I recently went to see an old Frank Sinatra movie called Pal Joey that was showing at an old 1920's era theater in Tampa. I was shocked to note that the plot seems to be the same as Purple Rain. Some of the scenes are almost exactly the same also. I'm not saying it was stolen, but it certainly was a very heavy influence. The comparison that comes to my mind is how Rent is based on La Boheme. I'm new here - so this might be old news. Has anyone else seen this movie and noticed the similarities. There's no way it is a coincidence, imo.