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New Documentary Reveals Woody Allen Thought <em>Annie Hall</em> Was "Okay," <em>Manhattan</em> Was "Unreleasable"
By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 1, 2011
Modified Aug 1, 2011
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 1, 2011
Modified Aug 1, 2011
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Coming to PBS this November: an American Masters documentary focusing on the normally not-so-revealing Woody Allen. Spoiler alert: the director originally thought his 1979 classic Manhattan sort of sucked! In fact, he thought he "had blown it so badly it was unreleasable." It turns out Woody Allen's favorite Woody Allen movies are actually Match Point, Bullets Over Broadway, and Purple Rose of Cairo—he only thinks Annie Hall is "okay."
The two part documentary will air on the 20th and 21st of November, and it's all happening thanks to Allen's old colleague Robert Weide, who convinced the 75-year-old to do it. The two-part profile of Allen will feature sit-down interviews, visits to film sets, and old footage, a visit to his childhood home in Brooklyn, and more.
Allen didn't attend a press event for the documentary yesterday, but Mariel Hemingway (who was just 17 when she was cast in Manhattan) did. She said Allen only talked to his actresses "depending on how young they were," joking that his relationships on film with much younger woman became autobiographical. (Crickets!) Regarding Soon-Yi, she says, "He's an artist; it doesn't mean he's not an odd person who makes choices we don't all agree with or understand."
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american masters
documentary
pbs
woody allen
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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