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Four Films: Annie Hall/Interiors/Manhattan/Stardust Memories
Complete screenplays of four of Woody Allen's most famous films. Hilariously funny, with all actions included.
400 pages, Paperback
First published September 12, 1982
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285 people want to read
About the author
Woody Allen
286 books3,137 followersNoted American actor, screenwriter, and filmmaker Woody Allen, originally Allen Stewart Konigsberg explored the neuroses of the urban middle class in comedies of manners, such as
Annie Hall
(1977) and
Deconstructing Harry
(1997).
This director, jazz musician, and playwright thrice won Academy Award. His large body of work mixes satire, wit and humor in the most respected and prolific cerebral style in the modern era. Allen directs also in the majority of his movies. For inspiration, Allen draws heavily on literature, philosophy, psychology, Judaism, European cinema, and city of New York, where he lives.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_A...
This director, jazz musician, and playwright thrice won Academy Award. His large body of work mixes satire, wit and humor in the most respected and prolific cerebral style in the modern era. Allen directs also in the majority of his movies. For inspiration, Allen draws heavily on literature, philosophy, psychology, Judaism, European cinema, and city of New York, where he lives.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_A...
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 13, 2017
Woody Allen's screenplays read like his New Yorker short stories only formatted differently, so, no complaints. However, if you're studying screenplays in order to produce your own, Mr. Allen's scripts might not be the best place to go to first, for he knows he's going to be directing his stories so the screenplays are filled with descriptions and suggestions for camera work. Nevertheless, this collection is beautiful and for some reason made me admire "Stardust Memories" more.
March 6, 2018
My earliest familiarity with Woody Allen is the voice of Z in the animated classic, Antz (1998). More recently, I watched Magic in the Moonlight (2014) and Irrational Man (2015) because I think Emily Stone is brilliant and ravishing. I had never seen Annie Hall (1977), Interiors (1978), Manhattan (1979), or Stardust Memories (1980) before reading this screenplay collection.
Woody Allen was rejected from both New York University and City College. He wrote his first screenplay in 1964 and has written both screenplays and Broadway plays.
It is interesting to note that Annie Hall and Manhattan are both significantly “fresher” on Rotten Tomatoes and were both writing collaborations with Marshall Brickman.
Woody Allen’s screenwriting in this collection has a good sense of humor and breaks the fourth wall on numerous occasions. Allen uses TONS of “gesturing” and “overlapping” dialogue. His camera directions are often very specific and he uses white-lettered credits.
"The italicized passages that describe the action have been provided by the publisher."
The screenplay of STARDUST MEMORIES was my favorite to read and also had the most descriptive language. Often times characters “stare off into space” and the film borrows from “nineteen-fortyish” styles. Stylistically, light and silhouettes are also played with.
“SANDY (His silhouette gesturing) This was not easy, folks, because, uh, you know, I-I-I didn’t know what the hell I was doing, and I don’t have a good voice for God.” (371)
“It’s amazing Rash. From this he makes a living? I like a melodrama, a musical comedy with a plot.” (378)
Woody Allen was rejected from both New York University and City College. He wrote his first screenplay in 1964 and has written both screenplays and Broadway plays.
It is interesting to note that Annie Hall and Manhattan are both significantly “fresher” on Rotten Tomatoes and were both writing collaborations with Marshall Brickman.
Woody Allen’s screenwriting in this collection has a good sense of humor and breaks the fourth wall on numerous occasions. Allen uses TONS of “gesturing” and “overlapping” dialogue. His camera directions are often very specific and he uses white-lettered credits.
"The italicized passages that describe the action have been provided by the publisher."
The screenplay of STARDUST MEMORIES was my favorite to read and also had the most descriptive language. Often times characters “stare off into space” and the film borrows from “nineteen-fortyish” styles. Stylistically, light and silhouettes are also played with.
