Woody allen in DVDs & Videos

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A collection of eight of director Allen's finest works, from what he self-mockingly referred to in STARDUST MEMORIES as his "earlier, funnier ones" to his deconstructionist comedy-dramas of the late 70s. Includes: ANNIE HALL, BANANAS, EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SEX* (*But Were Afraid to Ask), INTERIORS, LOVE AND DEATH, MANHATTAN, SLEEPER, and STARDUST MEMORIES.

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Comedic genius Peter Sellers brings his talent to these four classics: THE PINK PANTHER, CASINO ROYALE, THE PARTY, and WHAT'S NEW PUSSYCAT? See individual titles for synopsis information.

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This program includes four comedies by director Woody Allen: ANYTHING ELSE, THE CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION, HOLLYWOOD ENDING, and SMALL TIME CROOKS. Please see individual titles for complete information.

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A collection of six films from writer/director/actor Woody Allen. Includes A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S SEX COMEDY (1982;PG), ZELIG (1983;PG), BROADWAY DANNY ROSE (1984;PG), HANNAH AND HER SISTERS (1986;PG-13), THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO (1985;PG), and RADIO DAYS (1987;PG).

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From watching the trailer for VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, one might never have guessed that it was actually an offering from prolific auteur Woody Allen. There's no New York, no sight of Allen, and his trademark wit was nowhere to be seen. But this film--with its talented cast, sharp dialogue, and excellent use of gorgeous locations--marks Allen's best comic work since 1994's BULLETS OVER BROADWAY. Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) are American best friends who have the luck of spending several summer months in the Spanish city of the title. Though the pair is inseparable, they clash over love: Vicky is engaged to the trustworthy Doug (Chris Messina), while Cristina is forever in search of new experiences and passions. When a fiery Spanish painter named Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) proposes that the three fly off to Oviedo for the weekend with the goal of making love, the women are divided, but they both eventually agree to the trip. After unexpected events in Oviedo, they return to Barcelona where Juan Antonio's obsessive ex-wife (Pénélope Cruz) enters the picture. As the rule-bound Vicky, Hall--who has been largely unknown to American audiences before this film--gives a wonderfully witty performance that keeps pace with her more famous costars. Those who have only seen Bardem in his Oscar-winning role as the cold killer in NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN will be surprised by his sexy turn in VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA. Though it's often women who steam up the screen, Bardem seduces Vicky, Cristina, and the audience with such abandon that it's tough for everyone involved not to emerge a little bit smitten. Johansson, Allen's new-millennium muse, is the director's mouthpiece--she's consistently funny and more than a little neurotic, and you can hear Allen's voice in her performance.

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The New York-based humor of Woody Allen and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIAM?s Larry David seems like a natural match, and the pair unite for the first time in this comedy. WHATEVER WORKS follows a rich man (David), who decides that he should be living a different, less-status based life. Evan Rachel Wood, Patricia Clarkson, Ed Begley Jr., and Michael McKean star in this film that marks Allen?s cinematic return to New York City.

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Gabe and Judy Roth (Woody Allen and Mia Farrow), a long-married couple, find their relationship starting to crumble when their best friends, Jack and Sally (Sydney Pollack and Judy Davis), announce that they are separating. Allen's use of a hand-held camera and jump-cuts adds immediacy to a brilliant display of ensemble acting. Pollack delivers an Oscar-worthy performance.

