Manhattan (1979)

Director:

Woody Allen

Writers:

Woody Allen (written by) and
Marshall Brickman (written by)

Release Date:

25 April 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Woody Allen's New Comedy Hit

Plot:

A divorced New Yorker currently dating a high-schooler brings himself to look for love in the mistress of his best friend instead.

Plot Keywords:

Writing | Ex Wife | Writer | Sex With Minor | Bookstore

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 15 nominations

Cast

Woody Allen	...	Isaac
Diane Keaton	...	Mary
Michael Murphy	...	Yale
Mariel Hemingway	...	Tracy
Meryl Streep	...	Jill
Anne Byrne Hoffman	...	Emily (as Anne Byrne)
Karen Ludwig	...	Connie
Michael O'Donoghue	...	Dennis
Victor Truro	...	Party Guest
Tisa Farrow	...	Party Guest
Helen Hanft	...	Party Guest
Bella Abzug	...	Guest of Honor
Gary Weis	...	Television Director
Kenny Vance	...	Television Producer
Charles Levin	...	Television Actor #1

Also Known As:

Manhattan (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Manhattan (France) [fr]
Manhattan (Argentina) [es]
Manhattan (Brazil) [pt]
Manhattan (Greece) [el]
Manhattan (Poland) [pl]
Manhattan (Denmark) [da]
Manhattan (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Manhattan (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Portugal:M/12 | Canada:18A (Ontario) | UK:12A (re-rating) (2006) | Netherlands:AL | Brazil:12 | South Korea:18 | Argentina:18 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Ireland:18 | Norway:16 (original rating) | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:15 (video rating) (1987) | UK:AA (original rating) | USA:R | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

5th Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions

Trivia:

Toward the end of the film, when Isaac is haranguing Yale, he mentions Yale someday being before a Senate subcommittee "naming names". In The Front (1976), Woody Allen's character winds up before a Congressional committee to "name names", including the character played by Michael Murphy.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: During the fireworks in the opening sequence the screen goes black several times - but not completely: Two bright circles - glasses - can be seen as a reflection (probably because the sequence was filmed from behind a window) and there is also a very slight after-image of the person wearing the glasses who might even be the director.

Quotes:

Mary Wilke: Well tell me, why did you get a divorce?
Isaac Davis: Why? I got a divorce because my ex-wife left me for another woman.
Mary Wilke: Really? God, that must have been really demoralizing.
Isaac Davis: Well, I dunno, I thought I took it rather well under the circumstances. I tried to run them both over with a car.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 50 Films to See Before You Die (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

He Loves, and She Loves

Rhapsody in NYC

Manhattan is an exhilarating American romance set against the backdrop of New York of the late 70's: my favorite New York, the New York of painters, poets, punks, and Pauline Kael. Three great, very American talents -- Woody Allen, Gordon Willis, and George Gershwin -- intertwine their respective gifts to create a comedy that manages to satisfy both the brain and the heart, and even, perhaps, the lower regions.

Allen is so brainy and such a nebbish that he can get away with gestures that would be painfully sentimental in the hands of any other director: when he begins the movie with fireworks cut to Gershwin, it isn't to soften you up for a soap opera, but to remind you that however much his neuroses may seem to drive the scenes, its the love of New York that drives the movie.

The entire cast is note perfect: Meryl Streep as his caustic bisexual ex-wife, Diane Keaton as a nervous journalist from Philadelphia, and especially Mariel Hemingway, whose performance as Allen's 17-year old girlfriend is charming, heartbreaking, and wise.

Allen's comedy here is at its absolute finest. The fact that it is interwoven with a genuinely moving love story told with a subtlety and indirection that is unheard of in today's mainstream cinema only makes the laughs that much richer.

Gordon Willis' cinematography is good enough for the Museum of Modern Art. Scene after scene leaves a grin on your face as his moving (in both senses) black and white photography floats across the screen.

And finally underlying everything is the music of George Gershwin, whose exubertant melodies propel the movie forward at every turn.

This is Woody Allen's best movie, a great movie, and an American movie in the best sense. As an homage to the city of New York it will surely remain unsurpassed.