Often considered the crown jewel in a highly acclaimed and prolific film career, ANNIE HALL is Woody Allen's only film to have won the Academy Award for Best Picture. This recognition, however, is not what makes the film significant. ANNIE HALL marks the beginning of the second phase of Allen's career as a filmmaker, abandoning the slapstick of SLEEPER and BANANAS for more thoughtful comedies (and eventually dramas) that explored human relationships and psychology. Allen's capacity as a creative filmmaker had also grown with the film, as he utilized creative subtitles, split screens, and animation, as well as evincing a sophisticated understanding of the potential of editing and camera movement for comic effect--consider the cutaway to Allen's character Alvy Singer, as seen through the eyes of "Grammy Hall" during the dinner sequence, or shortly afterward the slow pan to Alvy in the passenger seat of a car driven by Annie's unhinged brother Duane.

The film is a brutally honest assessment of the prospects of a relationship between two very different people. Allen's Alvy is (like the filmmaker himself) an introverted, neurotic intellectual and a complete mismatch for Diane Keaton's vivacious, flaky Annie Hall. Although the romance is undoubtedly the center of the film, it affords Allen the opportunity to contrast his beloved New York culture with that of the Midwest, where Annie comes from, and Los Angeles, which tempts Annie with the possibility of fame and success as a singer. The city of New York itself plays an important part for the first time in an Allen film, with a great deal of location shooting that serves to highlight the city's character and atmosphere. Finally, the many comedic cameos peppered through the film--from Truman Capote to Paul Simon to media theorist Marshall McLuhan--pay tribute to the deserved reputation that Allen had gained for himself.

Woody Allen's breakthrough comedy is a constant joy to watch. Allen plays Alvy Singer, a New York-centric comedian who cannot get any pleasure out of life. He is obsessed with death and thinks that there are only two types of people in the world: the horrible and the miserable. Into his world comes midwestern flake Annie Hall, played fabulously by Diane Keaton. As they fall in love, she begins to outgrow him emotionally, resulting in a hysterical yet ultimately bittersweet romantic comedy.

Theatrical Release: April 20, 1977.

The film was shot on location in New York and Los Angeles, as well as New Jersey, Amagansett, NY, and Wisconsin.

ANNIE HALL was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1992.

The film was nominated for, and won, the Best Picture Academy Award, but Allen did not attend the ceremonies, choosing instead to play his clarinet at Michael's Pub in New York, the city where he lives and works. The film was the first comedy since TOM JONES in 1963 to win Best Picture.

ANNIE HALL is number 4 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Funniest Movies and number 31 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.

The film was originally called ANHEDONIA but was changed just a few weeks before release. Anhedonia is the clinical condition in which someone is unable to experience joy.

ANNIE HALL was originally shot as a murder mystery, but when it was determined that the romantic comedy was the best part of the film, all references to the murder mystery were edited out.

The film marks the fourth pairing of Keaton and Allen, who were an offscreen couple at the time. The film in actuality chronicles the end of their relationship.

Diane Keaton's real last name is Hall.

Diane Keaton performs the songs "It Had to Be You" and "Seems Like Old Times" in the film.

The costumes in the film (especially those by Ralph Lauren) kicked off the Annie Hall look, which featured menswear for women, big leather and straw shoulder bags, and hats.

Media scholar Marshall McLuhan and TV host-author Dick Cavett make cameo appearances in the film as themselves.

When Alvy and Annie are in the park making fun of the people around them, Alvy points out one gentlemen as being the winner in a Truman Capote look-alike contest; the part is actually played by the real Truman Capote in an uncredited cameo.

Sigourney Weaver made her feature-film debut in ANNIE HALL.

The film features Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Walken, Shelly Hack, John Glover, and Beverly D'Angelo in minor roles.

Christopher Walken's last name is spelled Wlaken in the closing credits.

The film marked singer-songwriter Paul Simon's film debut.

Excerpt: "Hey, don't knock masturbation. It's sex with someone I love."
--Alvy Singer (Woody Allen)

"A relationship, I think, is like a shark. You know, it has to constantly move forward or it dies. I think what we have on our hands is a dead shark." --Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) to Annie Hall (Diane Keaton)

"That was the most fun I've ever had without laughing."--Alvy to Annie

"La-de-da, la-de-da, la-de-da."--Annie

DVD Features:

Region 1
Keep Case
Letterbox - 1.85
Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
Dolby Digital Mono 2.0 - English
Subtitles - English, French, Spanish - Optional
Additional Release Material:
Trailers: Original Theatrical Trailer
Text/Photo Galleries:
Production Notes

Distributor Notes: Considered to be "Woody Allen's breakthrough movie" (Time), Annie Hall won* four Oscars®, including Best Picture, and established Allen as the premier auteur filmmaker. Thought by many critics to be Allen's magnum opus, Annie Hall confirmed that he had, "completed the journey from comic to humorist, from comedy writer to wit [and] from inventive moviemaker to creative artist" (Saturday Review). Alvy Singer (Allen) is one of Manhattan's most brilliant comedians, but when it comes to romance, his delivery needs a little work. Introduced byhis best friend, Rob (Tony Roberts), Alvy falls in love with the ditzy but delightful nightclub singer, Annie Hall (Diane Keaton). When his own insecurities sabotage the affair, Annie is forced to leave Alvy for a new lifeand lover (Paul Simon)in Los Angeles. Knowing he may have lost Annie forever, Alvy's willing to go to any lengthseven driving L.A.'s freewaysto recapture the only thing that ever mattered'true love.

Source: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Woody Allen: Actor/screenwriter/director
Diane Keaton: American actress/director, LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR
Shelley Duvall: American Actress/Producer
Tony Roberts: American Actor (Annie Hall)
Paul Simon: American Singer/Songwriter/Actor, ONE TRICK PONY
Carol Kane: American actress, TAXI (TV), WHEN A STRANGER CALLS
Tracey Walter: American actor, REPO MAN

Woody Allen: Actor/screenwriter/director

Charles H. Joffe: American Producer (Woody Allen)

Robert Drumheller: American Set Decorator

Ralph Rosenblum: American Editor
Wendy Greene Bricmont: Editor, MY SUPER EX-GIRLFRIEND (2006)

"...A deft blend of bittersweet romance, neuroses, Diane Keaton and out-and-out silliness..."
"...Funny and sorrowful....[ANNIE HALL] puts Woody Allen in the league with the best directors we have."
Included in the New York Times "10 BEST FILMS OF 1977"
"...ANNIE HALL and MANHATTAN remain cast-iron classics..."
"As writer, director, and star, Allen pulled off one of the cinema's greatest hat tricks..."
"Rightly regarded as Allen's masterpiece, the films bears an uncommon warmth as his films go..."
"...A typically Woody Allen love story....ANNIE HALL proves that, when he's at his best, there's really no one to match him..."