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From watching the trailer for VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, one might never have guessed that it was actually an offering from prolific auteur Woody Allen. There's no New York, no sight of Allen, and his trademark wit was nowhere to be seen. But this film--with its talented cast, sharp dialogue, and excellent use of gorgeous locations--marks Allen's best comic work since 1994's BULLETS OVER BROADWAY. Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) are American best friends who have the luck of spending several summer months in the Spanish city of the title. Though the pair is inseparable, they clash over love: Vicky is engaged to the trustworthy Doug (Chris Messina), while Cristina is forever in search of new experiences and passions. When a fiery Spanish painter named Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) proposes that the three fly off to Oviedo for the weekend with the goal of making love, the women are divided, but they both eventually agree to the trip. After unexpected events in Oviedo, they return to Barcelona where Juan Antonio's obsessive ex-wife (Pénélope Cruz) enters the picture. As the rule-bound Vicky, Hall--who has been largely unknown to American audiences before this film--gives a wonderfully witty performance that keeps pace with her more famous costars. Those who have only seen Bardem in his Oscar-winning role as the cold killer in NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN will be surprised by his sexy turn in VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA. Though it's often women who steam up the screen, Bardem seduces Vicky, Cristina, and the audience with such abandon that it's tough for everyone involved not to emerge a little bit smitten. Johansson, Allen's new-millennium muse, is the director's mouthpiece--she's consistently funny and more than a little neurotic, and you can hear Allen's voice in her performance.

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A screen adaption of Neil Simon's hilarious story of two legendary comedians (Allen, Falk) and their return to the stage after a lengthy hiatus from show business and each other.

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A restless worker ant changes roles with a soldier ant in order to get the girl, who just happens to be a princess. The animation is breathtaking in this story of true love amid a totalitarian state.

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In 2005, famed New York City filmmaker Woody Allen made MATCH POINT, a murder mystery set in London, starring Scarlett Johansson. Allen remains in London for the follow-up, the murder mystery SCOOP, again with Johansson, but this time he jumps in front of the camera as well. Woody plays Sid "Splendini" Waterman, a pathetic magician who somehow conjures up the ghost of Joe Strombel (Ian McShane), a recently deceased ace reporter who has been given a great scoop from beyond the grave. Strombel's spirit links onto young journalism student Sondra Pransky (Johansson), demanding that she get the story--and get it right. Pretending to be father and daughter, Sid and Sondra get into the good graces of Peter Lyman (Hugh Jackman), a wealthy British lord who just might be the Tarot Card Killer, a madman who has been terrifying London by brutally murdering prostitutes. Against her better judgment, Pransky starts falling for the charming playboy even as she gathers more and more evidence that points to him as the probable killer. Jackman and Johansson have an intoxicating on-screen romantic chemistry that is a terrific counterpoint to the manic energy she shares with Allen. While MATCH POINT was an homage to Alfred Hitchcock's STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, the comedy-thriller SCOOP pays tribute to the master director's FRENZY and NOTORIOUS. Allen also manages to get one of his favorite characters--Death (Peter Mastin) into the film. The score includes works by Tchaikovsky, Strauss, and Grieg as well as swinging numbers by Xavier Cugat and Lester Lanin.

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A restless worker ant changes roles with a soldier ant in order to get the girl, who just happens to be a princess. The animation is breathtaking in this story of true love amid a totalitarian state.

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Jason Biggs and Christina Ricci star as a mismatched couple in Woody Allen's funny and well-made romantic comedy ANYTHING ELSE. Biggs plays Jerry Falk, a young comedy writer looking to make it big, while Ricci is Amanda, a self-absorbed free spirit whom men go wild for. They fall for each other instantly near the beginning of the film, then spend the rest of the movie trying to work out their very complex and complicated relationship, especially after her mother (Stockard Channing) moves in to their small apartment to live with them. With echoes of such classic Allen fare as ANNIE HALL, ANYTHING ELSE is a lighthearted look at young love in the Big Apple. Allen himself stars as David Dobel, an older comedy writer who mentors Jerry, often on walks through Central Park, but it seems that Dobel has a bit of an anger management problem. Once again, New York City is virtually a character unto itself, as Allen includes scenes in such Gotham places as the Village Vanguard jazz club, Isabella's restaurant, Roosevelt Island, Sheepshead Bay, and the Quad Cinema. Good supporting work is turned in by Danny DeVito as Falk's manager. The soundtrack includes songs by Billie Holiday, Ravi Shankar, Teddy Wilson, Lester Young, Moby, and Diana Krall, who appears in the film.