“SANDY (His silhouette gesturing) This was not easy, folks, because, uh, you know, I-I-I didn’t know what the hell I was doing, and I don’t have a good voice for God.” (371)
“It’s amazing Rash. From this he makes a living? I like a melodrama, a musical comedy with a plot.” (378)
June 28, 2025
Annie Hall – Screenplay by Woody Allen – this has been included on some of the most important lists of Best Movies, from The New York Times to Variety, you find on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... a few reviews on other Allen films
8 out of 10
This used to be one of my favorite motion pictures, and there should not be any change, except some the innuendo, not all of it proved, yet a lot of the personal life of Woody Allen has become public in the meantime, and what with marrying the adopted daughter of his wife, seeing his films again is a different experience now
- Hannah and Hers Sisters https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... is very good
Nevertheless, take the scenes with the children, at the beginning of Annie Hall – and for that matter, in any Woody Allen movie – you can try and be ‘funny’ about it, if it is gruesome humor, and say about the context
- ‘I hope they took good care of those little people’
If the man was so inclined – he married this very young woman, not quite his daughter, but still, the adopted child of his wife, and they fought for so long, Woody Allen and Mia Farrow, by the way, what contrasting choices did she make, she was in a relationship, maybe the spouse of…Frank Sinatra and there is a story with that
Robert Evans wrote https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... The Kid Stays in The Picture, about his involvement in movies, as actor, producer and head of Paramount
- He was the man behind The Godfather, Chinatown, Rosemary’s Baby and other great motion pictures
Mia Farrow has the leading role in Rosemary’s Baby, but Frank Sinatra – a chauvinist we gather – wanted her to end her participation, and abandon the movie, which she refused, and then this went on to become a big hit, commercially and with the critics, while the film Sinatra was doing tanked, hence the idea:
- Mia Farrow wanted a two-page ad, on one side the takings of Rosemary’s Baby and on the other, the meagre box office of the Sinatra flop
Intellectuals https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... by Paul Johnson is a marvelous book, the author explains the fact that great people have a very dark side, Leo Tolstoy, Henrik Ibsen, Ernest Hemingway, Jean Jacques Rousseau were terrible in their private lives, especially the latter.
Ego, we could look at Annie Hall and other Woody Allen works and be tolerant, perhaps, only as I said, I cannot help but remember his penchant – euphemisms – for very young women something that he puts in his movies over, and over again
Some works - such as Broadway Danny Rose https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... - do not follow the same stereotype, nevertheless, Manhattan and others have this much older chap, who seduces the young female, and that is Allen projecting his fantasies
- That is how it looks, with hindsight
Some thespians that have worked with him have distanced and regretted the collaboration, albeit Woody Allen was once so celebrated – Annie Hall won Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Director – both for Woody Allen – and Best Actress in a Leading Role, for Diane Keaton, she was so fantastic back then, only she made some really bad pictures after that
There was this story about Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty and maybe Peter Fonda, who made a bet concerning her and their charms – I will not put it here, maybe someday, the way this Orange Emperor works, stating he will take the Panama Canal, Greenland, and yesterday, Gaza, who knows…
- Maybe he will annex this place too, and then he will put me in charge
However, that means I have to be careful with my public notes…oh, wait, it does not work this way, the more offensive one is, the better chances to get a duchy, some domain, look at the crazy Kennedy Junior, the woman to lead the NSA, or the drunkard head of the Pentagon…
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
8 out of 10
This used to be one of my favorite motion pictures, and there should not be any change, except some the innuendo, not all of it proved, yet a lot of the personal life of Woody Allen has become public in the meantime, and what with marrying the adopted daughter of his wife, seeing his films again is a different experience now
- Hannah and Hers Sisters https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... is very good
Nevertheless, take the scenes with the children, at the beginning of Annie Hall – and for that matter, in any Woody Allen movie – you can try and be ‘funny’ about it, if it is gruesome humor, and say about the context
- ‘I hope they took good care of those little people’
If the man was so inclined – he married this very young woman, not quite his daughter, but still, the adopted child of his wife, and they fought for so long, Woody Allen and Mia Farrow, by the way, what contrasting choices did she make, she was in a relationship, maybe the spouse of…Frank Sinatra and there is a story with that
Robert Evans wrote https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... The Kid Stays in The Picture, about his involvement in movies, as actor, producer and head of Paramount
- He was the man behind The Godfather, Chinatown, Rosemary’s Baby and other great motion pictures
Mia Farrow has the leading role in Rosemary’s Baby, but Frank Sinatra – a chauvinist we gather – wanted her to end her participation, and abandon the movie, which she refused, and then this went on to become a big hit, commercially and with the critics, while the film Sinatra was doing tanked, hence the idea:
- Mia Farrow wanted a two-page ad, on one side the takings of Rosemary’s Baby and on the other, the meagre box office of the Sinatra flop
Intellectuals https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... by Paul Johnson is a marvelous book, the author explains the fact that great people have a very dark side, Leo Tolstoy, Henrik Ibsen, Ernest Hemingway, Jean Jacques Rousseau were terrible in their private lives, especially the latter.
