Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)

An opthamologist's mistress threatens to reveal their affair to his wife, while a married documentary filmmaker is infatuated by another woman.

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer:

Woody Allen

Stars:

Bill Bernstein, Martin Landau, Claire Bloom

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bill Bernstein	...	Testimonial Speaker
Martin Landau	...	Judah Rosenthal
Claire Bloom	...	Miriam Rosenthal
Stephanie Roth Haberle	...	Sharon Rosenthal (as Stephanie Roth)
Gregg Edelman	...	Chris
George J. Manos	...	Photographer (as George Manos)
Anjelica Huston	...	Dolores Paley
Woody Allen	...	Cliff Stern
Jenny Nichols	...	Jenny
Joanna Gleason	...	Wendy Stern
Alan Alda	...	Lester
Sam Waterston	...	Ben
Zina Jasper	...	Carol
Dolores Sutton	...	Judah's Secretary
Joel Fogel	...	T.V. Producer (as Joel S. Fogel)

Storyline

Ophthalmologist Judah Rosenthal has had an affair with Dolores for several years, and now she threatens to ruin his life if he doesn't marry her. When his brother Jack suggests to have Dolores murdered, Judah is faced with a big moral dilemma: destruction of his life or murder. Meanwhile, documentary filmmaker Clifford Stern is trying to make a film of a philosophy professor, but instead he's commissioned to make a portrait of successful TV producer and brother-in-law Lester, who to Clifford represents everything that he despises.

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Plot Keywords:

new york | brother in law | doctor | adultery | murder | 

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Taglines:

A film about humanity.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 October 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Crímenes y pecados

Filming Locations:

5th Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$19,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$18,254,702 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally, Alan Alda was only supposed to appear in the opening party scene with Daryl Hannah. Woody Allen expanded Alda's part after he asked Alda to improvise and Allen liked the improvisation. Allen wrote Alda's part as they went along.

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Goofs

When Judah decides to have Delores killed, he only dials seven digits on the phone calling his brother, Jack. Judah lives in Connecticut and Jack lives in New York, so he would have to dial at least 10 digits to call him.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Testimonial Speaker: We're all very proud of Judah Rosenthal's philanthropic efforts. His endless hours of fund raising for the hospital, the new medical center, and now, the ophthalmology wing, which until this year had just been a dream. But it's due to Rosenthal our friend that we most appreciate. The husband, the father, the golf companion. Naturally if you have a medical problem you can call Judah...
Miriam Rosenthal: You're blushing darling.
Testimonial Speaker: ...day or night, weekends or holidays. But you can also call Judah to ...
[...]

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Connections

References Monsieur Verdoux (1947)

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Soundtracks

"Home Cooking"
Written by Hilton Ruiz
Performed by The Hilton Ruiz Quartet

User Reviews

One of Woody's best

This film is a bit out of the ordinary for Woody Allen in that of the two intertwining storylines, one of them is deathly serious. Serious subjects have been brought up before in Woody's films ("Interiors," "September") but never as successfully as in this film. The mixture of comedy and drama work so effectively that this has to be one of Woody's best films, on par with "Annie Hall" and "Hannah and her Sisters."

Woody plays Clifford Stern, an independent filmmaker whose marriage is crumbling. In order to make more money and gain recognition, he is offered to make a documentary about his filthy rich, lowbrow, narcissistic TV producer brother-in-law (wonderfully played by Alan Alda). Cliff goes into the project half-heartedly, and his only solace is a doomed relationship with one of the show's producers (played by Mia Farrow).

Meanwhile, Martin Landau plays Judah Ronsenthal, an eye doctor whose mistress (played by Anjelica Huston) is threatening to expose the relationship. Judah considers having her "rubbed out" using the sordid connections of his brother (Jerry Orbach). Wracked by guilt over even thinking such a thing, Judah enlists the spiritual aid of one of his patients, a rabbi whose vision is slowly deteriorating (played by Sam Waterston). The rabbi character, incidentally, is the brother of the Alan Alda character. That's where the stories connect, even though they will continue to cross paths later in the film.

All the performances are brilliantly executed, particularly those of Alda, Waterston, Allen and Landau (who was nominated for an Academy Award). The film is a perfect combination of seriousness and hilarity. Among the funniest scenes are when Woody screens a less-than-flattering rough cut of his documentary to a flabbergasted Alda, and the scene where Woody's sister (played by Caroline Aaron) tells Woody about her disastrous blind date.

If you're a Woody Allen fan, you won't be disappointed. If you aren't familiar with his films, this would be a good place to start.