Woody Allen and Vintage Period Films

[John in Covina]

What are his other period films?

While I have seen a handful of early Woody Allen films, I did not get to see many of them in the last 20 plus years. I only recently got to see "Radio Days" and "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion" which are set in the 1940's.

Radio Days is pretty tender send up of childhood and seems like it has a hint of "the nice Jewish boy's" version of A Christmas Story. I like the film, the reference to the Radio shows , the music and the daily life of the people is really heart warming to me.

The Jade Scorpion is a bit flat in some of the acting but I like the treatment of spoofing some of the iconic fem fatales and other characters in the film. It's one of those films where they make a point of having nearly everyone smoking constantly.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Zelig" is one of his most brilliant homages to The Era -- the story of a bizarre pop-culture phenomenon of the late twenties, done up as a fake documentary. The heart of the film is elaborately faked newsreel clips placing Allen's character in the scene with actual historical personalities, and done in a manner absolutely true to the period. The music is first-rate too, mixing actual vintage recordings with modern compositions done in vintage style. Some people find the whole thing a one-joke enterprise that goes on too long, but I think it's one of the best "mockumentaries" ever done.

 

[martinsantos]

I saw only two period films by Woody Allen. Radio Days and The Purple Rose of Cairo. Liked a lot this one!

 

[dhermann1]

Don't forget "The Purple Rose of Cairo", where Jeff Daniels comes right off the movie screen and into mousey little Mia Farrow's life, and "Sweet and Lowdown", where Sean Penn brilliantly plays the fictional jazz guitarist Emmit Ray.
Woody Allen is a huge fan of early jazz, and has been known to sit in on the clarinet at various jam sessions.

 

[Feraud]

Sweet and Lowdown is a good one. They filmed at least one outdoor scene in Long Island City.
Zelig is fantastic!

 

[Fletch]

Even in his nonperiod films, Woody peppers period music. Stardust Memories and Manhattan had 30s records on the track, and Everyone Says I Love You was a classic tunefest all thru.

That said, I saw Stardust at age 13 in 1980 and became convinced that he wanted to basically co-opt that sound as a cinematic trademark, associated with arty nebbish types and Felliniesque hot air balloon sequences.

 

[skyvue]

RADIO DAYS and ZELIG are my two favorite period films from WA, but PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO is also very good, and BULLETS OVER BROADWAY is not bad.

 

[Kahuna]

I've grown a bit tired of the much older man gets romantically involved with a woman a third of his age theme that shows up in so many of his movies, and his last half dozen or so have been duds, but I do respect his taste in music. It's not really a Woody Allen movie per se but this morning I watched "Wild Man Blues" as I was on the treadmill. It is the documentary about Woody's tour in Europe as a clarinet player in a New Orleans style jazz band. While he's not a great player he was more than adequate and the movie conveyed his great love for the music.

 

[Tomasso]

I've grown a bit tired of the much older man gets romantically involved with a woman a third of his age theme that shows up in so many of his movies,

[video=youtube;gTcgVWrV5qI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTcgVWrV5qI&feature=related[/video]

 

[Kahuna]

That pretty much sums it up!

 

[John in Covina]

I am looking forward to seeing some of the films everyone has written about here. I can recall seeing a review on TV, might have been Siscel and Ebbert on Zelig and that they liked it a lot.

 

[nicholasb]

I've grown a bit tired of the much older man gets romantically involved with a woman a third of his age theme that shows up in so many of his movies

I saw 'Whatever Works' recently. Same pervy story. It had some charm though. I think his storytelling is kind of vintage. Larry David was superb as always.

 

[Fletch]

I think you're right: Woody (and Larry) are part of an ironic, storytelling tradition that does go back generations, and if you ask some people, was particularly formative to the American sense of humor (which kind of leaves Mark Twain out in the cold, but hey).

 

[djd]

Not a vintage period one as such, but I enjoyed 'Play it Again Sam' where he's constantly advised by an imaginary Humphrey Bogart

 

[Atomic Age]

"Zelig" is one of his most brilliant homages to The Era -- the story of a bizarre pop-culture phenomenon of the late twenties, done up as a fake documentary. The heart of the film is elaborately faked newsreel clips placing Allen's character in the scene with actual historical personalities, and done in a manner absolutely true to the period. The music is first-rate too, mixing actual vintage recordings with modern compositions done in vintage style. Some people find the whole thing a one-joke enterprise that goes on too long, but I think it's one of the best "mockumentaries" ever done.

I couldn't agree more. This is my favorite Woody Allen film.

Doug