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

Clifford's sarcastic remark to Halley Reed that he loves Lester like a brother; David Greenglass refers to the fact David Greenglass was the brother of executed atomic spy Ethel Rosenberg and that his testimony at their trial help convict her and her husband Julius.

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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 Broadcast News (1987)

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Soundtracks

"Beautiful Love"
(1931)
Music by Victor Young, Wayne King and Egbert Van Alstyne
Lyrics by Haven Gillespie

User Reviews

A film that explores the human soul.

When I registered with the IMDb, one of the survey questions asked what my favorite film was. I listed Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors. I don't know if this is always true, but for the most part I feel fairly confident regarding my choice. Allen's story here works, like most well written literature, on many levels. It is funny (Woody's lessons), symbolic (the Rabbi going blind), ironic (the good suffer and the evil go unpunished), deep (faith and suicide), and is a film that leaves you with something to identify with and learn from. Even Hally Reed's (Mia Farrow) surprising revelation at the end of the film, which I won't reveal of course, shows us a bit about the dangers of prejudging others. Woody shows us that we shouldn't judge on the surface, but must look deeper into the individual value of people. Do we trust Hally, or do we stick to what we see as the truth about Lester (Alan Alda)? This is a lesson that Woody's character, Cliff, doesn't even fully grasp at the end of the film, but Allen gives us the insight, even though what Hally reveals about Lester goes against what we've seen of him.

Crimes and Misdemeanors is certainly not for all tastes. It's not exactly a film that people would watch for pure escapism. This is a film to be treasured, revisited and held up with some of the greatest films of all time. Not for how it looks or sounds, but for what it says. This is a film aimed at both the heart and the mind and succeeds in capturing both.