Romantic Comedy Classics #1-3

The Woody Allen Trifecta

Even the most hardcore auteurist would have a hard time defending Woody Allen's film career in the past decade.  His productivity, long a strength, may have been his undoing: because he churns out a film a year, the prolific director has made three failures to most filmmakers' one.  Add to this the debacle in his personal life, still a room-splitter some 15 years after all the brouhaha, and the number of extant Allen-lovers seems substantially diminished in 2007.

Some day in the not entirely distant future, the Woodman will be gone, and the obits will wax ecstatic over his best-known career highs, probably treading more lightly over what may or may not turn out to have been an irreversible decline or simply a bad streak (from 2001's Curse of the Jade Scorpion through last year's Scoop, with Match Point the one arguable anomaly).  Nonetheless, the man has sustained a mind-boggling run of good and great works (out of 35 features in 38 years) and me, I like to celebrate greatness when the great are still alive and kicking. 

Woody, still working as busily as ever, turned 72 this weekend, and an illuminating book of interviews with him (Conversations with Woody Allen by Eric Lax) has just been released.  In honor of the occasion, and to inaugurate an occasional series of Romantic Comedy Classics case studies, I'd like to draw the attention of romantic comedy fans (and writers) to what I believe is a One Time in Cinematic History hat-trick.  Ladies and gents, man your Guinness records books: has any other director in the history of movies made three great romantic comedies (all starring the same leading lady) in three successive years?

Allen made Zelig with Mia Farrow in 1983; Broadway Danny Rose followed in 1984; then came The Purple Rose of Cairo in 1985.  He topped this stellar trio, by the bye, with the Oscar-winning Hannah and Her Sisters in 1986,but I'm not here to re-celebrate the justly hurrah-ed Hannah.  I'd like to briefly explore the often underrated pleasures of the Woody Allen Trifecta.

Zelig

What got all the attention back in '83 was the technical mastery involved.  Made long before CGI wizardry had approached its current free-for-all indulgence, Zelig integrates the fictional Leonard Zelig into every manner of real and faux-documentary footage, climaxing in his appearance at a Hitler rally in Germany.  A tour de force of cinematography (Gordon Willis) and editing (Susan Morse), the film cannily utilizes more inspired cinematic fakery in a tightly compressed 79 minutes than what's found in many a contemporary 3-hour blue-screen epic.

What I've always loved about Zelig is its illustration of a genre principle: sometimes the best approach to writing a romantic comedy is to not write it as a romantic comedy.  On its surface, Zelig is a high concept comedy about "the chameleon man": a guy so eager to be liked that he changes his personality (and physicality) to fit into every group he's with.  But the backbone and through-line of the story is a classic girl meets, loses and gets boy: psychiatrist Eudora Fletcher (the sweet and quietly radiant Farrow) becomes the means of Zelig's salvation as she virtually rescues him from himself -- or rather, his selves.

Interestingly, as Allen reveals in the new Lax book, his original intent was to have Zelig, during therapy with Dr. Fletcher, become just like her -- so that Eudora saw, comprehended and learned to love who she really was for the first time.  But he evidently wasn't able to realize this variation on his theme, and abandoned that plot development.  Nonetheless, Zelig has a deeply satisfying love story at its center that's brilliantly underplayed.  The muted but passionate emotions developing between doctor and patient seep through the ostensible plot purpose of its mock-doc scenes until they finally take center stage, climaxing in an absurd but touching reunion that's eons smarter than your average run-to-the-airport finale in a run-of-the-mill rom-com.

That half of Zelig was filmed simultaneously with Allen's (lesser) Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy kind of defies belief (and makes such contemporary film artistes as David "I need 50 takes" Fincher look truly silly).  That its very title and character-concept has become a permanent part of our cultural lexicon is one more indicator that Zelig deserves Enduring Classic status.

Broadway Danny Rose

Allen has been derided for being too much himself in movie after movie, but one interesting aspect of this triumvirate's central panel is that (after a similarly character-specific turn as Leonard Zelig) the actor is playing a character other than himself -- and what a character.

Danny Rose could be seen as a collection of tics -- the hunched shoulders and double-handed pointing gesture that accompanies each "Might I just interject one concept at this juncture?", the widened eyes and nervous throat-swallow as he pitches yet another pathetic performer as "a beautiful man, a fantastic individual."  But the whole wince-worthy gestalt -- his obscenely wide lapels and trashy jewelry, his motto ("Before you go out on stage, say the 3 S's: Star, Smile, Strong!") et al -- adds up to as complete a characterization as exists in the Allen canon. 