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The sci-fi satire SLEEPER is often hailed as the best of Woody Allen's early comedies, which relied mostly on slapstick and quick verbal asides, but still had more than their share of comic intelligence. SLEEPER tells the tale of Miles Monroe (Allen), who is accidentally cryogenically frozen following a minor operation. Released 200 years later, in 2173, Miles blunders his way through a bizarre future, featuring plenty of props and situations for Allen to mine for laughs. Eventually he meets vapid, hedonistic "poet" Luna Schlosser (Diane Keaton), with whom he eventually joins a rebel group opposed to the oppressive government. As in his earlier BANANAS and LOVE AND DEATH, Allen's character stumbles into a revolutionary plot, revealing the anti-authoritarianism that will appear again and again in his films. Loosely based on H.G. Wells' novel WHEN THE SLEEPER WAKES, the film features a strong parodic bent, particularly of the type of science fiction that was being written and filmed when it was made in 1973. Oppressive, faceless governments and the technological dominance over human life (altering even the most fundamental natural actions, such as sex) are the main tropes Allen skewers, as well as playing off the futuristic production design of films like A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and THX-1138. However, SLEEPER was still considered a strong work of science fiction, winning both the prestigious Hugo and Nebula Awards, which are given to the finest works in the genre.

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RADIO DAYS is Woody Allen's charming, nostalgic, very funny love letter to growing up in 1940s Brooklyn during the golden age of radio. The setting is the close-knit working-class neighborhood of Rockaway, New York, where a warm, crazy, sprawling Jewish family lives, sharing their happiness as well as their disappointments. The youngest member of the family, Joe (Seth Green, of television's BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER), dreams of the glamour and excitement of Manhattan conjured up by the radio programs he and his family listen raptly to each night. Presented in a tapestry of interlocking vignettes, RADIO DAYS weaves tales of everyday family life with glimpses of the glittering--and not so glittering--world of established and aspiring radio celebrities. Allen makes the radio the film's central figure, taking its place as communicator to the world, existing almost as another member of the family. Allen and director of photography Carlo DiPalma capture the look and feel of the time marvelously, and the music is a joy to listen to. The result is a comic, bittersweet, kaleidoscopic look at a long-gone New York that is one of writer-director Woody Allen's most fully realized--and most enjoyable--films.

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This collection brings together a collection of films from writer-director-star Woody Allen's late-1980s, early-1990s period, a time for serious Bergmanesque drama married with bitter comedy. The set includes the delightful ALICE, the moving ANOTHER WOMAN, the nearly flawless CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS, the penetrating SEPTEMBER, and the surreal SHADOWS AND FOG. Please see individual titles for details and technical specifications.

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NEW YORK STORIES comprises three short films set in New York, directed by Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and Woody Allen. Scorsese directs "Life Lessons," in which painter Nick Nolte plays an abstract painter trying to save his relationship with Rosanna Arquette. Francis Ford Coppola directs "Life Without Zoe," which stars Heather McComb as a young schoolgirl who lives alone at the Sherry-Netherland Hotel while her parents (Talia Shire and Giancarlo Giannini) globetrot around the world. Precocious Zoe is lovingly watched over by her butler, Hector (Don Novello), until her parents return home one day with a surprising announcement. Sofia Coppola co-wrote the script with her father. The final segment is "Oedipus Wrecks," a classic Woody Allen piece about a Jewish nebbish who is a bit of a momma's boy.

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Woody Allen's funny, frantic THE CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION is part screwball romantic comedy, part 1940s noir detective story, and part ingenious heist film. Allen stars as C.W. Briggs, a set-in-his-ways old-time insurance investigator who refuses to get along with the bright new efficiency expert, Betty Ann Fitzgerald (Helen Hunt), brought in to streamline his office's operations. Their back-and-forth bickering is reminiscent of the interplay between Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell in HIS GIRL FRIDAY. When a magician, played by the always excellent David Ogden Stiers, hypnotizes them as part of his stage act, Briggs unknowingly becomes a jewel thief while falling in and out of love with the exceedingly more confused Fitz, who is carrying on a secret affair with the married head of the company (Dan Aykroyd). Mayhem ensues as a pair of brother detectives zero in on the criminal, a sexy debutante comes on to Briggs, and Briggs and Fitz start suspecting each other. Production designer Santo Loquasto, who has been working with Allen for more than twenty years, once again has created beautiful sets, and the soundtrack, featuring such 1940s jazz treasures as Glenn Miller and Duke Ellington, is simply splendid.

