YOU HAVEN’T SEEN ANYTHING UNTIL YOU’VE SEEN EVERYTHING.Â
Woody Allen’s parody of David Reuben’s popular 1960s sex manual is divided into seven vignettes with wildly different themes, featuring among other things Allen as a court jester trying to open a chastity belt, a doctor (Gene Wilder) falling in love with Daisy the sheep, a game show called What’s My Perversion?, and in the film’s most famous sequence Allen as a soldier-like sperm on a mission. Obviously uneven, silly and outdated at times, but also incredibly playful and creative (with nods to both Fellini and Ed Wood). Above all, it is funny, with the most hilarious performance delivered by Wilder as the doctor whose life changes in a baaad way.
1972-U.S. 87 min. Color. Produced by Charles H. Joffe. Written and directed by Woody Allen. Book: David Reuben. Cast: Woody Allen (Victor/Fabrizio/The Fool/Sperm), John Carradine (Dr. Bernardo), Lou Jacobi (Sam Musgrave), Louise Lasser, Anthony Quayle, Tony Randall… Lynn Redgrave, Burt Reynolds, Gene Wilder, Regis Philbin.
Quote: “I’m not getting shot out of that thing. What if he’s masturbating? I’m liable to end up on the ceiling.” (Allen as a sperm)
Last word: “People would come up to me and say ‘I loved the fifth episode, but the third and first were the worst’. Some people said they adored it. Other people said it was in bad taste. There is no way you can think of pleasing people. Comedy is so ephemeral. It is so relational and so dependant on how the audience feels.” (Allen, “Woody Allen: Interviews”)
