’s gags has been expertly recorded and is presented in a hiss-free environment. Music by Dick Hyman complements the visuals to perfection without ever getting in the way of the dialogue. Excerpts from Top Hat which close the picture do have a bit of hiss, but that’s likely inherent in the movie print being shown and not the fault of the sound mix.



Special Features Rating: 2.5/5

Isolated Score Track: the songs and background music are presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo.

Theatrical Trailer (1:37, HD)

MGM 90th Anniversary Trailer (2:06, HD)

Enclosed Six-Page Booklet: contains some stills from the film, original poster art on the back cover, and film historian Julie Kirgo’s enthusiastic essay on the movie.



Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Woody Allen won the New York Film Critics Best Screenplay Award as well as the Golden Globe for his original script, and The Purple Rose of Cairo remains one of his true signature achievements now offered in a lovely Blu-ray transfer. There are only 3,000 copies of this Blu-ray available. Those interested should go to www.screenarchives.com to see if product is still in stock. Information about the movie can also be found via Facebook at www.facebook.com/twilighttimemovies. Highly recommended!


Reviewed By: Matt Hough


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Mark-W

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Thanks for another great review, Matt!


If I am to pick my favorite Woody Allen film based on which one I have seen the most times, I think this would be it.


I am thrilled that Twilight Time appears to have set up a schedule to give us Allen films in regular intervals. I can only hope this continues until I have every Allen film on Blu-ray without having to use my code-free Blu-ray player.
 

Kevin EK

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Back when the movie came out, I remember Michael Ventura's capsule review of it in the LA Weekly - He essentially said that the highest compliment he could pay would be to say as little as possible - other than "SEE IT!"
 

Matt Hough

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Mark Walker said:
Thanks for another great review, Matt!


If I am to pick my favorite Woody Allen film based on which one I have seen the most times, I think this would be it.


I am thrilled that Twilight Time appears to have set up a schedule to give us Allen films in regular intervals. I can only hope this continues until I have every Allen film on Blu-ray without having to use my code-free Blu-ray player.

Yes, Cecilia is someone I can relate to quite a bit since I spent many a happy hour in movie theaters lost in the worlds of fantasy that they presented. How often I wished I could jump into the screen of some of the films I was enjoying!


And to think Woody did this and Hannah and Her Sisters back-to-back: astounding!
 

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