Zelig (1983)

"Documentary" about a man who can look and act like whoever he's around, and meets various famous people.

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer:

Woody Allen

Stars:

Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Patrick Horgan

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Woody Allen	...	Leonard Zelig
Mia Farrow	...	Dr. Eudora Nesbitt Fletcher
Patrick Horgan	...	The Narrator (voice)
John Buckwalter	...	Dr. Sindell
Marvin Chatinover	...	Glandular Diagnosis Doctor
Stanley Swerdlow	...	Mexican Food Doctor
Paul Nevens	...	Dr. Birsky
Howard Erskine	...	Hypodermic Doctor
George Hamlin	...	Experimental Drugs Doctor
Ralph Bell	...	Other Doctor
Richard Whiting	...	Other Doctor
Will Hussong	...	Other Doctor
Robert Iglesia	...	Man in Barber Chair
Eli Resnick	...	Man in Park
Edward McPhillips	...	Scotsman

Storyline

Fictional documentary about the life of human chameleon Leonard Zelig, a man who becomes a celebrity in the 1920s due to his ability to look and act like whoever is around him. Clever editing places Zelig in real newsreel footage of Woodrow Wilson, Babe Ruth, and others.

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Plot Keywords:

1920s | newsreel | chameleon | man with glasses | written and directed by cast member | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

15 July 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Identity Crisis and Its Relationship to Personality Disorder

Filming Locations:

Alpine, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$11,800,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Orion Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

79 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Warner Bros. Hollywood film "The Changing Man", supposedly depicting the life of Zelig, was never actually made. Like the story of Zelig, it is something totally invented by Woody Allen.

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Goofs

Last name of Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld is misspelled (Zeigfeld) on title card for Pathe newsreel.

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Quotes

The Narrator: That Zelig could be responsible for the behavior of each of the personalities he assumed means dozens of lawsuits. He is sued for bigamy, adultery, automobile accidents, plagiarism, household damages, negligence, property damages, and performing unnecessary dental extractions.

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Connections

Featured in Scene by Scene: Woody Allen (2000)

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Soundtracks

"The Internationale"
(1888) (uncredited)
Music by Pierre Degeyter
Variations in the score when unions are mentioned

User Reviews

Woody strikes again!

Woody can be clever. Woody can be funny. And when Woody's clever AND funny, you get "Zelig".

Telling the story of Leonard Zelig (Woody Allen, who else?) who transforms himself chameleon-like into anyone just to get people to like him, he finds himself the object of on-going observation from a kind doctor (Farrow), who eventually falls for him.

But lest you think this is simply a love story, there are also pot-shots at fame, fads, the 1930s (!!), medical conventions, product cash-ins and the joys and pitfalls of celebrity.

Then there's the sheer joy of the technical wizardry that allows Woody's Zelig to stand alongside such figures as Josephine Baker, Brickhouse, William Randolph Hearst, Marion Davies, "Red" Grange, Al Capone, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Lou Gehrig and Fanny Brice. This is the same type of FX visible in "Forrest Gump", and eleven years before the fact! Nice going.

But you haven't lived till you've seen Woody trying to blend in at an Adolph Hitler speech.

There's a lot of slapstick but there's also a lot of great lines ("I have to council a group of chronic masturbators", Zelig complains, "and if I'm late they'll start without me.") Classic.

But at the center of it all is Woody himself, just like his Zelig character, wanting only to be liked, if not loved. He succeeds. Once you see "Zelig", you'll love it.

Eight stars, plus one star more for watching Woody be serenaded by Fanny Brice. He's the cat's pajamas!