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A killer lurks in the dark corners of an odd little European town--a mysterious stranger who brutally strangles his victims. When the circus comes to visit, the madman steps up his pace, commencing a ghastly murder spree. Meanwhile, a nondescript local man named Kleinman finds himself accused of the crimes by an angry mob. And every effort Kleinman makes to clear himself ends up making him look more and more guilty. Woody Allen's black-and-white mood piece is dark and eerie and very funny, with new twists and turns lurking behind each shadow. Once again he has amassed a stellar, eclectic cast, including John Cusack, Kathy Bates, Jodie Foster, Donald Pleasence, John Malkovich, Fred Gwynne, Lily Tomlin, and Madonna, among others.

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Woody Allen returns to his slapstick days with this comic romp, which centers on a small-time hood, Ray Winkler, who just can't catch a break. It's as if Virgil Starkwell (Allen's hysterically incompetent criminal mastermind from TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN) has finally gotten out of prison and is still up to his old scheming. Against his wife Frenchy's (Tracey Ullman) better judgment, Ray puts together a ragtag group of misfits, including a scene-stealing Elaine May, and immerses them in a crazy plot to rob a bank. But everything gets upended when their front, a cookie store, takes off, thrusting the Winklers into the upper echelons of New York's high society. SMALL TIME CROOKS looks like no other Allen film; gone are the black-and-white shades of Manhattan, replaced instead by the ridiculously loud shirts Ray wears and the perfectly garish furniture and artwork Frenchy accumulates. Even the Allen soundtrack, usually exclusively jazz, big band, and Dixieland standards, features "Tequila" by the Champs as an underlying theme. What stands out most of all, however, is the offbeat, charming relationship between Ray and Frenchy, two ne'er-do-wells who get to spend a little time at the top.

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University professor Marion Post is experiencing a type of midlife crisis, so she rents an apartment in order to write a book. The apartment is next to a psychiatrist's office, and she inadvertently hears what transpires between the doctor and some of her patients. She becomes obsessed with the life and ongoing therapy of one woman in particular who believes that her marriage is ending. Through this patient, Marion begins to think about issues in her own life and the causes of her own unhappiness. Woody Allen's intense psychodrama, based somewhat on Ingmar Bergman's psychoanalytic masterpiece WILD STRAWBERRIES, features fabulous performances from Gena Rowlands and Gene Hackman, as well as terrific minor turns by Blythe Danner, John Houseman, and Martha Plympton.

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For the first time in his long career, writer-director Woody Allen takes his cast and crew to London, and the European location breathes new life into the normally Manhattan-centric auteur. Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars as Chris Wilton, a former pro on the world tennis circuit who now has his eyes set on a very different kind of prize. After meeting Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode) at an exclusive club, he becomes friendly with Tom's extremely wealthy family, including his powerful businessman father, Alec (Brian Cox) and his attractive sister, Chloe (Emily Mortimer), who is desperate to get married and have children. The only problem is that Chris has fallen hard and fast for Tom's fiancée, the steaming-hot Nola (Scarlett Johansson), an unsuccessful American actress from Colorado who just might share Chris's lustful feelings--a romantic entanglement that could get in the way of his master plan. As he does with his New York-set films, Allen includes many London landmarks, including the Tate Modern, the Royal Opera House, the Queen's Club, St. James Park, the Millennium Bridge, the Palace Theatre, and the so-called Gherkin building, with its marvelous views of the city. He gets splendid performances from his actors, especially Rhys Meyers, who plays Chris with an intense glower, and Johansson, who is brilliant as the sexy, confident femme fatale. Allen is also inspired by Alfred Hitchcock, with several references and homages to the work of the great British director. The soundtrack features songs from LA TRAVIATA, RIGOLETTO, OTELLO, MACBETH, SALVATOR ROSA, IL TROVATORE, and other operas, primarily sung by Enrico Caruso.

