Love and Death (1975)

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer:

Woody Allen (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

10 June 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | War

Tagline:

The Comedy Sensation of the Year!

Plot:

In czarist Russia, a neurotic soldier and his distant cousin formulate a plot to assassinate Napoleon.

Plot Keywords:

Russia | Army | Slapstick | Philosophy | Stadium Vendor

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Woody Allen	...	Boris Grushenko
Diane Keaton	...	Sonja
Georges Adet	...	Old Nehamkin
Frank Adu	...	Drill sergeant
Edmond Ardisson	...	Priest (as Edward Ardisson)
Féodor Atkine	...	Mikhail Grushenko (as Feodor Atkine)
Albert Augier	...	Waiter
Yves Barsacq	...	Rimsky (as Yves Barsaco)
Lloyd Battista	...	Don Francisco
Jack Berard	...	Gen. Lecoq
Eva Betrand	...	Woman hygiene class
George Birt	...	Doctor
Yves Brainville	...	Andre
Gérard Buhr	...	Servant (as Gerard Buhr)
Brian Coburn	...	Dimitri
Henri Coutet	...	Minskov
Patricia Crown	...	Cheerleader
Henry Czarniak	...	Ivan Grushenko
Despo Diamantidou	...	Mother Grushenko
Sandor Elès	...	Soldier #2 (as Sandor Eles)
Luce Fabiole	...	Grandmother
Florian	...	Uncle Nikolai
Jacqueline Fogt	...	Ludmilla
Sol Frieder	...	Leon Voskovec (herring merchant) (as Sol L. Frieder)
Olga Georges-Picot	...	Countess Alexandrovna
Harold Gould	...	Anton Inbedkov
Harry Hankin	...	Uncle Sasha
Jessica Harper	...	Natasha
Tony Jay	...	Vladimir Maximovitch
Tutte Lemkow	...	Pierre
Jack Lenoir	...	Kropotkin (wine merchant)
Leib Lensky	...	Father Andre
Anne Lonnberg	...	Olga
Roger Lumont	...	First baker
Alfred Lutter III	...	Young Boris Grushenko
Ed Marcus	...	Raskov
Jacques Maury	...	Second
Narcissa McKinley	...	Cheerleader
Aubrey Morris	...	Soldier #4
Denise Péron	...	Spanish countess (as Denise Peron)
Beth Porter	...	Anna
Alan Rossett	...	Guard
Shimen Ruskin	...	Borslov
Percival Russel	...	Berdykov (village idiot)
Chris Sanders	...	Joseph
Zvee Scooler	...	Father
C.A.R. Smith	...	Father Nikolai
Fred Smith	...	Soldier
Bernard Taylor	...	Soldier #3
Clément Thierry	...	Jacques (as Clement-Thierry)
Alan Tilvern	...	Sergeant
James Tolkan	...	Napoleon Bonaparte
Hélène Vallier	...	Madame Wolfe (as Helene Vallier)
Howard Vernon	...	Gen. Leveque
Glenn Williams	...	Soldier #1
Jacob Witkin	...	Sushkin
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rebecca Potok	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Norman Rose	...	Death (voice) (uncredited)
Andrée Tainsy	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Woody Allen

Writing credits
Woody Allen		(written by)
Mildred Cram		uncredited
Donald Ogden Stewart		uncredited

Produced by
Fred T. Gallo	....	associate producer
Charles H. Joffe	....	producer
Martin Poll	....	executive producer

Cinematography by
Ghislain Cloquet

Film Editing by
Ron Kalish
Ralph Rosenblum
George Hively		(uncredited)

Casting by
Miriam Brickman
Juliet Taylor
Blanche Wiesenfeld

Production Design by
Willy Holt

Costume Design by
Gladys de Segonzac

Makeup Department
Renée Guidet	....	hair stylist (as Renee Guidet)
Anatole Paris	....	makeup artist
Marie-Madeleine Paris	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Jean-Marie Durand	....	unit manager
Patrick Gordon	....	assistant unit manager
Suzanne Wiesenfeld	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bernard Cohn	....	second assistant director
Paul Feyder	....	first assistant director
Zsuzsanna Mills	....	second assistant director: Hungary (uncredited)

