The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)

Set in New Jersey during the Great Depression in 1935, the film tells the story of Cecilia, a clumsy waitress who goes to the movies to escape her bleak life and loveless, abusive marriage to Monk, whom she has attempted to leave on numerous occasions.

The latest film Cecilia sees is a fictitious RKO Radio Pictures film, The Purple Rose of Cairo. It is the story of a rich Manhattan playwright named Henry who goes on an exotic vacation to Egypt with companions Jason and Rita. While in Egypt, the three meet archaeologist Tom Baxter. Tom is brought back for a “madcap Manhattan weekend” where he falls head-over-heels for Kitty Haynes, a chanteuse at the Copacabana. After Cecilia sits through the film several times, Tom, noticing her, breaks the fourth wall, and emerges from the inner film’s black-and-white world into the full color real world the other side of the cinema screen. He tells Cecilia that he is attracted to her after noticing her watching him so many times, and she takes him around her New Jersey town.