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Woody Allen's star-studded CELEBRITY skewers America's fascination with fame and glamour. Kenneth Branagh stars as Lee Simon, a travel writer who also interviews celebrities when he's not working on his novel and screenplay--or at least talking about writing them. As he hangs out more and more with supermodels and actresses, living the so-called good life, he ends his 16-year marriage to Robin (the marvelous Judy Davis). The split nearly sends Robin off the deep end until she meets Joe Gardella (Joe Mantegna), a television producer who introduces her to a whole new world. Allen shoots the film in black-and-white as if to take some of the gleam off the lives of these celebrities, many of whom are famous for just being famous. When Robin starts working for Joe, she is responsible for overseeing the talent--the kind of people who regularly appear on such shows as JERRY SPRINGER, looking for their moment in the spotlight. Even a television preacher has religious groupies who yearn for autographs. It is interesting to note that Allen wrote and directed CELEBRITY at a time when his own fame was reaching a crescendo because of his own personal problems, which became so much tabloid fodder; that is perhaps why he does not appear in the film, instead having Branagh speak the offbeat, cynical, funny lines that the Woodman himself usually delivers.

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The Hollanders, a family of Americans on vacation in Eastern Europe during the 1960s, get into trouble after Walter (director Allen) takes a photo of a sunset near a sensitive military area. The family is forced to hide out in the American embassy, unfortunately in the hands of the ambassador's incompetent son. A remake of Allen's 1960s play, made for television.

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Woody Allen's delightful farce deals with the misadventures of three couples who spend the weekend together in the country. They all seem to end up in love with the wrong person.

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Bette Midler and Woody Allen star in director Paul Mazursky's comedy as a professional Los Angeles couple--Deborah (Midler) is the author of a best-selling self-help book about marriage and has been wed to successful lawyer Nick (Allen) for 16 years. They live a high-pressure professional life, complete with matching Saabs, two kids, a house in the hills, beepers, cell phones, and a constant barrage of client phone calls. To celebrate their anniversary, they decide to embark on a spending spree at the Beverly Center mall. But while there, each makes a startling revelation that rocks their marriage. Nick, following advice from his wife's book, kicks things off by announcing he's been having an affair. Deborah, staggered by the news, rebounds by requesting a divorce. The spoiled couple reconciles--until the author admits that she's been unfaithful herself. As Nick and Deborah wade their way through the mall, dodging a particularly annoying mime (clown Bill Irwin in a hilarious role), mariachi bands, and Christmas-carolling rappers, they are forced to realize the mistakes they've made along the way--all the while juggling the pros and cons of their marriage, dividing assets, and shooting off rapid rounds of compliments and insults. Midler and Allen make a terrific and suitably neurotic pair in Mazursky's hilarious satire of an outlandish Los Angles marriage.

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Alice Tate (Mia Farrow) is a rich Manhattan wife who spends her days shopping, getting pedicures, going to the salon, working out with her personal trainer, and seeing her chiropractor. But when she can't get rid of her back pain, she goes to an Asian herbalist (the wonderful Keye Luke, in his final performance) who gives her special herbs to cure what's really ailing her. Reluctantly, she takes these magical potions, which open up a whole new world for her, releasing her inner self, making her invisible, and allowing her to see dead ex-boyfriends. She begins to regret having given up her career in the theater and considers becoming a writer. Meanwhile, she is getting involved in a serious flirtation with Joe Ruffalo (Joe Mantegna), a divorced saxophone player who is drawn to her, while her very rich, very practical husband, Doug (William Hurt), continues to treat her as not-too-bright window dressing, belittling her and discouraging her attempts to become more independent. But the thought of having an affair terrifies her--and intrigues her. Beautifully photographed by Carlo di Palma, with a wonderful set design by Santo Loquasto, Woody Allen's ALICE is a smart, comic exploration of a woman rediscovering herself, trying to find out what happened to all of her dreams.

