Love and Death (1975)

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer:

Woody Allen (written by)

Release Date:

28 August 1975 (West Germany)

Genre:

Comedy | War

Tagline:

The Comedy Sensation of the Year!

Plot:

In czarist Russia, a neurotic soldier and his distant cousin formulate a plot to assassinate Napoleon.

Plot Keywords:

Army | Russia | Loveless Marriage | Convention | Russian Dance

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Woody Allen	...	Boris
Diane Keaton	...	Sonja
Georges Adet	...	Old Nehamkin
Frank Adu	...	Drill Sergeant
Edmond Ardisson	...	Priest
Féodor Atkine	...	Mikhail (as Feodor Atkine)
Albert Augier	...	Waiter
Yves Barsacq	...	Rimsky (as Yves Barsaco)
Lloyd Battista	...	Don Francisco
Jack Berard	...	General Lecoq
Eva Betrand	...	Woman Hygiene Class
George Birt	...	Doctor
Yves Brainville	...	Andre
Gérard Buhr	...	Servant (as Gerard Buhr)
Brian Coburn	...	Dimitri
Henri Coutet	...	Minskov
Patricia Crown	...	Cheerleader
Henri Czarniak	...	Ivan (as Henry Czarniak)
Despo Diamantidou	...	Mother
Sandor Elès	...	Soldier 2 (as Sandor Eles)
Luce Fabiole	...	Grandmother
Florian	...	Uncle Nikolai
Jacqueline Fogt	...	Ludmilla
Sol Frieder	...	Voskovec (as Sol L. Frieder)
Olga Georges-Picot	...	Countess Alexandrovna
Harold Gould	...	Anton Inbedkov
Harry Hankin	...	Uncle Sasha
Jessica Harper	...	Natasha
Tony Jay	...	Vladimir Maximovitch
Tutte Lemkow	...	Pierre
Jack Lenoir	...	Krapotkin
Leib Lensky	...	Father Andre
Anne Lonnberg	...	Olga
Roger Lumont	...	First Baker
Alfred Lutter III	...	Young Boris
Edward Marcus	...	Raskov (as Ed Marcus)
Jacques Maury	...	Second
Narcissa McKinley	...	Cheerleader
Aubrey Morris	...	Soldier 4
Denise Péron	...	Spanish Countess (as Denise Peron)
Beth Porter	...	Anna
Alan Rossett	...	Guard
Shimen Ruskin	...	Borslov
Percival Russel	...	Berdykov
Chris Sanders	...	Joseph
Zvee Scooler	...	Father
C.A.R. Smith	...	Father Nikolai
Fred Smith	...	Soldier
Bernard Taylor	...	Soldier 3
Clément Thierry	...	Jacques (as Clement-Thierry)
Alan Tilvern	...	Sergeant
James Tolkan	...	Napoleon
Hélène Vallier	...	Madame Wolfe (as Helene Vallier)
Howard Vernon	...	Gen. Leveque / Sidney Applebaum
Glenn Williams	...	Soldier 1
Jacob Witkin	...	Sushkin
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rebecca Potok	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Norman Rose	...	Death (voice) (uncredited)
Andrée Tainsy	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Woody Allen

Writing credits
Woody Allen		(written by)

Produced by
Fred T. Gallo	....	associate producer
Charles H. Joffe	....	producer
Martin Poll	....	executive producer

Cinematography by
Ghislain Cloquet		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ron Kalish		(film editor)
Ralph Rosenblum		(edited by)
George Hively		(uncredited)

Casting by
Miriam Brickman
Juliet Taylor		(casting: MDA)
Blanche Wiesenfeld

Art Direction by
Willy Holt

Costume Design by
Gladys de Segonzac		(as Gladys De Segonzac)

Makeup Department
Renée Guidet	....	hairdresser (as Renee Guidet)
Anatole Paris	....	makeup artist
Marie-Madeleine Paris	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Jean-Marie Durand	....	unit manager
Patrick Gordon	....	assistant unit manager
Suzanne Wiesenfeld	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bernard Cohn	....	second assistant director
Paul Feyder	....	first assistant director
Zsuzsanna Mills	....	second assistant director: Hungary (uncredited)

Art Department
Louis Boussaroque	....	outside buyer
Jean Brunet	....	standby propman
Marc Frédérix	....	assistant art director (as Marc Frederix)
Claude Reytinas	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Daniel Brisseau	....	sound mixer
Gérard de Lagarde	....	boom operator (as Gerard De Lagarde)
Al Gramaglia	....	re-recording mixer: Magno Sound, Inc.
Dan Sable	....	sound editing: Magnofex
Michael Kirchberger	....	assistant sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Peter Dawson	....	assistant special effects
Kit West	....	chief special effects

Stunts
Gábor Piroch	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Paul Apoteker	....	still photographer
Philippe Houdart	....	second assistant cameraman
René Strasser	....	head grip (as Rene Strasser)
Guy Testa-Rossa	....	first assistant cameraman
Michel Vocoret	....	head gaffer
Daniel Vogel	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Andree Demarez	....	wardrobe
Imre Béres	....	dresser (uncredited)
Imre Béres	....	tailor (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Marilyn McLaren	....	assistant film editor

Music Department
Felix Giglio	....	music supervisor
Sergei Prokofiev	....	music by (as S. Prokofiev)

Other crew
Catherine Prévert	....	script supervisor (as Catherine Prevert)
Adele Sanders	....	auditor
Marie-José Testard	....	accountant
Blanche Wiesenfeld	....	production secretary

Production Companies

• Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions

Distributors

• United Artists (1975) (USA) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1975) (France) (theatrical) (as Les Artistes Associés )
• Key Video (1987) (USA) (VHS) (For nCBS/Fox)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• New Star (2008) (Greece) (theatrical) (re-issue)
• MGM/UA Communications Co. (????) (USA) (TV)

Other Companies

• Computer Opticals  titles by
• Hungarofilm  cooperation
• Mafilm  cooperation
• Phonogram  musical recordings courtesy of (as Phonogram, Inc.)
• Vox / Turnabout Production  musical recordings courtesy of

Also Known As:

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

France | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Norway:16 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | Australia:PG | Netherlands:6 | Brazil:12 | USA:PG (certificate #24301) | USA:TV-MA (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Budapest, Hungary

Company:

Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions

Trivia:

Filmed mainly in Hungary, with some scenes done in Paris. It wouldn't be until 1996 and Everyone Says I Love You (1996) that Woody Allen would make another film outside of the New York area.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the duel scene the behavior of the snow when walked on reveals it to be foam.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Boris:How I got into this predicament I'll never know. Absolutely incredible. To be executed for a crime I never committed. Of course, isn't all mankind in the same boat? Isn't all mankind ultimately executed for a crime it never committed? The difference is that all men go eventually, but I go six o'clock tomorrow morning. I was supposed to go at five o'clock but I have a smart lawyer. Got leniency.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Classics from the Vault: Mel Brooks or Woody Allen? (#2.4)" (2011)

Soundtrack:

String Quintet In E, Op. 13 No. 5: Minuet

A thinking comedy

One of the funniest movies of all time. The War & Peace and Chekov slant gives it a great feel. Allen and Keaton are at their best, and funnier than Grace & Burns, Hepburn & Tracey, etc..

One of the better lines, "To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering one must not love, but then one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer, not to love is to suffer, to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love, to be happy then is to suffer but suffering makes one unhappy, therefore to be unhappy one must love or love to suffer or suffer from too much happiness. I hope you're getting this down."

This classic comedy is very rarely known, and worth watching it over and over.