Yes. “When Doves Cry” has been used in films, most famously in Prince’s own 1984 movie Purple Rain , where it appears on the soundtrack and in performance sequences.

In the original movie Purple Rain

  • Purple Rain (1984) is the film that the album Purple Rain was created for, and “When Doves Cry” is one of its key songs.
  • The song is featured in the movie alongside “Purple Rain” and “Let’s Go Crazy,” helping drive the emotional arc of Prince’s character, the Kid.

As a song written for a movie

  • “When Doves Cry” was released as the lead single from the Purple Rain soundtrack, which is itself a movie soundtrack album, so in that sense it was specifically tied to a film from the start.
  • The song’s music video even incorporates footage from Purple Rain , further linking it to the movie’s imagery and story.

Other on-screen and pop‑culture use

  • Over the years, “When Doves Cry” has turned up in various TV, video, and tribute contexts, but its defining and most important movie use is still Purple Rain.
  • Later references and homages in pop culture usually call back to that original film association, underscoring how strongly the song is tied to the movie.

TL;DR: If you’re asking “has ‘When Doves Cry’ ever been in a movie?” —yes, it’s in Purple Rain , and that’s the film it was fundamentally written and released for.

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