Annie Hall (1977)

Director:

Woody Allen

Writers:

Woody Allen (written by) and
Marshall Brickman (written by)

Release Date:

20 April 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

A nervous romance.

Plot:

Neurotic New York comedian Alvy Singer falls in love with the ditsy Annie Hall.

Plot Keywords:

Urban | Opposites Attract | Pygmalion | Love Affair | Self Referential

Awards:

Won 4 Oscars. Another 24 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Woody Allen	...	Alvy Singer
Diane Keaton	...	Annie Hall
Tony Roberts	...	Rob
Carol Kane	...	Allison
Paul Simon	...	Tony Lacey
Shelley Duvall	...	Pam
Janet Margolin	...	Robin
Colleen Dewhurst	...	Mrs. Hall
Christopher Walken	...	Duane Hall (as Christopher Wlaken)
Donald Symington	...	Mr. Hall
Helen Ludlam	...	Grammy Hall
Mordecai Lawner	...	Mr. Singer
Joan Neuman	...	Mrs. Singer (as Joan Newman)
Jonathan Munk	...	Alvy Singer - Age 9
Ruth Volner	...	Alvy's Aunt

Also Known As:

A Roller Coaster Named Desire (USA) (working title)
Anhedonia (USA) (working title)
It Had to Be Jew (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | South Korea:12 | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Brazil:14 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:S | France:U | Iceland:L | Netherlands:AL | Norway:16 (original rating) | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:15 (re-rating) (2001) | UK:15 (video rating) (1986) | UK:AA (original rating) | USA:PG | West Germany:6

Filming Locations:

2nd Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Rollins-Joffe Productions

Trivia:

The first rough cut ran 2 hours and 20 minutes. Among the scenes later eliminated were: segments showing Alvy's former classmates in the present day; Alvy as a teenager; a scene in a junk-food restaurant (featuring Danny Aiello); extensive additional scenes featuring Carol Kane, Janet Margolin, Colleen Dewhurst and Shelley Duvall; and a fantasy segment at Madison Square Garden featuring the New York Knicks competing against a team of five great philosophers. Christopher Walken's driving scene was also cut, but was restored a week before the film was completed. New material for the ending was filmed on three occasions, but most was discarded. The final montage was a late addition.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Alvie, Annie & Max are driving to Brooklyn, a police car can be seen on the freeway behind them slowing down traffic to keep it out of shot.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Alvy Singer: [addressing the camera] There's an old joke - um... two elderly women are at a Catskill mountain resort, and one of 'em says, "Boy, the food at this place is really terrible." The other one says, "Yeah, I know; and such small portions." Well, that's essentially how I feel about life - full of loneliness, and misery, and suffering, and unhappiness, and it's all over much too quickly. The...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Christopher Lee/Meat Loaf (#3.15)" (1978)

Soundtrack:

Sleepy Lagoon

I Forgot My Mantra....

Woody Allen's seminal 1977 romantic comedy "Annie Hall" is not only laugh-out-loud funny (with some of the most quotable dialogue ever written for the screen...this is the "Casablanca" of comedies, folks) but also sweet and charming (due in large part because of Diane Keaton's smashing performance as the title character, the flighty singer from Wisconsin with a quirky fashion sense and "neat" outlook on life) without ever turning trite or sappy like so many romantic comedies tend to do. Allen wisely deconstructed the genre with his non-linear story-line (something that was later done to even greater effect with a more recent and profound look at relationships, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind") and charming little theatrical tricks like talking to the audience or pulling extras into the scene for their opinions on what's been going on. It keeps the viewer off guard and allows for a free flow of comedic and philosophical ideas that might otherwise not have found their way into a more traditional film.

In his latter years, Allen's best work has been when he is not part of the cast (my personal favorites being "Bulletts over Broadway," "Sweet and Lowdown," and the recent "Match Point"). "Annie Hall" was made in his heyday when he could still pull off playing a neurotic New York Jewish comedienne with charm and panache. There's something innocent and benign about his obsessions here, as this was long before the Woody/Soon-Yi fiasco and the days of grossly miscasting himself against younger female co-stars. Yes, Mr. Allen has been artsier (witness "Manhattan") and more satirical (witness "Zelig") but here, with Diane Keaton as his muse, he was never more charming or funnier.