Play It Again, Sam (1972)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Herbert Ross

Writers:

Woody Allen (play)
Woody Allen (screenplay)

Release Date:

4 May 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Here's laughing at you, kid.

Plot:

A neurotic film critic tries to get over his wife leaving him by dating again, much by the help of a married couple and his alter ego, Humphrey Bogart.

Plot Keywords:

Dating | Neurotic | Advice | Spurned Man | Movie Theater

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Woody Allen	...	Allan
Diane Keaton	...	Linda
Tony Roberts	...	Dick
Jerry Lacy	...	Bogart
Susan Anspach	...	Nancy
Jennifer Salt	...	Sharon
Joy Bang	...	Julie
Viva	...	Jennifer
Susanne Zenor	...	Discotheque Girl (as Suzanne Zenor)
Diana Davila	...	Museum Girl
Mari Fletcher	...	Fantasy Sharon
Michael Greene	...	Hood #1
Ted Markland	...	Hood #2

Also Known As:

Aspirins for Three

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:14A (Canadian Home Video rating) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:PG (Approved No. 25168) | West Germany:16 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

First screen teaming of Woody Allen and Diane Keaton.

Goofs:

Continuity: In his struggle with the hair-dryer in the bathroom, Allan knocks out half the contents of the medicine cabinet. In the next shot, the bottles he knocked out are back in the cabinet.

Quotes:

Dick: Allan, you have invested your emotions in a losing stock, it was wiped out, it dropped off the board. Now what do you do Allan? You reinvest. Maybe in a more stable stock. Something with long term growth possibilities.
Allan: Who are you going to fix me up with, General Motors?

Movie Connections:

Edited into "Intimate Portrait: Diane Keaton" (2001)

Soundtrack:

As Time Goes By

Play it again, Woody

Directed by Herbert Ross, "Play It Again, Sam" (1972) is Woody Allen's film from the beginning to the final credits. Allen wrote the screenplay based on his Broadway play and he starred as Allan, a neurotic movie buff who writes the film reviews (what else?). Allan not just loves movies; he lives in the movies' world and constantly takes advices on how to get the girls from the legendary hero of his all time favorite movie "Casablanca", Humphrey Bogart's Rick. I am not a fan of "Casablanca" at all but if my favorite Artist is so much in love with it, maybe I should give it another try.

When Allan's wife Nancy leaves him, his best friend Dick (Tony Roberts) and his lovely wife Linda (Diane Keaton) try to fix him up with several eligible pretty young ladies. Very typically for Woody's characters, he is a total failure with them. The only woman he feels comfortable with, he shares the same insecurities and neuroses, the one whose Birthday he remembers and who he desperately wants is Linda, his best friend's wife. "Play It Again, Sam" is a remarkable movie for several reasons and one of them - it was the beginning of a wonderful working (and not only) relationship between Allen and Keaton that would result in the movies "Bananas" (1971), "Sleeper" (1973), "Love and Death" (1975), "Annie Hall" (1977), "Interiors" (1978), "Manhattan" (1979), "Radio Days" (1987), and "Manhattan Murder Mystery" (1993) and will bring them both well deserved fame and Oscars. Made 34 years ago, "Play It Again, Sam" holds up very well and I would call it my favorite earlier Woody's film and the best Woody's film that he has not directed.

8/10