Travis Simpkins

The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985): Woody Allen, Mia Farrow and Jeff Daniels

Written and directed by Woody Allen, The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) ranks amongst the filmmaker's own favorites, and he considered it to be the closest translation from vision to film of all his works. Part of the affection Allen has for the film has to do with the theatre scenes, which were shot in the neighborhood movie theater where he spent much of his time as a youth. The story concerns an unloved waitress during the Great Depression, who watches the same film again and again, and is amazed when one of the actors exits the film into the real world and proclaims his love for her. The performances are great all around, including Mia Farrow, Jeff Daniels and Danny Aiello.

The Purple Rose of Cairo. 1985. Woody Allen

"The Purple Rose of Cairo"- movie trailer

Take the Money and Run (1969): Woody Allen

After the craziness and lack of organization he experienced on Casino Royale (1967), Woody Allen resolved to start directing his own films. With Take the Money and Run (1969), Allen opted for an ambitious triple duty... as writer, director and star. Doing everything himself proved to be a winning formula for Allen, and forged a film making career for him that has now entered it's sixth decade. Often credited as being the first "Mockumentary", Allen's slapstick style in Take the Money and Run would serve to aid him in his subsequent early films. Made on a budget, the prison scenes were actually filmed at San Quentin, with real inmates serving as extras. Full of original antics, and moving at a frantic pace, Take the Money and Run was a fitting and admirable directorial debut.

The film follows Virgil Starkwell's (Woody Allen) life of crime, in a documentary style, from his awkward upbringing...