When his characters agonize their ways through life, they are us. Allen's double edge is that he shows us ourselves so cleverly that we squirm while we laugh. Allen brings the cast together for the first rehearsal in a hilarious piece of revelation, and when he's finished, we know the foibles and eccentricities of each of his characters. This is a gang of Roaring Twenties-era writers and actors who operate within the magnetic field of Broadway against a backdrop of period molls, dolls, and the men who own them. Gangsters talk about arson, murder, and revenge as if they were items on a grocery list.
People get bumped off on docks as casually as an employee is reprimanded by a boss.
It's all cardboard, and it's very funny because Allen telegraphs his obvious punches with great subtlety. Diane Wiest invests Helen with the outrageous behavior of the star who knows her remaining time in the arena is short. He is the hood with a surefire ear for the dialogue of life and an unshakable determination to protect the integrity of the play he has made his own. As Cheech, his performance is nearly perfect. Watching other people mess up can be excruciatingly funny.