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Woody Allen mixes the tragic with the comic in MELINDA AND MELINDA, a delightful, intelligent look at two versions of the same story. After hearing a tale about a quirky woman who walks in unexpectedly on a dinner party in an apartment in New York City, Sy (Wallace Shawn) expands it into a romantic comedy, while Max (Larry Pine) turns it into an urban tragedy. Allen intercuts between the two retellings, intermingling cause and effect, love and romance, failure and success, as Melinda creates havoc in both fictional worlds. Each story has its own cast: the comedy features Will Ferrell, Amanda Peet, and Josh Brolin; the tragedy stars Chloe Sevigny, Jonny Lee Miller, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Radha Mitchell is the only repeat actor, playing both Melindas, and she does a tremendous job. Interestingly, the comic section is not a straight laughfest, like Allen's SLEEPERS, ANNIE HALL, or BULLETS OVER BROADWAY, and the more serious part is not nearly as dour as INTERIORS or ANOTHER WOMAN. Instead, Allen, who has been criticized by critics and fans alike for not making more funny films, has created two parallel universes that each combines aspects of comedy and tragedy, resulting in a wonderful, insightful drama.

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Perhaps the most unique film of his career, Woody Allen's ZELIG not only stands as a technical triumph for a director not often associated with the technological aspect of filmmaking, but also utilizes a documentary aesthetic that Allen has not often used before or since. One of the first major mockumentaries produced (it was released a year before THIS IS SPINAL TAP), ZELIG combines voice-over, footage both historical and faux-historical, and staged interviews with famous intellectuals to tell the story of Leonard Zelig (Allen), the "Chameleon Man" of the 1920s and '30s who has since been largely forgotten. Zelig creates a media sensation when he is discovered, for he seems to have the unique ability to transform himself to fit in with whomever he finds himself--when encountering Greeks, he becomes Greek; surrounded by fat men, he becomes heftier. But his condition leaves him open to exploitation, and the only person who believes in him is ambitious psychologist Eudora Fletcher (Mia Farrow). Technologically the film is a marvel, especially when the production history is taken into account. Allen wanted the film to appear genuinely from the period, and the footage shot was reportedly captured on equipment used during the 1920s. Even more astonishing is the manner in which Allen and other cast members were smoothly integrated into old photographs and film footage, some with distinguished historical figures, years before the advent of seamless digital techniques and over a decade before a similar strategy was used in FORREST GUMP. The setting and the aim for verisimilitude allow Allen to explore one of the most serious themes of his career: the assimilation of Jews and other immigrant groups into American culture, although the subject is still tempered by his intelligent verbal wit (for example, the voiceover explains: "As a boy, Leonard Zelig is frequently bullied by anti-Semites. His parents, who never take his part and blame him for everything, side with the anti-Semites"). Allen sees this desire for assimilation as a necessary part of cultural inclusion, but recognizes its dangers, as being a "Chameleon Man" seems only one step away from outright fascism.

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The film that Woody Allen has said is his favorite of all that he's made, THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO unites the competing tendencies in his work towards realism (be it comic, as in ANNIE HALL, or dramatic, as in INTERIORS) and comedic fantasy (such as SLEEPER or BANANAS). Cecilia (Mia Farrow) lives in New Jersey during the Great Depression, which appropriately describes her mood: she works a dead-end job as a waitress that supports her and her abusive, deadbeat husband Monk (Danny Aiello). Her only release is at the cinema, where she repeatedly goes to see a trite romantic adventure called "The Purple Rose of Cairo." But when Tom Baxter (Jeff Daniels), the lead character of the film, steps off the screen and falls in love with her, Cecilia has to deal with the disjoint between her own life and the glamorous world on the screen. Although the film begins realistically--there is close attention paid to period setting and costuming--the conceit of a film character emerging from the screen is one Allen would rarely use except in his outright comedies. However, THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO blends dramatic and fish-out-of-water comedic situations to explore the disparity between the real world and fantasy. What is really at issue in the film is the positive psychological effects of the fantasies of the traditional film world. The film is the product of a true film lover, and stands as Allen's defense of the entertainments often derided by critics and other filmmakers of his stature. He received an Academy Award nomination for the screenplay.