| | | | Roxanne
(1987) |
icture a small Colorado town. The annual calendar is full of strange festivals, celebrating the pumpkin harvest or whatever. The people are either in-breeders or they are visitors.
...Except Charlie.
Charlie (Martin) is C D Bales, the town's Fire Chief. He has to put up with a lot, including a mentally sub-normal volunteer fire crew, a group of sexually frustrated lady pensioners, and a desperate desire to be loved. However, one thing really gets in the way of love, and it's as plain as the.... well, no-one mentions the nose on his face, because it's huge. Midway through the movie, he has a canary perched on it whilst writing.
Into his life come two people: Chris, a 'real' fire fighter who knows his stuff as far as putting out the flames goes, but in all other respects appears as mentally lacking as the rest of the town, and Roxanne (Hannah), a cute intelligent astronomer who manages to press all the right buttons for Charlie. However, appearances being what they are, she falls for Chris, and so the intrigue begins.
Chris knows that Roxanne is smart and that he's far from the sharpest tool in the box. So his plan (inspired by Charlie's tales of romance and what a woman likes) is to write love letters. After the first effort is... critiqued by Charlie, Chris talks Charlie into writing the love letters for him. Roxanne melts when reading them, and romance blossoms, much to Charlie's regret, as it's his heart he pours out, only to lead Chris into Roxanne's bed. However, it's only a matter of time before Roxanne finds out the truth, helped by Charlie's sister Dixie (Duvall), and then Charlie and Roxanne have a blazing row where all the truth emerges.
The final scenes show Charlie and the crew fighting their first real fire, Roxanne searching her feelings, and the town celebrating beating the fire...
 Don't forget that Roxanne is now available to order on Widescreen DVD using our special 80s Retro Assistant...
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This for me is probably Steve Martin's best movie. He's not as zany as 'The Man With Two Brains', and not as reserved as 'L A Story'. He plays the part of Charlie with intelligence and restraint.
Daryl Hannah proves why she is such a good comedy actress, much as in Splash, and it's a shame that she didn't get more roles like this.
The rest of the cast are great, although I found Rossovitch's Chris a little annoying from the outset. Stupid is as stupid does, I guess.
The Fire Crew all get their own little moments, including a very early cameo from Daman Wayans, and the Bar scene, where Charlie is called upon to come up with 20 'nose-jokes' to silence a loudmouth, is one of the 80's truly memorable movie scenes.
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The movie is based on the book 'Cyrano De Bergerac' by Edmond Rostand. It was adapted by Steve Martin himself. It's also been done by others a few times, but rarely with such comedic effect. This is why the Steve Martin character's initials are C.D.  -Thanks to Chris
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At one point in the film a character is talking to Chris about Roxanne's surname being odd and says "It's Kazanski or something like that". Iceman Kazanski was Val Kilmer's character in Top Gun (1986) which also starred 'Rick Rossovich.
When Michael J. Fox was joining the Screen Actors Guild, there was already another Michael Fox. He added the "J." in honor of Michael J. Pollard who plays "Andy," the shy, white-haired volunteer firefighter. He's the one who gets Rick Rossovich's character to go into the bookstore to buy the Jean-Paul Sartre book (which inadvertantly impresses Daryl Hannah's character) for him because he's too shy to do it himself. -Thanks to Kim Jacobsmeyer
Kevin Nealon plays one of the tennis players that insults C.D. in the opening scene of the movie, he more recently played Doug Wilson from Weeds. -Thanks to Kim Jacobsmeyer
Steve Martin often has former/present/future members of his SNL brethren starring in his films, or at least making cameos. Most people are too focused on the comedic action at the beginning, but if you look before the trouble starts, you'll notice Kevin Nealon making an appearance. He's one of the drugged-out troublemakers C.D. beats up with the tennis racket! In fact, the best view of him is when he's face-to-face with Steve and asks "Had enough yet?" right before he's eye-gouged with the (in)famous nose! -Thanks to C.T. Warren
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Rediscover your favorites! If you like
Roxanne or 80's Romantic Comedy classics, then be sure to
check out this list: ..... Can't Buy Me Love ..... Say Anything ..... Some Kind Of Wonderful ..... Sixteen Candles ..... Valley Girl ..... Switching Channels ..... Grandview, U.S.A. ..... Dance 'til Dawn ..... Don't Tell Her It's Me ..... Mannequin ..... Teen Wolf ..... Secret of My Success ..... Secret Admirer ..... Pretty In Pink ..... She's Having a Baby ..... Dream A little Dream .....[More]
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Roxanne was filmed in Nelson, British Columbia. The producers could not find a ski town in America that was anonymous enough not to detract from the storyline. The fire engine used in the movie at the time was the actual fire engine used by the volunteer fire department there in Nelson. -Thanks to Scotte Hansen
Steve Martin performed all his own stunts.
Your trivia page notes that the location for Dixie's is not in business. The restaurant known as 'Dixie's Place' is still there. It is one of the best known eatery's in town. It's actual name is 'Rickaby's' and it is located on 524 Vernon Street. You can find it on the official Nelson, B.C. site under restaurants. 'Roxanne' is actually referenced if you go to the 'Rickaby's' site. -Thanks to Steve Potts
Bales is challenged to tell 20 nose jokes. After he tells 19, he asks "How many's that?", to which he is told "fourteen!". He goes on to tell another six, making 25 in total.
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|  |  |  | | Roxanne
Locations |
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We think the fire station is on Ward street. [Thanks to Cheryl Larcombe]
We think the restaraunt (Dixie's Cafe) is actually on Vernon Street, on the next block to the Heritage Hotel. It is now a closed lot, but on the movie you can see the very wide sidewalk and parking meters, distinctive of that block of Vernon Street. Also visible on the left at one point is the corner rotunda of the council chamber building on the corner of Ward & Vernon. [Thanks to Alan Poole]
The bar scene is a bar in Vancouver called Richard's on Richard. It's nickname is Dick's on Dick. [Thanks to David Okamoto]
There is a walking tour of locations that you can take if you go to Nelson, BC.
Roxanne's House is not in Nelson. It's actually in the beautiful village of Anmore, BC - approximately 40 minutes from downtown Vancouver BC. Owned by the Piamonte family, the house is virtually identical to how it was in 1987. Even the iron bar used by Charlie to swing up to balcony to rescue Roxanne's cat is still there! In the movie the siding was a light blue - it has been replaced with the current beige siding.
The house was also used as setting for a made for TV movie entitled "The People Across the Lake" - a murder mystery. [Thanks to Mario Piamonte]
Featured Link: Roxanne's House
Can you help? Do you know any of the BC, Canada (or any other) filming locations used for Roxanne? [Please send them in]
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It's a great mix of soul, saxaphones, and classical tracks.
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Soundtrack Available:
Used Vinyl LP / Tape
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