The combo of this little shnook with Farrow's astonishing impersonation of an Italian moll-like mistress circa 1960 delivers a weird sort of romantic comedy bliss.  It's amazing to see that Mia had both Eudora Fletcher and Tina in her; high-haired and sharp-boned, she barrels through the movie, playing almost every scene in sunglasses, no less, while getting across deft subtleties of emotion.   Her combative confrontations with Danny give fresh meaning to the concept of "opposites attract."

The writing principle to cite here is: If you can't tweak the story, tweak the execution.  The beauty part of Broadway Danny is how the story is told, through a great framing device.  We hear of Danny as a bunch of old comedians sit around a deli (the legendary Broadway, of course), trading gags and telling tales.  The intro is staged and shot with the knowing ease of someone who's lived this scene; the players are all the real thing, many of them old colleagues of Allen's, and it's a group you'd love to hang out with.  My favorite moment in terms of screenwriting panache is when Allen sets up the rest of the movie by having comedian Sandy, relishing the knowledge that his "greatest Danny Rose story" is about to top everyone else's, asks the assemblage: "You got a couple of moments?  You wanna do anything?  'Cause this is gonna take some time."  (One guy responds by ordering coffee, and another cracks, "I'd like to go change my suit.")

The high farce that follows includes a classic sex metaphor gag as Danny and Tina, tied together atop a table, have to wriggle out of their ropes, and a shoot-out set piece with a punctured helium tank that gets everyone squeaking in high-pitched voices.  But it's the narrative frame (with its smart use of voice-overs), embodying the loving nostalgia that permeates the film, that makes it an especially memorable ride.

The Purple Rose of Cairo

Parody that pokes nostalgic fun at cheap movie sentimentality, and a determinedly dark examination of the pitfalls of romanticism and movie fantasy is what makes up the bittersweet punch in Purple Rose, one of Allen's strongest films on the level of pure imaginative invention.  A Depression-era waitress obsessed with movies sees her dream come true, as the handsome explorer star of her current favorite movie steps out of the screen to court her, and they fall in love.  Allen discusses the film's genesis in Lax's book:

When I first got the idea, it was just a character comes down from the screen, there are some high jinks, but then I thought, where would it go?  Then it hit me: the actor playing the character comes to town.  After that, it opened up like a great flower.  Cecilia had to decide, and chose the real person, which was a step up for her.  Unfortunately, we must choose reality, but in the end it crushes us and disappoints.  My view of reality is that it has always been a grim place to be... but it's the only place you can get Chinese food.

One could write a dissertation on the Borges-ian labyrinth of conflicting realities traversed in this seemingly slight romantic dramedy (no doubt, some film student already has), but what's remarkable about the film is how seemingly effortless it is in playing out the themes inherent in its fantastical conceit.  Working with theme could be the topic for a rom-com writer's study.

The movie was clearly like a big metaphysical playpen for its creator (Allen himself repeatedly cites it as one of his favorites in the Lax book).  Every scene in Purple Rose bats around some aspect of the fantasy-versus-reality issue, from its larger tropes (e.g. What, the movie asks, becomes of the cast of a film when its leading player exits the story and leaves everyone else on their own?) to its neat details (upon entering the film-within-the-film herself, Cecilia is disappointed to learn that the movie-champagne its characters drink at their swank nightclub is apparently cheap ginger ale).

All gorgeous sepia-toned color and silvery black-and-white, Purple Rose is a swan song: this was the last collaboration between Allen and Gordon Willis, who'd shot five films for the director previous to these three, beginning with the scrumptious Annie Hall and the transcendent Manhattan.  Allen went on to make six more films with Mia Farrow before their ill-fated parting, but she's never looked quite as wanly, heartrendingly luminous as she does here, eyes fixed on the screen that always promises, but never truly delivers, the escape she yearns to make.

None of these Trifecta gems has entered what's generally considered the top-rank canon of Woody Allen's oeuvre, but to me this trio is a startling cinematic achievement.  Each is a period piece of a different era, perfectly rendered; each uses a totally different narrative approach to its story; each delivers a comedic love story that's wholly unique in its characterizations and concept.  As a rom-com mini-course in How to Do it Right, it's one tough act to beat. 

If you want to gift yourself this holiday season, all three are available on DVD (along with Hannah and Radio Days) as part of the Woody Allen Collection (Set 3).  Meanwhile, happy birthday, Woody -- and mazel tov.

Comments

[Christina]

I love this post and the films you cover. I'm a big Woody fan - his personal life doesn't ruin it for me at all. (And after seeing the recent documentary, I like his current wife.) I wonder what you think of Stardust Memoires? By far, it's my favorite film of his, though not necessarily a rom com. (There's some rom-com subplots.) I don't think Pauline Kael got the point of the film at all. I see it as his attempt to depict how distorting fame can be to the famous, not an idictment of his fans.

