Woody Allen Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===1977β1989: Established career === Then came two of Allen's most popular films: ''[[Annie Hall]]'' and ''[[Manhattan (1979 film)|Manhattan]]''. ''Annie Hall'' (1977) won four [[Academy Awards]], including [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]], [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress in a Leading Role]] for [[Diane Keaton]], [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Original Screenplay]] and [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]] for Allen. It set the standard for modern romantic comedy and ignited a fashion trend with the clothes Keaton wore in the film. In an interview with journalist [[Katie Couric]], Keaton did not deny that Allen wrote the part for and about her.<ref name=Couric>{{YouTube|blGicJHQZdo|"Annie Hall Interview with Diane Keaton by Katie Couric"}}, video interview, 2 min.</ref> The film is ranked 35th on the ''[[American Film Institute]]''{{'s}} "100 Best Movies" and fourth on the AFI list of the "100 Best Comedies". In 1979, Allen paid tribute to one of his comedy idols, [[Bob Hope]], at the [[Film at Lincoln Center|Film Society at Lincoln Center]], creating a special for the event titled "My Favorite Comedian" that included clips from Hope's films, selected and narrated by Allen. Hope said of the honor, "It's great to have your past spring up in front of your eyes, especially when it's done by Woody Allen, because he's a near genius. Not a whole genius, but a near genius".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/08/archives/bob-hope-honored-at-film-society-gala-2-theories-on-oversight.html|title= Bob Hope Honored at Film Society Gala|newspaper=The New York Times|date= May 8, 1979|access-date= May 10, 2020|last1= Taxel|first1= Judy Klemesrud Barney}}</ref> [[Dick Cavett]] hosted the event, but Allen was absent, editing ''[[Manhattan (1979 film)|Manhattan]]''. Guests included Keaton, [[Kurt Vonnegut]], and [[Andy Warhol]]. ''[[Manhattan (1979 film)|Manhattan]]'' (1979) is a black-and-white romantic comedy often viewed as an homage to New York City. It has iconic scenes filmed in the city, including an opening montage of scenes around the city, and Allen and Keaton's silhouette on a bench by the [[Queensboro Bridge]]. As in many Allen films, the main protagonists are upper-middle-class writers and academics. ''Manhattan'' focuses on the complicated relationship between middle-aged Isaac Davis (Allen) and 17-year-old Tracy ([[Mariel Hemingway]]), and co-stars Keaton and [[Meryl Streep]]. It was a box-office and critical hit, and received two [[Academy Award]] nominations, for Hemingway for [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]] and for Allen's screenplay. Keaton, who has made eight movies with Allen, has said, "He just has a mind like nobody else. He's bold. He's got a lot of strength, a lot of courage in terms of his work. And that is what it takes to do something really unique. Along with a genius imagination."<ref name=Couric /> Allen's films in the 1980s, even the comedies, became somber with philosophical undertones, influenced by European directors, especially [[Ingmar Bergman]] and [[Federico Fellini]]. ''[[Stardust Memories]]'' was based on ''[[8Β½]]'', which it parodies, and ''[[Wild Strawberries (film)|Wild Strawberries]]''. ''[[A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy]]'' was adapted from ''[[Smiles of a Summer Night]]''. In ''[[Hannah and Her Sisters]]'', part of the film's structure and background is borrowed from ''[[Fanny and Alexander]]''. [[Federico Fellini|Fellini's]] ''[[Amarcord]]'' inspired ''[[Radio Days]]''. ''[[September (1987 film)|September]]'' resembles Bergman's ''[[Autumn Sonata]]''. ''[[Another Woman (1988 film)|Another Woman]]'' and ''[[Crimes and Misdemeanors]]'' have elements reminiscent of ''[[Wild Strawberries (film)|Wild Strawberries]].''<ref>{{cite web|last1=Wilmington|first1=Michael|title=Commentary: Woody Allen Keeps the Faith: 'Crimes and Misdemeanors' tears down the wall between his serious and comic sides |page=2|url=https://articles.latimes.com/1989-10-22/entertainment/ca-984_1_woody-allen-movie/2|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=April 13, 2016|date=October 22, 1989|archive-date=November 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151124014539/https://articles.latimes.com/1989-10-22/entertainment/ca-984_1_woody-allen-movie/2|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Stardust Memories'' (1980) features Sandy Bates, a successful filmmaker played by Allen, who expresses resentment and scorn for his fans. Overcome by the recent death of a friend from illness, Bates says, "I don't want to make funny movies anymore" and a running gag has various people (including visiting space aliens) telling him that they appreciate his films, "especially the early, funny ones."<ref name="triviana">{{cite web |url=http://triviana.com/film/sfilm/stmem.htm |title=Stardust Memories review|publisher=Triviana.com |access-date=January 17, 2008}}</ref> Allen considers this one of his best films.<ref>{{cite news |author= Kamp, David |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/books/review/Kamp-t.