Purple Rain Information

Purple Rain is a 1984 American rock musical drama film directed by Albert Magnoli and written by Magnoli and William Blinn. Prince makes his film debut in this movie, which was developed to showcase his particular talents, hence, the film contains several extended concert sequences. The film grossed more than US$80 million at the box office and became a cult classic. This film was the only feature film starring Prince that he did not direct.

A sequel, Graffiti Bridge, was released in 1990.

Plot

"The Kid" (Prince) is an aspiring and talented, but troubled Minneapolis musician with a difficult home life in which he avoids his house every chance he gets by spending his time rehearsing with his band during the day and performing at night. Kid meets an aspiring young singer named Apollonia (Apollonia Kotero) and they become romantically involved. The plot centers on The Kid trying not to repeat the pattern of his abusive father (Clarence Williams III) and keep his band, The Revolution, and his relationship with Apollonia, together. His main antagonist is fellow musician Morris Day and his group The Time who are seeking a way to expel Kid from the First Avenue nightclub where both bands perform on a nightly basis. Apollonia comes in the way of both when Morris offers her a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to form and perform in her own band called the Apollonia 6.

Cast

• Prince as The Kid
• Apollonia Kotero as Apollonia
• Morris Day as Morris
• Clarence Williams III as Father
• Olga Karlatos as Mother
• Jerome Benton as Jerome
• Jill Jones as Jill
• Dez Dickerson as Dez
• The Revolution as themselves
• The Time as themselves
• Lisa Coleman as Lisa
• Wendy Melvoin as Wendy

Production

Development

The movie idea was apparently developed by Prince during his "Triple Threat" tour. Initially the script was to be darker and more coherent. Prince intended to cast Vanity, leader of the girl group Vanity 6, but she left the group before filming began. Her role was initially offered to Jennifer Beals (who turned it down because she wanted to concentrate on college) before going to Apollonia Kotero, a virtual unknown at the time. Excluding Prince and his on-screen parents, almost every character in the movie is named after the actor who plays him or her.

Although the film was considered "outrageous" at that time by Warner Bros., it was finally accepted for distribution thanks to music industry PR man Howard Bloom.

Filming

Filmed almost entirely in Minneapolis, the film features many local landmarks, including the Crystal Court of the IDS Center (also shown in segments of the opening credits to The Mary Tyler Moore Show) and the legendary First Avenue nightclub. First Avenue was paid $100,000 for use of the club in filming; it was closed for 25 days. A notable error, either geographic or taxi fare related, shows Apollonia running up (and bailing on) a $37.75 cab fare going from the Greyhound Station to the nightclub. In reality, they were just across the street from each other.

The Huntington Hotel which Apollonia stayed in is located at 752 S. Main Street, Los Angeles, CA 90014. This was a late pickup shot and is shown in the movie to be across the street from First Avenue though it clearly is not. The motorcycle Prince rides in the film is a customized Hondamatic Honda CB400A.

Soundtrack

The film is tied into the album of the same name, which spawned two chart-topping singles: "When Doves Cry" and the opening number "Let's Go Crazy", while "Purple Rain" reached #2. The movie won an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. The soundtrack sold over 10 million copies in America alone, and 20 million worldwide.