LUCIDMEDIA

______
The Beginning

To be honest, it looks as though Woody Allen had it pretty easy growing up. It'd be great to be able to tell the old rags to riches story—overcoming poverty, bullies, some sort of disability—but Allen's story is not of such. He was born in the Bronx, December 1st, 1935. At three he saw his first movie, Snow White, and that was it—he was hooked.

It's almost as if he knew what he'd end up doing too, because although he was a very smart kid, he disliked school and so entertained himself by rebelling and eventually became disruptive in school. Now you wouldn't guess it, what with the glasses and, well, the glasses, but apparently Allen was a pretty decent athlete. Basketball, baseball, even football—he rarely faced the trauma of being picked last for neighbourhood games. He even boxed until his parents asked him to stop. Allen wasn't your average trouble-making jock, however. At 15 he picked up the clarinet, and sources say he's played daily ever since. His interest in music eventually intensified, along with a love of magic.

______
The Big Break

Some where along the lines of adolescence Allen found his funny side and began writing jokes. Keeping them for himself wasn't an option, however, and it was at the age of 16 that his desire to share his comedy and inspire laughter was first demonstrated on a larger scale. In November, 1952, Allen was credited for the first time for jokes that were published in writer Earl Wilson's column.

The following year he enrolled in motion picture production at New York University, but despite his interest in the subject, his old anti-scholastic ways inevitably shone through. After earning himself a cumulative “D” standing by the end of first semester, it was only a matter of time before he was asked to leave. And I'm assuming that's a nice way of putting it.

In 1955 Allen was hired by NBC for a writer development program. Of this experience he has said that, “everything [I] learned about comedy writing [I] learned from Danny Simon”; Simon was leader of the writers group for The Colgate Comedy Hour, on which the two both worked.

______
Marriage: Round One

On March 15th, 1956, Allen married Harlene Rosen. Rosen was Allen's first steady girlfriend; the two met while playing in a jazz trio—he played soprano sax, she the piano. They married in Hollywood but quickly returned to New York where Allen would spend two summers writing and directing at the Tamiment theatre which produced weekly new musicals and sketches.

From 1960 to 1968, Allen worked as a professional stand up comedian. It didn't take long before he went from making $75/week to $5000/week. Perhaps it was the financial influx that gave Allen the push he needed to enter the film industry in 1964.

______
Movie Magic

Allen's early films were pure comedy, relying heavily on slapstick and one-liners. His first big leap into movies was with 1965's What's New, Pussycat?, for which he wrote the screenplay. Feeding off Pussycat's success, Allen directed What's Up, Tiger Lily?, in 1966.

By 1976 it seems he was ready to change things up a bit and step out from behind the camera. The Front dealt with the prevalence of Hollywood blacklisting in the 1950s, and starred Allen as its lead. It's as if this sliding-door-like transition from director to actor opened Allen's eyes to the many possibilities of film. Over the next 10 years he would produce many of the most successful works of his career.

Annie Hall took the Academy Awards by storm, winning four Oscars overall, including Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Director; Allen was also nominated for Best Actor, but didn't take home the statuette. Annie Hall was a groundbreaking film, setting the standard for romantic comedy. It also marked a turn for Allen, from tried and true slapstick to a more sophisticated humour.

The somber, philosophical tones of his films in the early '80s—September, Stardust Memories—allegedly result from Allen's being influenced at the time by European directors. By the mid-80s he began fostering an interest in the dichotomy of the comic and the tragic, mixing the two in films such as Hannah and Her Sisters, Husbands and Wives, and Crimes and Misdemeanors. Even the titles make you question: which is tragic, which is comic?

He later takes this theme further still in 2004's Melinda and Melinda, which followed a string of productions marking Allen's return to the lighter side of film which seems to have begun in the late 90s with the likes of the musical Everyone Says I Love You and Mighty Aphrodite.

______
Main Players and the Muse Factor

I love the club-like atmosphere there is around Woody Allen's films. I don't mean club as in strobe lights and sweaty dancers, I mean the type of club you start as a kid. There's that comfort of seeing the same faces, and watching them transform and adapt to Allen's style of writing and film-making. He treats it all very personally. Some would say that's a bad thing—a dangerous thing, even—but I'm sure anyone who's been part of team Allen would disagree.

Along with a line of talented and loyal male actors, Allen's had his fair share of leading ladies. Diane Keaton, Diane Weist, Mia Farrow, and more recently Mira Sorvino and Christina Ricci have all shared the screen with Allen's name—or Allen himself. His muse of the moment, however, seems to be Miss. Scarlett Johansson, whom he's described as “sexually overwhelming.”

______
Critic Love and Hate

Woody Allen's suffered a bit of a lull in terms of critical accolades over the last little while and I think I understand why. While I found the premise of Melinda Melinda fresh and intriguing, the movie itself was just plain boring—and that's saying something since one of its stars was none other than Old School streaking, SNL Spartan-cheering Will Ferrell.

I'd put my money on a Woody Allen comeback, though; 2005's Match Point made a believer out of me. I loved the unpredictable darkness of the film, as well as its cast. He opted to stay behind the lens for this one, but it looks like he might have a relatively large role in Scoop, in theatres this Friday July 28. I'm still not sure how I feel about Woody Allen the actor. Most of the characters I've seen him play have been pretty humdrum and have left me wondering how true to life they might be—but I guess that's besides the point. He didn't star in the first few movies he was involved with, and after making his debut in Annie Hall his film career, as both actor and director, took off. Maybe Scoop will do for him what Annie Hall did back in '77.

Love him or hate him, Woody Allen is a film icon. I mean, you've got to know you've made it when people suggest your face be used on packaging when New York health services announced that it would produce its own brand of condoms in February of 06. Okay so that might not be the best pairing; but he's still an icon.

Woody Fun Fact: He made his one and only sitcom appearance in a 1997 episode of “Just Shoot Me.” He didn't actually appear in person, though, just on the phone.