A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982)

A wacky inventor and his wife invite two other couples for a weekend party at a romantic summer house in the 1900s countryside.

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer:

Woody Allen

Stars:

Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, José Ferrer

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Woody Allen	...	Andrew
Mia Farrow	...	Ariel
José Ferrer	...	Leopold (as Jose Ferrer)
Julie Hagerty	...	Dulcy
Tony Roberts	...	Maxwell
Mary Steenburgen	...	Adrian
Adam Redfield	...	Student Foxx
Moishe Rosenfeld	...	Mr. Hayes
Timothy Jenkins	...	Mr. Thomson
Michael Higgins	...	Reynolds
Sol Frieder	...	Carstairs
Boris Zoubok	...	Purvis
Thomas Barbour	...	Blint
Kate McGregor-Stewart	...	Mrs. Baker

Storyline

Centred around a weekend party at the home of inventor Andrew Hobbs and his wife Adrian, attended by randy doctor Maxwell Jordan, his nurse Dulcy, renowned philosopher Dr.Leopold Sturgis and his fiancée, this is a light comedy concerning their various emotional, intellectual and sexual entanglements, loosely based on Ingmar Bergman's 'Smiles of a Summer Night' .

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Plot Keywords:

flirting | attempted suicide | punctuation in title | hot | sex scene | 

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Taglines:

Six characters in search of love [Video]

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene where the extremely promiscuous Julie Hagerty gives detailed sexual advice to repressed wife Mary Steenburgen was revisited between Bebe Neuwirth (as a prostitute) and an uptight Judy Davis in Celebrity.

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Goofs

Jose Ferrer sings the song, "The Lord's Prayer", which was not written by Albert Hay Malotte until 1935, even though the film was set much earlier.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Leopold: Ghosts or little spirits or pixies, I don't believe in them. Do you Mr. Foxx?
Student Foxx: No, sir.
Leopold: You sounded, with all your metaphysical gibberish.
Student Foxx: Well, I didn't mean ghosts or spirits, professor.
Leopold: Nothing is real, but experience. That which can be touched, tasted felt, or in some scientific fashion proved. We must never substitute qualitative events that are marked by similar properties and reoccurrences for fixed substances.

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Connections

References Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)

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Soundtracks

Symphony No. 3 (Scottish) in A Minor
(1842)
Written by Felix Mendelssohn (as Mendelssohn)
Performed by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic (as New York Philharmonic Orchestra)
Courtesy of CBS Records

User Reviews

Very under rated

I thought this was really quite good. Had not seen before as is never really mentioned or advertised. Particularly enjoyed Julie Hagerty's performance. I don't know why she has not been a bigger star and more used in films. Her timing and line delivery is very funny. Jose Ferrer also excellent at his pompous best. Mia farrow and Mary Steenbergen both look lovely in the summer drenched locations, that look like one of Englands Southern Shire Counties! Perhaps not Woody Allens best, but as he apparently 'hates' the country side, some gorgeous scenes filmed by Gordon Willis. I have given this a '7'rating, and would certainly recommend to all.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

16 July 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy

Filming Locations:

Columbia University - Broadway & 116th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,514,478, 18 July 1982

Gross USA:

$9,077,269

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$9,077,269

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions, Orion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1