Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story (1971)

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer:

Woody Allen

Stars:

Woody Allen, David Ackroyd, Wil Albert

Cast

Credited cast:
Woody Allen	...	Harvey Wallinger
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Ackroyd
Wil Albert
Conrad Bain
Court Benson
Milo Boulton
Harold Chidhoff
Jean David
Jean De Baer	...	(as Jeanne De Baer)
Richard M. Dixon	...	President Richard M. Nixon
Abe Drazen
Dan Frazer
Reed Hadley	...	Narrator
Graham Jarvis
Mitchell Jason

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

written and directed by cast member | fake documentary | boy scout | mccarthyism | unreleased film | 

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Genres:

Short | Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Company Credits

Production Co:

WNET Channel 13 New York

Technical Specs

Runtime:

25 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

By 1971, Woody Allen had sworn off doing television work but decided to do this special as a contribution to PBS. When this special was yanked before airing because of pressure from the Richard Nixon White House - it was a satire of then National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger - Allen cited the incident as an example of why he "sticks to movies".

User Reviews

Rare, but worth finding, early Allen political short

Funny 26 minute short, made for PBS in New York, parodying the Nixon administration. Very similar in its mock-documentary style to 'Take the Money and Run' with a bit of 'Zelig' hinted at as well (e.g. Woody inserting images of himself into historical situations).

Has it's share of flat jokes, and some of the satire is a bit on the nose, but there are a lot of very funny, incisive bits as well (e.g. Woody's hysterically convoluted explanation of Nixon's concept of not wanting to 'lose the peace' in Vietnam.)

Well worth seeking out for any Allen fan, Not only can this sometimes be found on ebay, iOffer and the like, but there are copies available for viewing at the Museum of Broadcasting in LA and (I believe) New York. You could also check film libraries at Universities that have strong film departments. Even one of my hipper local video stores somehow wound up with a copy.