Art Department
Louis Boussaroque	....	outside buyer
Jean Brunet	....	stand-by propman
Marc Frédérix	....	assistant art director (as Marc Frederix)
Claude Reytinas	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Daniel Brisseau	....	sound mixer
Gérard de Lagarde	....	boom operator (as Gerard De Lagarde)
Al Gramaglia	....	sound re-recording mixer
Dan Sable	....	sound editor
Michael Kirchberger	....	assistant sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Peter Dawson	....	assistant special effects
Kit West	....	chief special effects

Stunts
Gábor Piroch	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Paul Apoteker	....	still photographer
Philippe Houdart	....	second assistant camera
René Strasser	....	head grip
Guy Testa-Rossa	....	first assistant camera
Michel Vocoret	....	head gaffer
Daniel Vogel	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Andree Demarez	....	wardrober

Editorial Department
Marilyn McLaren	....	assistant film editor

Music Department
Felix Giglio	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Catherine Prévert	....	script supervisor (as Catherine Prevert)
Adele Sanders	....	auditor
Marie-Jose Testard	....	accountant
Blanche Wiesenfeld	....	production secretary

Production Companies

• Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions

Distributors

• United Artists (1975) (USA) (theatrical)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print)
• New Star (2008) (Greece) (theatrical) (re-issue)
• United Artists (1975) (France) (theatrical) (as Les Artistes Associés )
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Computer Opticals  titles

Also Known As:

Guerre et amour (France)
Die letzte Nacht des Boris Gruschenko (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
La última noche de Boris Grushenko (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
A Última Noite de Bóris Grushenko (Brazil) [pt]
Ahava Oo'Mavet (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
Amor y muerte: La última noche de Boris Grushenko (Mexico) [es]
Amore e guerra (Italy) [it]
Död och pina (Sweden) [sv]
Kærlighed og død (Denmark) [da]
L'última nit de Boris Grushenko (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Milosc i smierc (Poland) [pl]
O eirinopoios (Greece) [el]
Sota ja rakkaus eli älkää ampuko Napoleonia (Finland) [fi]
Szerelem és halál (Hungary) [hu]

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

France | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Netherlands:6 | Brazil:12 | USA:PG (certificate #24301) | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Norway:16 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Budapest, Hungary

Company:

Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions

Trivia:

The soundtrack was originally scored with the music of Igor Stravinsky, but Woody Allen thought it made the scenes "unfunny". He discovered Sergei Prokofiev's lighthearted music worked far better.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the scene where Sonja accompanies Beethoven's "Spring" violin sonata, the music on the piano is visibly an orchestral score, whereas the piece they are playing is a duo. Besides, the "violinist" never moves his left hand's fingers.

Quotes:

Napoleon: Do you find me attractive as a man?
Sonja: Yes, I think that's your best bet.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Anything But Love: Love and Death (#1.4)" (1989)

Soundtrack:

Lt. Kije

Woody Allen's best, and I own them all

People go on and on about "Annie Hall," which I must say I love, but "Love and Death" remains, for me, the best movie Woody Allen movie ever made. Why?

First, I love Dostoyevsky, and his twisted take on Dostoyevsky is so hilarious, but also so informed, that it lands me on my ass. Second, his dialogue is so

existentialist and yet so ridiculous ("Yes, but objectivity is subjective." "Not in any rational scheme of perception.") that it makes Ingmar Bergman look like a fool, which he isn't, but it's so much fun to deconstruct the big guy. Third, I love the scene when the little kid questions death about the afterlife. ("Are there girls?") I love the one-liners, especially when, surveying the battlefield with all the bodies lying around, Woody's companion says "He was our village idiot." and Woody

replies "So what did you do? Place?" Mainly I love it because it is intellectual but also as silly as hell. In the movie pantheon, Woody is up there in the godhead, along with Bergman and Dreyer. Alongside them, the world needs Woody, to

make it laugh about things that they make people think seriously about.