Woody Allen: November 2011

MOVIE: September (1987)

September is best known as the movie Woody Allen made twice, bang on top of each other, and still brought in on time and on budget. He decided the casting wasn't working, switched some actors and roles, and altogether dumped Sam Shepard (who subsequently had very uncomplimentary things to say about Allen as a director of actors). That was some kind of achievement and said reams about Allen's efficiency and adaptability as a filmmaker. Unhappily, the congratulations end there, for September is the single most excruciating viewing experience the Woodman ever invited audiences to share.

You could say September is Interiors without the laughs (joke: there are no laughs in Interiors either), without the pull of the Hamptons shore outside the windows, and without the chill, elegant eye of Gordon Willis behind the camera. Members of a thoroughly unappealing family convene for a weekend in Vermont. Over the course of it, almost everybody reveals a lurking preference to have a new significant other in his or her life. You will not care who, how, or why, or acquire any insights into the mysteries of human relationships. Just as Maureen Stapleton brought the breath of life to the emotionally stunted mollusks in Interiors, so here Elaine Stritch injects some sting as Mia Farrow's irrepressibly bitchy mother. The other cast members are Sam Waterston, Dianne Wiest (fresh from her Hannah and Her Sisters Oscar®), Denholm Elliott, and Jack Warden. Them you may sympathize with, for theirs is a thankless task. --Richard T. Jameson

MOVIE: Radio Days (1987)

A sweet and clever combination of anecdotes and autobiography, Radio Days draws heavily on Woody Allen's childhood. Fittingly, the unfolding episodes are woven together by music--lovely hits of the 1940s like "In the Mood" and "That Old Feeling." Some episodes are built around radio itself (like the burglars who answer the phone in a house they're burgling and win a radio contest), and others center on the life of a young Jewish boy (Seth Green, clearly playing a version of Allen himself as a child). Though light in tone, Radio Days is an ambitious re-creation not simply of an era, but of radio itself. Nowadays radio is little more than a way to sell pop tunes, but it used to transmit dreams; watching this movie, you get a taste of how inspiring this simpler medium could be. --Bret Fetzer

MOVIE: Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

Considered by many to be Woody Allen's best film, even over Annie Hall. Hannah and Her Sisters follows a multitude of characters: Hannah (Mia Farrow), who plays den mother to her extended family; her sister Lee (Barbara Hershey), emotional and a bit of a flake, who's involved with a much older artist (Max Von Sydow), who treats her like a child; and Hannah's other sister, Holly (Dianne Wiest), a neurotic who feels incapable of managing her life. Hannah's husband Elliot (Michael Caine) falls in love with Lee, which sets off a series of upheavals. Allen gives one of his best performances as Hannah's ex-husband Mickey, who--much like Allen himself--is obsessed with death and unhappiness. But a simple summary doesn't begin to capture the warmth and intimacy of this movie; though the story follows a capsizing family, the outcome is surprising, joyous, and richly human. --Bret Fetzer

MUSIC: Randomize Soundtrack List III

I'm Getting Sentimental Over You - Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra

American Patrol - Glenn Miller & His Orchestra

Take the 'A' Train - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra

South American Way - Carmen Miranda

I'm in the Mood For Love - Erroll Garner

DOWNLOAD THIS LIST (14.8 mb)

MOVIE: The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)

One of the high points of Woody Allen's career. Cecilia (Mia Farrow), a depression-era waitress married to a brutish husband (Danny Aiello), finds her only escape at the movies, her current favorite being a light comedy about an explorer among socialites, called The Purple Rose of Cairo. She sees it so many times that the main character, Tom Baxter (Jeff Daniels), falls in love with her and steps off the screen to woo her. When news of this gets back to the movie studio, the producers send the actor who played Baxter (also Daniels) to convince Baxter to get back on the screen. The script is one of Allen's funniest, but underlying the whole story is a current of sadness that gives the movie's ending a surprising impact. Allen himself considers The Purple Rose of Cairo to be his personal favorite of his own films. A gem. --Bret Fetzer

Dianne Wiest

Arguably her most beloved role came as Peg Boggs, the kindly Avon Lady who discovers the titular Edward Scissorhands (1990). Wiest returned to Woody Allen in 1994 for Bullets Over Broadway (1994), a superb comedy set in 1920s New York, winning her second Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her magnificent portrayal of Helen Sinclair, a boozy, glamorous and neurotic star of the stage, who could made the words "Don't speak!" the funniest sentence ever captured on film. Recently enjoying great success with witchy roles in the film Practical Magic (1998) and the TV mini-series "The 10th Kingdom" (2000), Dianne Wiest lives in New York City with her two adopted daughters, Emily and Lily.