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071117160225/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/books/review/Kamp-t.html |archive-date=2007-11-17 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title= Woody Talks |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 18, 2007 |access-date=March 9, 2010}}</ref> {{quote box | align = right | width = 25em | bgcolor = Bisque | quote = Mia's a good actress who can play many different roles. She has a very good range, and can play serious to comic roles. She's also very photogenic, very beautiful on screen. She's just a good realistic actress ... and no matter how strange and daring it is, she does it well. | source = βWoody Allen (1993){{sfn|Allen|1993|p=133}} }} In 1981, Allen's play ''[[The Floating Light Bulb]]'', starring [[Danny Aiello]] and [[Bea Arthur]], premiered on Broadway and ran for 65 performances.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Floating Light Bulb β Broadway Play β Original|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-floating-light-bulb-4112|publisher=[[Internet Broadway Database]]|access-date=July 18, 2016}}</ref> While receiving mixed reviews, it gave autobiographical insight into Allen's childhood, specifically his fascination with magic tricks. The play, set in 1945, is a semi-autobiographical tale of a lower-middle-class Brooklyn family. ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' critic Frank Rich gave the play a mild review, writing, "there are a few laughs, a few well-wrought characters, and, in Act II, a beautifully written scene that leads to a moving final curtain".<ref name="nytimes.com">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/28/theater/stage-light-bulb-by-woody-allen.html?pagewanted= |title = Stage: 'Light Bulb,' by Woody Allen|newspaper = The New York Times|date = April 28, 1981|last1 = Rich|first1 = Frank}}</ref> Rich compared it to [[Tennessee Williams]]'s work.<ref name="nytimes.com"/> Allen has written several off-Broadway one-act plays, including ''Riverside Drive'', ''Old Saybrook'' (at the [[Atlantic Theater Company]]), and ''A Second Hand Memory'' (at the Variety Arts Theatre).<ref name="nytimes.com" /><ref>{{cite news|last1=Sullivan|first1=Dan|title=Stage Review : Few Laughs In Allen's 'Light Bulb'|url=https://articles.latimes.com/1987-01-12/entertainment/ca-3041_1_light-bulb|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=July 18, 2016|date=January 12, 1987}}</ref> ''A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy'' (1982) was the first movie Allen made starring [[Mia Farrow]], who stepped into [[Diane Keaton]]'s role when Keaton was shooting ''[[Reds (film)|Reds]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Morgan|first1=David|title=The films of Woody Allen|date=August 3, 2013 |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/the-films-of-woody-allen/19/|publisher=[[CBS News]]|access-date=April 13, 2016}}</ref> He next directed ''[[Zelig]]'', in which he starred as a man who has the ability to transform his appearance to match the people around him.<ref name="continues">{{cite news |last1=Canby |first1=Vincent |authorlink=Vincent Canby|title=Woody Allen Continues to Refine His Cinematic Art |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/17/movies/woody-allen-continues-to-refine-his-cinematic-art.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=November 14, 2018 |date=July 17, 1983}}</ref> Allen has combined tragic and comic elements in such films as ''Hannah and Her Sisters'' (1986) and ''Crimes and Misdemeanors'' (1989), in which he tells two stories that connect at the end. He has also made three films about show business: ''[[Broadway Danny Rose]]'', in which he plays a down-on-his-luck New York show business agent; ''[[The Purple Rose of Cairo]]'', set during the [[Great Depression]], in which a movie character comes to life to romance an unhappy housewife; and ''[[Radio Days]]'', a film about his childhood in Brooklyn and the importance of the radio. The film co-starred Farrow in a part Allen wrote for her.{{sfn|Allen|1993|p=133}} ''Time'' magazine called ''The Purple Rose of Cairo'' one of the 100 best films of all time.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Corliss|first1=Richard|title=Best Movies of All Time |url=http://entertainment.time.com/2005/02/12/all-time-100-movies/slide/the-purple-rose-of-cairo-1985/|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=April 13, 2016|date=January 15, 2010 }}</ref> Allen has called it one of his three best films, with ''Stardust Memories'' and ''[[Match Point]]''.<ref name=premiere-interview>{{cite web|url=http://www.premiere.com/article.asp?section_id=6&article_id=2539&page_number=1&print_page=y|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060317120401/http://www.premiere.com/article.asp?section_id=6&article_id=2539&page_number=1&print_page=y |archive-date=March 17, 2006 |title=Woody Allen Speaks! |author=Matloff, Jason |work=Premiere|access-date=December 1, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> By "best", he said he meant they came closest to his vision. In 1989, Allen and directors [[Francis Ford Coppola]] and [[Martin Scorsese]] made ''[[New York Stories]]'', an [[anthology film]] about New Yorkers. Allen's short, ''[[New York Stories|Oedipus Wrecks]]'', is about a neurotic lawyer and his critical mother. Film critic [[Vincent Canby]] of ''The New York Times'' praised the segment as a "priceless contribution" to the film.<ref name="wrecks">{{cite news |last1=Canby |first1=Vincent |authorlink=Vincent Canby|title=Anthologies Can Be A Bargain |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/12/movies/film-view-anthologies-can-be-a-bargain.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=November 14, 2018 |date=March 12, 1989}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. 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