JACKI LYDEN, HOST:

We've been asking filmmakers, actors, writers and directors about the movies that they watch over and over again, including this one from the breakout star of "Crash."

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "BROADWAY DANNY ROSE")

WOODY ALLEN: (as Danny Rose) (Singing) Una two. Agita, my gumba...

MICHAEL PEÑA: How's it going? My name is Mike Peña. I'm an actor. And the movie that I've seen a million times, maybe even more, is "Broadway Danny Rose" written and directed by Woody Allen, starring Woody Allen himself and Mia Farrow.

(SOUNDBITE OF "BROADWAY DANNY ROSE")

ALLEN: (Singing) Za da da da da. Za da da da da.

PEÑA: I saw "Broadway Danny Rose," I think, you know, when I first started acting. The thing that I loved was the storytelling.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "BROADWAY DANNY ROSE")

ALLEN: (as Danny Rose) (Unintelligible) that when I broke into this business in New York that I could play.

PEÑA: It opens up and, you know, you have these comedians doing amazing jokes, you know? And they're really funny and inventive.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "BROADWAY DANNY ROSE")

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: (as Character) You know about the hotels being expensive and...

ALLEN: (as Danny Rose) Right.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: (as Character) ...how much it costs to stay, like $150 a day for a sleeping room. And I said to the clerk, what's cheap? And he said, I got a room for $10, but you got to make your own bed. I said, I'll take it. So he gave me a hammer and a board and some nails. That's the joke.

PEÑA: You know, you get into the world of, like, what it is to be a comic.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "BROADWAY DANNY ROSE")

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: It was backstage at the "Sullivan Show." You were brilliant. And I was there with Danny Rose. Remember Danny Rose?

PEÑA: You know, so you're looking, and then like, oh, did I tell you the story about Broadway Danny Rose? You know, he was a manager. And he had the rarest acts of all time.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "BROADWAY DANNY ROSE")

ALLEN: (as Danny Rose) You're looking for somebody for Memorial Day weekend, my blind xylophone player, OK? The man would be perfect for your room.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: (as Character) Why, I'll tell you, it's old Jewish people. They're blind. They ain't gonna pay to see a blind guy.

PEÑA: Broadway Danny Rose is a manager of like these artists. And, you know, he's not very successful, but he goes out of his way for, like, every act that he has.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "BROADWAY DANNY ROSE")

ALLEN: (as Danny Rose) What about Eddie Clark's penguin? That's a perfect - Eddie Clark and his penguin. The penguin skates on the stage dressed as a rabbi. It's hilarious. The penguin's got to be...

PEÑA: And then there's this guy that - Lou Canova - who's played by Nick Apollo Forte. You know, this singer, he's trying to make a comeback, and so Danny helps him.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "BROADWAY DANNY ROSE")

ALLEN: (as Danny Rose) Did you do the three exes?

NICK APOLLO FORTE: (as Lou Canova) That strong smile star (unintelligible)...

ALLEN: (as Danny Rose) And what you should do, like, "Funny Valentine" after you do great crooners from the past who are deceased.

PEÑA: But he's helping him with this one specific problem, and the problem is Lou's mistress, Tina, who's played by Mia Farrow. Lou wants Tina to be at his concerts.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "BROADWAY DANNY ROSE")

FORTE: (as Lou Canova) Danny, would you do me a favor tomorrow night?

ALLEN: (as Danny Rose) You name it, you got it.

FORTE: (as Lou Canova) I want you to bring Tina. I'm really crazy about her.

PEÑA: The only thing is, is that, you know, he's married. So Danny has to take over. And, you know, while he's trying to get her, Danny Rose falls in love with her.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "BROADWAY DANNY ROSE")

MIA FARROW: (as Tina Vitale) You're a smooth talker. Angeline once even predicted I would marry a Jew.

ALLEN: (as Danny Rose) She did? Did she happen to say which Jew?

FARROW: (as Tina Vitale) Yeah. A Jew or someone musical.

PEÑA: It's a movie about the absurd. One of my favorite scenes is a scene where he's - where he has this woman playing music with wine glasses.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "BROADWAY DANNY ROSE")

ALLEN: (as Danny Rose) She is the Jascha Heifetz of this instrument. She is really something. You got to see this, Philly. It's absolutely incredible.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

PEÑA: He's trying to pitch her to the guy. And he's like - I forget how it goes exactly - but he's like, not one lesson, never taken one lesson.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "BROADWAY DANNY ROSE")

ALLEN: (as Danny Rose) Never took a lesson. Never. Next year, Philly, my hand to God, she's going to be in Carnegie Hall.

PEÑA: For some reason, it just tickles my funny bone every time I see that movie. You know, if I'm going through the guide and I have like "Broadway Danny Rose," it's almost like an event.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

LYDEN: That's actor Michael Peña talking about the movie that he could watch a million times, Woody Allen's "Broadway Danny Rose." Peña's new film is called "End of Watch." It's in theaters now. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.