7 Mind-Boggling Films by Woody Allen That Were Swept Under The Rug

By Ramsha Akhtar

on December 01, 2017

Academy Award Winner for Annie Hall, Woody Allen turns 82 today, and we’re here to commemorate the filmmaker, writer, actor, comedian and a musician whose career spans more than six decades!

The filmmaker always unveiled hypocrisies and false concepts by means of witty monologues on both the stage and the screen, so making everyone laugh, even his potential murderers! He explored the seabeds of the mind and altered them through his refined, elegant humor. He brought this versatility by bringing in absurdity and paradoxes to the screen. And we’re here to list down all those iconic movies that didn’t see the appreciation it deserved.

Take the Money & Run (1969)

Take the Money and Run was Woody’s first feature film. It’s a mock documentary that tells the story of Virgil Starkwell (Allen), an incompetent thief who seems incapable of pulling off even the most basic of crimes. This film saw Allen’s unique brand of humour and offbeat view of the world that didn’t go unnoticed by the critics.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yNhsuxqMXk[/embed]

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972)

Despite having the longest title of any of his movies, “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid To Ask)” is also the finest example of the laugh-out-loud slapstick humor. And only Woody Allen can tastefully direct Gene Wilder as a lovesick doctor that falls head-over-heels for a sheep. Why is this not Woody’s most beloved comedy again?

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uinn26P2c6M[/embed]

Stardust Memories (1980)

Allen still cites this autobiographical film as one of his favorites. Stardust Memories is a dark film, about a director, Sandy Bates who revisits the past relationships that inspired his work. The situation allows Allen to contemplate his status as a celebrity, as Bates is alternately worshiped and vilified by the fans. It is an outright condemnation of fan worship, as ex-Beatle John Lennon was gunned down on the streets of New York by a deranged fan just months after the film was released.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vYsjumID84[/embed]

A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982)

The first of Allen's films to feature him not as the nominal leading man but as part of an ensemble, a conscious attempt to make something that wouldn’t rock the boat. A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy was loosely based on Ingmar Bergman’s Smiles of a Summer Night. This was the first time he worked with Mia Farrow. The film is an entanglement of characters during mid-summer which seems to take its effect on the group, as the various couples engage in amorous romantic adventures, both with their own partners and the partners of others.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaA9qLZViPk[/embed]

Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)

This film was a victim of unusual circumstances brought upon due to the whole Allen-Farrow-Soon-Yi Previn scandal as audiences did not seem to be in a mood to see Woody Allen cavorting around on screen while he was accused of being a child molester in real life. However, Manhattan Murder Mystery is an insightful marital drama masquerading foul play of their neighbor’s death as a ridiculous whodunit.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZAXZ24bAS8[/embed]

Deconstructing Harry (1997)

“Deconstructing Harry” a bitterly funny movie, deconstructs the disagreement between filmmaker and viewer. In the film, Allen plays Harry Block, an author suffering writer’s block (not so subtle) who’s been invited to an honorary ceremony at the college that expelled him years before. He must defend himself from charges by friends and (not so) loved ones that he airs their dirty laundry in his art. The film blurs reality and fiction and almost seems like a blunt candid confession of the writer’s own personal failings.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9wYgL-Mglw[/embed]

Melinda and Melinda (2004)

Two stories told simultaneously, one comic and one dramatic capture the essence of Crimes and Misdemeanors. The film dramatizes the notion of the world either being happy or sad by showing how similar the two really are. The only constant in life being absurdity which is upon us whether to laugh or cry. It’s a really funny performance is amplified with the presence of a stammering, nebbish Will Ferrell who delivers that reflects vintage Woody, “Yeah, but if you’re somebody who’s nobody, it’s no fun to be around anybody who’s everybody”?