Diane Keaton

Diane Keaton was a California native who studied Drama at Santa Ana College before dropping out to study at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. After appearing in summer stock for several months, she got her first major stage role in the Broadway rock musical "Hair". As understudy to the lead, she gained attention by not removing any of her clothing. In 1970, Woody Allen cast her in his Broadway play "Play It Again, Sam", which had a successful run. It was during this time that she became involved with Allen and appeared in a number of his films. The first one was Play It Again, Sam (1972), the screen adaptation of the stage play. That same year Francis Ford Coppola cast her as Kay in the Oscar-winning The Godfather (1972) and she was on her way to stardom. She reprised that role in the film's first sequel, The Godfather: Part II (1974). She then appeared with Allen again in Sleeper (1973) and Love and Death (1975).

Mia Farrow

Janet Margolin

Pretty, demure-looking Janet Margolin was born in New York City in 1943 and educated at the New York High School of Performing Arts. The long-haired brunette was discovered for films by director Frank Perry as she was making great strides as a teen on Broadway. He saw her in the play "Daughter of Silence," for which she earned a Tony nomination, and took her immediately to Hollywood, casting her as the schizophrenic lass in David and Lisa (1962) opposite Keir Dullea. She bowled over the critics. The movie, which was praised for its handling of delicate, mature subject matter, should have paved the way to stardom for Janet but strangely didn't. She churned out uneventful second leads in such notable fare as Bus Riley's Back in Town (1965), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), andNevada Smith (1966). Though she had better luck with her ingenue roles in Enter Laughing(1967) and Woody Allen's Take the Money and Run (1969), the offers starting drying up by decade's end and she turned to TV work. Woody used her again, albeit briefly, in Annie Hall (1977). After a brief first marriage, Janet met and married actor Ted Wass of TV's "Soap" (1977) and"Blossom" (1990) fame. Janet was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and died at age 50.

Tony Roberts

Versatility and ability to portray a variety of characters over four decades on stage, screen, and television have made Tony Roberts one of the busiest actors in America. He is a graduate of the High School of Music and Arts, which merged with the High School of Performing Arts to become LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, where he majored in theater and studied acting with Alvina Krause. Tony is the son of Radio and Television announcer Ken Roberts, one of the founding members of AFTRA, and has himself served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Screen Actor's Guild and Actor's Equity Association. He is currently the President of Theatre Authority - an organization established by the entertainment unions to oversee benefit performances. Tony has appeared in dozens and dozens of films including Stardust Memories (1980),Star Spangled Girl (1971), The Million Dollar Duck (1971), The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), Popcorn (1991), Amityville 3-D (1983),Key Exchange (1985), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Radio Days (1987) and Switch (1991). His theater credits included "Sugar", "Don't Drink the Water", "Arsenic and Old Lace" and "South Pacific".

Julie Kavner

Julie went in to audition for a guest spot on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. They loved her, but felt she wasn't right for the part. When 'Rhoda' was created, they knew they wanted her for the part of Brenda. The role was written with her in mind.Graduated from San Diego State University along with actor Carl Weathers in 1971.Made her first great personal hit in Los Angeles "Little Theatre" in Robert Patrick's "Cheep Theatricks" singing a mock-ecological song called "Don't Poison the Piranhas".Attended Beverly Hills High School. Went to the same High School as Angelina Jolie, Michael Klesic, Nicolas Cage, Corben Bernsen, Lenny Kravitz, David Schwimmer, Jonathan Silverman, and Richard Dreyfuss. Will not allow cameras to film her doing the voices of the Simpsons characters. Attended Camp JCA in Barton Flats, California for several summers. Is frequently cast in films by Woody Allen. Has lived with producer David Davis since 1976.

Woody Allen