[Frank Conniff]

I love obsessively-compulsively thinking about Woody Allen movies. Your post has given me license to do this, so here goes:

Woody's Great films:

Annie Hall
Manhattan
Zelig
Broadway Danny Rose
Purple Rose Of Cairo
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Husbands and Wives

Woody's Just Plain Hilarious Films:

What's Up Tiger Lily
Take The Money And Run
Bananas
Sleeper
Love And Death
Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex (Interesting tidbit: out of the 40 or so screenplays Woody has written, this is the only one based on material -- the book by Dr. David Rubin -- written by someone other than Woody himself)

Woody's Really Good Films:

Stardust Memories
Radio Days
Mighty Aphrodite
Bullets Over Broadway
Everyone Says I Love You
Deconstructing Harry
Match Point

Woody's Pretty Good Films:

Manhattan Murder Mystery
Celebrity
Sweet and Lowdown

Woody's Films Based On His Plays:

Play It Again Sam
(He didn't direct it, but he wrote it based on his play and it's a delightful romantic comedy.)

Don't Drink The Water
(A TV movie that he made in 1994 based on his first play. I saw it when it first aired and really enjoyed it.)

Okay, so out of the 35 movies Woody has made, about 25 range from good to great as far as I'm concerned. Yes, he's also made about a dozen clunkers (mostly in the last ten years), but big deal, who cares? The only other screenwriter whose career matches Woody's in terms of the ammount of good films he's made is Billy Wilder (and he made more than a few stinkers in his day too).

Name me one great filmmaker with a body of work who hasn't made some bad films. Great artists all make bad art. The creative process is mysterious and beyond our understanding in many ways. Only the mediocre achieve their potential.

[Scooter]

Thanks for the post, Billy. In my book, no one has ever topped the bi-fecta of Annie Hall and Manhattan (both of which are romantic comedies, as well, now that I think about it), but I think you're right-on in your analysis of the three you mention. Not to mention the fact that he made them in consecutive years, something I hadn't realized.

[Walter]

Great post about a director for whom I've got, um, complicated feelings. One quibble: I think he was born in 1935, which means he just turned 72, not 77.

[mernitman]

Christina: I too am a "Stardust" (not really a rom-com) fan and think Ms. Kael got it wrong; it's certainly the best Fellini movie Woody ever made.

Hey Frank: Nice! Add "Hannah" to the top tier and I think we pretty much see eye to eye.

Scooter: Yeah, that one-two of Annie and Manhattan is pretty freakin' amazing... though to be technical, "Interiors" came in between the two.

Walter: Yikes -- never said I was good at math -- thank you for the correction, which has gone into the post, post-haste.

[Judith Duncan]

Hey Billy,thankyou for acknowledging Purple Rose,it's one of my all time favorite films and very rarely gets a mention.I think it speaks volumes about the power of cinema,why we consistently go into those dark rooms with a bunch of strangers and watch the flickering image.As far as I'm concerned,reality is highly overrated.
Cheers,
Judith

[Joanna Farnsworth]

Whew! I'm glad he's only 72. I'm not ready for Woody Allen to any closer to 80 than that. Although he'll always seem ageless. Kind of eternal. I hope his highs aren't over yet.

Billy, yet again a great post. I was on pins and needles to see how you rated my beloved Purple Rose. Thankyou for making it a Trifecta Gem.

[j]

I try to like Woody Allen every time I see a new movie of his, but it never seems to work.

His earlier stuff is fine...but whenever he's on screen...a little part of me wants to cover him up with masking tape.

Besides, doesn't anyone else find it weird that he unabashedly worships scarlett johanson...an actress who isn't so much about talent as she is pouting on cue?

I often wonder why society as a whole isn't just a *little* more creeped out by this.

[Will]

My own personal faves are Love & Death (Diane Keaton has never been funnier,) Annie Hall and Manhattan. Crimes & Misdemeanors demands special attention as well, come to think of it. Those are the ones that tower. Those are the ones that inspire true awe.

I'm a Woody fan (and these days I've become something of an apologist.) I find something charming or marvelous in everything he's done. His latest stuff seems to be the work of a man on autopilot, true, and they hardly compare to the top tier, but I still enjoy a less-than-perfect Woody outing to a lot of today's cinema.

The only one I truly disliked, that I emerged from the theater going, "?" was Hollywood Ending. And the entire middle section of Small Time Crooks could have been replaced by a rutabaga and I might have liked it better. But I think he's got a few greats left in him. He'll pull off a miracle or two before we lose him for good. I have faith.

[mernitman]

Judith: Yes, reality is overrated, but to paraphrase Woody, where else can you get a good slice of pizza?

Joanna: I, too, think he's got a few highs left. We shall see...

J: Scarlett has felled many a major intellect of our time. What did Woody say? "The heart wants what it wants"... or was that another all-too human organ? There's no excusing it, but so goeth the male animal.