Ego, we could look at Annie Hall and other Woody Allen works and be tolerant, perhaps, only as I said, I cannot help but remember his penchant – euphemisms – for very young women something that he puts in his movies over, and over again
Some works - such as Broadway Danny Rose https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... - do not follow the same stereotype, nevertheless, Manhattan and others have this much older chap, who seduces the young female, and that is Allen projecting his fantasies
- That is how it looks, with hindsight
Some thespians that have worked with him have distanced and regretted the collaboration, albeit Woody Allen was once so celebrated – Annie Hall won Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Director – both for Woody Allen – and Best Actress in a Leading Role, for Diane Keaton, she was so fantastic back then, only she made some really bad pictures after that
There was this story about Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty and maybe Peter Fonda, who made a bet concerning her and their charms – I will not put it here, maybe someday, the way this Orange Emperor works, stating he will take the Panama Canal, Greenland, and yesterday, Gaza, who knows…
- Maybe he will annex this place too, and then he will put me in charge
However, that means I have to be careful with my public notes…oh, wait, it does not work this way, the more offensive one is, the better chances to get a duchy, some domain, look at the crazy Kennedy Junior, the woman to lead the NSA, or the drunkard head of the Pentagon…
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
August 10, 2013
An exquisite collection of transcripts of four of the greatest (if not the four greatest) Allen movies.
Worth reading not just out of interest in screenwriting (though these are not the actual scripts but transcripts, they're very useful to get the structure of the films down): it's actually gripping, and reads like novels.
Worth reading not just out of interest in screenwriting (though these are not the actual scripts but transcripts, they're very useful to get the structure of the films down): it's actually gripping, and reads like novels.
June 10, 2019
Review of Manhattan
I was looking to see if it was Allen as a comic that delivered these movies or the script. (I am sure some of each) . Annie Hall seemed to be based mostly on Allen's and other actress and actors timing and delivery. Annie Hall is in the actors hand and was done well but as a stand alone screen play it is not as accessible. Manhattan is, while I don't want a remake or another cast, Manhattan lives on the page.
NYC is a character and the setting is ever so important, but as a piece of literature the timing the jokes the wit and ideas are captured in the text. One could read it fresh and enjoy it. I think this is a major step up from Annie Hall a transformation in his ability to write. (No offence to Annie Hall which is carried by great actors but Allen is playing Allen and his timing breath life into the jokes and wit) Manhattan could have been played by a non- Allen actor (not that I wish this) but it is a more complete text. I would see the movie first then read it (because it is rather a perfect movie as is Annie Hall)
Note Annie Hall is the first screen play in the book.
Star Dust memories is a very complete play but I am thinking it is improved on film with it call for cuts and gages based on shifting sets and scenery. I love the ending and Dorrie as always but Isoble is just great. Quite a great film but not a pure play, it comes alive on the screen and was meant for the screen.
I finished Interiors, I am sure that this is better on film, it explores the damage of leading people on and letting them what is convenient to them an to the person feeding them the lie. A husband leaving his wife, a wife who wants to control things so that they don't stagnate. A Daughter and wife that allows all to have their rose dilutions in spite of the damage it causes, who won't acknowledge that she is gifted and her husband isn't. A sister who is a success on paper but really only gets by by her looks. A dark tale will have to see if the filming adds to the story.
I was looking to see if it was Allen as a comic that delivered these movies or the script. (I am sure some of each) . Annie Hall seemed to be based mostly on Allen's and other actress and actors timing and delivery. Annie Hall is in the actors hand and was done well but as a stand alone screen play it is not as accessible. Manhattan is, while I don't want a remake or another cast, Manhattan lives on the page.
NYC is a character and the setting is ever so important, but as a piece of literature the timing the jokes the wit and ideas are captured in the text. One could read it fresh and enjoy it. I think this is a major step up from Annie Hall a transformation in his ability to write. (No offence to Annie Hall which is carried by great actors but Allen is playing Allen and his timing breath life into the jokes and wit) Manhattan could have been played by a non- Allen actor (not that I wish this) but it is a more complete text. I would see the movie first then read it (because it is rather a perfect movie as is Annie Hall)
Note Annie Hall is the first screen play in the book.
Star Dust memories is a very complete play but I am thinking it is improved on film with it call for cuts and gages based on shifting sets and scenery. I love the ending and Dorrie as always but Isoble is just great. Quite a great film but not a pure play, it comes alive on the screen and was meant for the screen.
