Stardust Memories (1980)

While attending a retrospective of his work, a filmmaker recalls his life and his loves: the inspirations for his films.

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer:

Woody Allen

Stars:

Woody Allen, Charlotte Rampling, Jessica Harper

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Woody Allen	...	Sandy Bates
Charlotte Rampling	...	Dorrie
Jessica Harper	...	Daisy
Marie-Christine Barrault	...	Isobel
Tony Roberts	...	Tony
Daniel Stern	...	Actor
Amy Wright	...	Shelley
Helen Hanft	...	Vivian Orkin
John Rothman	...	Jack Abel
Anne De Salvo	...	Sandy's Sister
Joan Neuman	...	Sandy's Mother
Ken Chapin	...	Sandy's Father
Leonardo Cimino	...	Sandy's Analyst
Eli Mintz	...	Old Man
Bob Maroff	...	Jerry Abraham

Storyline

Renowned filmmaker Sandy Bates is in a professional transition, directing largely comedies early in his career now wanting to direct more serious movies so that he can explore the meaning of life, most specifically his own. Most are fighting him all along the way, including the movie going public, who continually tell him that they love his movies especially the earlier funny ones, to studio executives who are trying to insert comic elements wherever possible into his current movie in production. He reluctantly agrees to attend a weekend long film festival of his movies. Despite the throng of requests for his time, he is further able to reflect on his life as he addresses the questions at the post screening Q&A sessions. He also reflects specifically on his love life as his current girlfriend, married Isobel, shows up unexpectedly, and as he starts to fall for festival attendee Daisy - at the festival with her Columbia professor boyfriend, Jack Abel - who reminds him of Dorrie, a ...

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Plot Keywords:

midlife crisis | film director | man wearing glasses | weekend | retrospective | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Persian

Release Date:

26 September 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Recuerdos

Filming Locations:

The Great Auditorium, Ocean Grove, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$326,779, 28 September 1980, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$10,389,003

Company Credits

Production Co:

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The paperback Sandy Bates (Woody Allen) autographs for the boy while having lunch with the new studio heads is the Monarch Notes version of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer".

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Quotes

Sandy Bates: I've had six chauffeurs in two years. You get me drunks, guys who can't understand English, one guy ran over an old lady with me in the car and now this guy's wanted for mail fraud.

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Connections

References Superman (1941)

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Soundtracks

Stardust
(1929)
Music by Hoagy Carmichael
Lyrics by Mitchell Parish
Performed by Louis Armstrong
Courtesy of Columbia Records

User Reviews

Ignore the Critics on this one. Its great.

The problem with Woody has always been that everyone takes his movies more seriously than he does. Here, using the tactics of Felini, he makes fools of his detractors including the greatest detractor of all, Woody himself. For many reasons, I rank this among his best. He removes the restraint of plot, and just goes balls out nuts with his usual philosophical angst, and endless worship of beautiful dames. Oddly enough, without the fetters of convention, to me it was actually less pretentious or indulgent I think people like to call it, and a lot easier to understand and empathize with. One thing that I've always found absurd, and ironically what this film dwells on, is the complaints by fans and critics that he should go back to making comedies. Woody cannot not make a funny movie. If he's in it, and he's talking, I'm laughing. Especially back in this era, when his jokes were so fresh. So make no mistake, this film is loaded with comedy. Finally, I liked his choice of women in this. Charlotte Rampling is what I suppose the word breathtaking was originally meant to describe. If you arent touched by the final scenes with her, you got issues.