Will: I agree that Annie and Manhattan are the tops of the tops; see Frank's list in the comments above for what seems like a reasonable assessment of the rest. Funnily enough, Woody in the Lax book is utterly baffled by why people don't like "Hollywood Ending," which he thinks is one of his funniest. But good news for all us apologists -- Woody Allen himself suggests (in the same book) that he's gotten too old to be in his movies. Thus we'll be spared a good deal of the cringe factor in the future.

[Patty]

What I recall from the time of seeing the three movies you discuss, was how much conversation a Woody Allen film generated between people just standing in line there, at the little theater where we could always see any movie for $2. I don't recall any other director of that period who got strangers just talking casually like that.
That memory is bittersweet. I long boycotted his flims, old and new, after his affair with his step daughter (now his wife, of course.) But I recently broke that self-imposed boycott to see Annie Hall. That movie feels like a memory of people I once knew, of that period. His films will live on, undoubtedly.

[Will]

Why didn't I like Hollywood Ending, I wonder? I loved the premise. I thought it was great Woody-verse stuff: a character's problem manifests itself in real-world affliction (kind of like the Robin Williams character in Deconstructing Harry, who loses focus, both figuratively and literally.) But it was too lazily handled. The ending bit, where he regains his sight, was tossed-off and perfunctory. The jokes, while occasionally funny, fell flat for me and most of them depended on the notion that a blind person can't tell where a voice is coming from. I just couldn't suspend my disbelief, which is a strange thing to say given the overall premise. I believed that alright.

But then I'm not the best judge by any means. I loved the almost universally reviled "Jade Scorpion." Of all his latter films, it made me giggle the most.

[mernitman]

Patty: Yes, wasn't that a loverly period, when one of his movies -- any movie for adults, for that matter -- was something everyone talked about and shared at the same time? Nice memory.

Will: Yes, it's odd. I have a hunch that it was Woody himself, ironically, that didn't quite work (his "blind" performance is really off, as he keeps not facing people when clearly, simply by the direction of their voices, he should easily be able to know where they are). Meanwhile, JADE SCORPION? Oh, you're the one!

[Will]

Yes, I know. Can't help it. I love it.

[Rosina Lippi]

I'm new to your weblog, but I think I'm here to stay, given this post. These three films of Allen's along with Manhattan and Annie Hall somehow symbolize my whole adulthood from 20-35. I saw Annie Hall on the night it opened and everything about that evening is crystal clear for me. The same goes for Purple Rose. Whole chunks of dialogue are in my head forever. (I met a wonderful new man. He's fictional, but you can't have everything.)

I think romantic comedy is tremendously challenging but boy, when it works, it's heaven. It's unfortunate that it's not taken more seriously.

[mernitman]

Welcome, Rosina: Nobody (but writers who try to write comedy) knows how hard it is. Ironically, Woody himself disparages his entire oeuvre in the Lax book, saying he's "never made a great film" because he makes comedies...!

[Rosina Lippi]

I'll have to get hold of the Lax book to get a sense of his tone. Is it possible he was saying those idiots don't pay attention because they underestimate or devalue romantic comedy.

Not that I'm defending the guy. I think he's made some fantastic films and some real stinkers. His short story 'The Kugelmass Episode' is a masterpiece.

But I try to keep the creations separate from the creator, where that's possible. I don't think I'd like him much if I spent any time with him.

Just to be clear: not defending him. She said defensively.

[Rosina Lippi]

sorry, I used html codes that didn't work on that post so the first paragraph runs together.

[Lassie]

You write very well.

[mernitman]

Lassie: Thank you for reading me!

[Asasia]

Good post.

[mietwagen]

Sehr gute Seite. Ich habe es zu den Favoriten.

[Kimberly]

Another wonderful reivew! I can't wait to see the movie. I love Woody Allen, and it's hard to believe he has made 44 movies. I'm not sure what your favorite five are, but mine would be Annie Hall, Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters, Purple Rose of Cairo, and Match Point. I also loved Everyone Says I love you, and many others. I'm reading Paris Wife now a fictional account of Hemmingway's wife Hadley and their time in Paris in the 20 s; so this fits in nicely.

[Rob in L.A.]

"Zelig" is my favorite Woody Allen film, and he's made some really good ones. (Oh, and Happy Spring, everybody!)

[mernitman]

Kimberly: Your comment came in the midst of a spam-blitz, so I'm not entirely sure you're not a Spambot. If you're not, thanks for visiting! And I'm trying to sort out my favorite Top 5 Woody films, knowing only that one of them would be...

Rob: GMTA - ZELIG is definitely in my Top 5 Faves of the Allen oeuvre, and I feel it's always unjustly neglected, due to its unusual one-shot faux-doc format.