I finished Interiors, I am sure that this is better on film, it explores the damage of leading people on and letting them what is convenient to them an to the person feeding them the lie. A husband leaving his wife, a wife who wants to control things so that they don't stagnate. A Daughter and wife that allows all to have their rose dilutions in spite of the damage it causes, who won't acknowledge that she is gifted and her husband isn't. A sister who is a success on paper but really only gets by by her looks. A dark tale will have to see if the filming adds to the story.
Read
August 7, 2012This book has the scripts for Woody Allen's films from 1977-1980. This isn't the shooting screenplay; it is a transcription of the spoken words with the action added in italics. It's still a good read, though. Annie Hall and Manhattan are two of Allen's most praised films, for good reason. Interiors, the only one in this collection which I've never seen, seems heavily influenced by Bergman. And Stardust Memories, which comes across like a mixture of Fellini and Allen's style, was the best read of the bunch. I may have to go back and watch that under-appreciated movie again.
February 24, 2019
Three masterpieces and a dark and very good film (Interiors) from Allen's original run. Few filmmakers have had the combination of visual style, humor and dialog as Allen. The hyper real, extremely stylized (Felliniesque) Stardust Memories is a snapshot of how many of us who are writers see the world.
If you love film, these screenplays are a wonderful addition to your collection!!!!!!!!!
If you love film, these screenplays are a wonderful addition to your collection!!!!!!!!!
September 23, 2009
A master!
August 30, 2012
If you want to become a film writer, I would suggest reading this, NOW!
January 30, 2017
For anyone who is interested about how great screenplay's are written you can look no further then Woody Allen screenplay's. A master of natural dialogue mechanics.
April 12, 2023
#30 of 120 books pledged to read during 2023
March 3, 2017
There should be little doubt that Woody Allen, more than a competent director, is brilliant writer of comedy. The scripts from "Manhattan" and "Annie Hall", included in this collection, are the living proof of his genius. Despite having seen both movies hundreds of times, I enjoyed reading these scripts immensely. There is so much great witty dialogue and laugh out loud remarks about relationships or society in general. Really perfect writing. The collection falls short of greatness (in my view) due to the inclusion of two scripts I don't care much about "Interiors" (dramatic movie by Woody ? No thanks) and " Stardust Memory" (too crazy to work as a script).
April 15, 2010
This collection includes the screenplays for two of Woody Allen’s most loved films (Annie Hall and Manhattan) as well as screenplays for two of his least liked films (Interiors and Stardust Memories). The scripts for Annie Hall and Manhattan are extremely well-written and laugh-out loud funny. They represent Woody’s golden era; the closest he ever came to rivaling his success in the late 70s was with Hannah and Her Sisters and Crimes and Misdemeanors in the 80s. I also enjoyed reading Stardust Memories, although that movie depends so much on its visual imagery - it loses a lot when you are reading it instead of watching it. I didn’t care much for the screenplay for Interiors. I’ve never seen the film and after reading the script, I don’t really have any desire to.
January 21, 2023
Some of the greatest films by WA and perfectly crafted screenplays. One of the great American filmmakers and humorous, whose reputation—for those with some sense and reason—will outlast the baseless, obsessive accusations of a certain ex-partner. (Investigated and cleared, twice. The number of folks taken in by the recent “documentary” (so called) is shameless, though I suppose her son’s reputation from the Weinstein investigation (an actual criminal) fooled some into taking the anti-WA raving seriously.
February 24, 2020
My ratings of books on Goodreads are solely a crude ranking of their utility to me, and not an evaluation of literary merit, entertainment value, social importance, humor, insightfulness, scientific accuracy, creative vigor, suspensefulness of plot, depth of characters, vitality of theme, excitement of climax, satisfaction of ending, or any other combination of dimensions of value which we are expected to boil down through some fabulous alchemy into a single digit.
July 8, 2014
Melissa's influence again. See: choosing your college roommate is important, folks. Don't share space with someone who can't broaden your horizons. I read all of her copies of Allen's scripts because they were there, and I was majoring in theater. I don't know when I finally realized that the scripts were more transcripts, and that the dialogue was improv.
March 22, 2013
The book contains four transcripts of the films, not original screenplays (the descriptions of the actions on screen are said to have been supplied by the publisher). But the films themselves are such fresh and insightful works that just having the dialogue transcript is sufficient to entertain.
August 7, 2013
a great collection of transcripts of probably woody allen's best movies. definitely worth reading.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews