Annie Hall (1977)

Neurotic New York comedian Alvy Singer falls in love with the ditzy Annie Hall.

Director:

Woody Allen

Writers:

Woody Allen, Marshall Brickman

Stars:

Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts

Won 4 Oscars. Another 26 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Woody Allen	...	Alvy Singer
Diane Keaton	...	Annie Hall
Tony Roberts	...	Rob
Carol Kane	...	Allison
Paul Simon	...	Tony Lacey
Shelley Duvall	...	Pam
Janet Margolin	...	Robin
Colleen Dewhurst	...	Mom Hall
Christopher Walken	...	Duane Hall (as Christopher Wlaken)
Donald Symington	...	Dad Hall
Helen Ludlam	...	Grammy Hall
Mordecai Lawner	...	Alvy's Dad
Joan Neuman	...	Alvy's Mom (as Joan Newman)
Jonathan Munk	...	Alvy - Age 9
Ruth Volner	...	Alvy's Aunt

Storyline

Alvy Singer, a forty year old twice divorced, neurotic, intellectual Jewish New York stand-up comic, reflects on the demise of his latest relationship, to Annie Hall, an insecure, flighty, Midwestern WASP aspiring nightclub singer. Unlike his previous relationships, Alvy believed he may have worked out all the issues in his life through fifteen years of therapy to make this relationship with Annie last, among those issues being not wanting to date any woman that would want to date him, and thus subconsciously pushing those women away. Alvy not only reviews the many ups and many downs of their relationship, but also reviews the many facets of his makeup that led to him starting to date Annie. Those facets include growing up next to Coney Island in Brooklyn, being attracted to the opposite sex for as long as he can remember, and enduring years of Jewish guilt with his constantly arguing parents.

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Plot Keywords:

breaking the fourth wall | dialogue driven | written and directed by cast member | neurosis | psychoanalysis | 

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Taglines:

A nervous romance.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

20 April 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Anhedonia

Filming Locations:

W. Century Blvd. & Airport Blvd, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$39,200,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions, Rollins-Joffe Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"That was the most fun I've ever had without laughing" is a reference to the quote by H.L. Mencken in 1942 (and later Humphrey Bogart).

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Goofs

When Annie drives Alvy home from the tennis game she quickly parks behind a red car. The next cut, showing the two exit the vehicle, clearly shows them parked behind a blue car.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Alvy Singer: [addressing the camera] There's an old joke - um... two elderly women are at a Catskill mountain resort, and one of 'em says, "Boy, the food at this place is really terrible." The other one says, "Yeah, I know; and such small portions." Well, that's essentially how I feel about life - full of loneliness, and misery, and suffering, and unhappiness, and it's all over much too quickly. The... the other important joke, for me, is one that's usually attributed to Groucho Marx; but, I ...

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Crazy Credits

Christopher Walken's name is misspelled in the credits as "Christopher Wlaken".

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Alternate Versions

In the beginning of the film, Alvy Singer paraphrases what is ostensibly a quote from comedian Groucho Marx. When the movie was dubbed in socialist Hungary, the quote was instead attributed to Buster Keaton at the strict insistence of the dubbing studio, for fear that audiences might confuse Groucho Marx with philosopher and socialist figure Karl Marx.

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Connections

Referenced in Discussing the Pod (2013)

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Soundtracks

Christmas Medley
(Traditional songs: "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" (uncredited), "O, Christmas Tree" (uncredited), and "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" (uncredited))
Traditional / traditional tune, lyrics by Ernst Anschütz (uncredited) / traditional
Performed by Do-Re-Mi Children's Chorus (as the Do-Re-Mi Children's Chorus) on Vocalion Records

User Reviews

Allen's best, and one of the best films ever.

The film that bested Star Wars for the 1977 Best Picture Oscar, Annie Hall is a remarkable achievement in filmmaking that transcends its simple, romantic premise to create a stunning portrait of not only 70's pop culture, but of human nature cumulative. Directed and co-written by Woody Allen, who has since directed other gems such as Hannah and Her Sisters and The Purple Rose of Cairo, Annie Hall also stars Allen as Alvy Singer, a neurotic, death-obsessed comedian who seems unlucky in love and life. That is until he meets Annie, brilliantly played by Diane Keaton, who is beautiful, fashion-savvy, carefree (she likes using expressions like `la di da'), and a terrible driver.

Annie and Alvy's relationship is an unlikely one. She's a Midwestern girl, straight out of white-bread Wisconsin; he's a life-long New York Jew who grew up (literally) under the Coney Island roller coaster. He's been seeing a therapist for the past 16 years; she only `needs' one once she meets him. She's an extroverted aspiring singer; he's an introverted, world-despising imp. Yet Allen and Keaton are so perfect in their roles, they improbably make this couple one of the most memorable ever.

The plot revolves around Alvy's chronicles of loves lost and a retrospective on his relationship with Annie, with whom he has since parted ways. At the end of the film, we see Alvy try his hand at stage-writing-he writes a play about his relationship with Annie, but gives it a happy ending. Yes, Annie and Alvy don't have a fairy tale ending to their relationship, but Alvy certainly wishes they had, even though he learns to live with the acknowledgment it has failed.

The best part of Annie Hall is its incredible screenplay-the best ever to be written. Not a word is wasted nor a line unquotable. Except here, while Allen's early films had thrived on streams of one-liners, Allen doesn't go for cheap laughs-each line is simultaneously hilarious and poignant. Everything is part of a greater whole. We laugh because it's funny, but there's a greater dynamic at work in Annie Hall. This is a story not exclusively about a relationship between two people, but also a musing on 70's politics, drugs, East Coast/West Coast rivalry, narcissism, religion, celebrity, and several other topics with which Allen deals with extraordinary ease.

Yet Annie Hall would not be among my favorite films of all-time if it were just Woody Allen ranting and raving about what he likes and dislikes. There are other Allen films that serve that purpose, i.e. Deconstructing Harry, and they're not nearly as good. What separates Annie Hall is its grace, the believable chemistry between Keaton and Allen, the unique direction (ranging from split-screens to cartoon imagery to on-screen subtitles of what the actors are thinking), but mostly because it's the rare film to find a perfect balance between sheer entertainment, humor, and poignancy.

When the dust had settled, Diane Keaton deservedly won an Academy Award for her performance, Allen took home Oscars for direction and writing, and the film beat out Star Wars for Best Picture, which most people consider a complete sham. Evidently, those people didn't see Annie Hall, for if they had, they'd recognize that the acting, writing, and even the direction in Star Wars can't hold a candle to Annie Hall, one of the best films ever made.

10/10