Woody Allen

A Travesty of a Mockery of a Sham

De: Patrick McGilligan

Narrado por: Seth Lews

Woody Allen was once made a knight commander by France, but he didn’t know because the paperwork got lost in the mail.

A decade later, he found out about the award by reading about it in the New York Times.

Across nearly nine eventful decades, Allen’s life has been full of surprises. Writing jokes got him a gig as the youngest writer of Sid Caesar’s television dream team. As a rising comic, he boxed a kangaroo on TV. He made a blank-check deal with a major studio for terms unmatched in Hollywood apart from early titans like Chaplin and Welles. All before Annie Hall.

Yet despite once being one of the most consequen­tial American cultural figures, Allen is now persona non grata. In this judicious biography, acclaimed biographer Patrick McGilligan charts the meteoric rise and fall of the comedian whose nonconformity proved both his secret genius and Achilles’ heel.

Drawing on meticulous research, McGilli­gan reconstructs Allen’s Brooklyn boyhood, his salad days as a television comedy writer, his rise to stand-up, and the thoughtful, award-winning film­making of his golden years in the 1970s and ’80s. His messy relationships with wives and girl­friends, including Annie Hall costar Diane Keaton, were essential to his artistic development and undo­ing. Yet no one could have predicted his tumultuous personal and professional relationship with actress Mia Farrow, his alleged abuse of their adopted daughter Dylan, and his subsequent marriage to Mia’s daughter Soon-Yi Previn.

In this comprehensive, sweeping, and rigor­ous account of Allen’s life and career, McGilligan astutely reveals the writer’s writer beyond the smoke and controversy, and paints a compelling portrait of the most creative, productive, and influential film­maker of his time.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Patrick Mcgilligan (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

Final Impressions (after First Impressions)

Overall, a comprehensive history of Woody Allen's professional and personal history. As expected domestic issues dominate a large part of the latter part of the book, both in media coverage of the man, and its effects on the box office of his films. I do feel that the author did paint 'woke' with a bit too broad of a brush when referring to efforts to diminish his work and legacy (As detailed in my original first impressions below, I will gladly accept the label 'woke', yet I don't have any desire to cancel anyone over unsubstantiated, and unproven, rumors). But he does balance that with a thorough accounting of the Farrow camp's McCarthyite tactics to extort renunciations of Allen from celebrities who've worked for him in the past. It does build of picture of Mia essentially turning Dylan into a life-long professional victim, *regardless* of the veracity of the allegations. But ultimately, I don't think it will serve to change anyone's mind, either way, about the issue.

As for the balance of the book, it's informative with backstage and administrative goings on, if a bit repetitive in reciting plots to the successive films (those who buy this book will probably already know the stories, so it just serves as filler). It's written in a strictly chronological style, which is to say, preparations and casting of the next film are often detailed prior to the debut and release of (and subsequent reactions to) the prior film, which can lead to a few misunderstandings as to which actor did what when for which film. And I'm not sure why the narrator (who did better with most pronunciation later in the book, affected a half hearted Woody-ish voice when reading quotes. Not strong enough to be genuinely critiqued, but enough to wonder why he did it!

In the end, the book is a fair, comprehensive view of a genius comedian and filmmaker and a genuinely weird (in any way one wishes to define it) human being. He certainly portrays some cringeworthy moments in his films, particularly regarding young women. But he's also unquestionably one of the preeminent filmmakers to showcase women in a diverse range of roles, powerful, vulnerable, quirky and complex. Diane Keaton and Mia Farrow absolutely shine in his films. Cate Blanchett has a strong filmography, but Blue Jasmine features her in a way that would be virtually unimaginable from any other filmmaker. I certainly hope that reason will be restored, and that, along with his comedic genius, will be his legacy.


+First Impressions+ (original review below)

I felt the need to write an intermediate review to share my thoughts thus far.

First, full disclosure, I regard Woody Allen as the preeminent comedic filmmaker of the latter half of the 20th century, bar none. Not even Mel Brooks or the Pythons, whom I love, match him. That stated, a few impressions...

It's a bit concerning that I am only 4 chapters in (about a quarter of the way through the book, Allen is just making What's Up Tiger Lily and Casino Royale, not yet to Take the Money and Run.), and I've already heard the name of (previous Allen biographer) Eric Lax referenced (no lie) over a dozen times, as well as Allen's book "Apropos of Nothing", half a dozen times. I understand that a biographer will cover well-trodden ground at times, and citations are necessary, but at a point it becomes a distraction, as the listener wonders why this new book is even needed. (The author lays out the case in the PDF, and I suspect the book will bear sweeter fruit in later chapters.

Which brings up the point of the 'scandal'. I have no sacred cows in the arts, but yet I have no problem separating the art and the artist. I will look at all the information and come to conclusions. Long story short, I believe Moses and the adoptive children, and I don't believe Mia (I won't add Dylan, as she is a victim, in any reading of the case). But I was bit worried with what I feel is the author's mis-characterization of "woke" and "cancel culture". It certainly is unfortunate that his reputation and standing in the film community has suffered over this situation. But it is a mis-application of 'wokeness', in my opinion. I would happily self-identify as woke, as I view it as a recognition of historical social injustice and the desire to remedy its effects. Some take it too far, without a discerning eye. And let's face it, none of the "anti-woke" crowd would have ever bothered to watch a Woody Allen film, much less defend him against baseless allegations. It remains to be heard how the author plays this card, but I continue with trepidation.

Finally, for now, I rarely ever criticize narrators, as it usually is nitpicking. There have been numerous mispronunciations, most of which consist of the usual suspects of calling Deborah Kerr as it's spelled rather than 'Carr' as it is pronounced properly, or mangling "bon mots". But when he referred to the Parisian hotel as "the George V" (yes, pronouncing V, not 'cinq'), I just about had enough. Again, on its own, humorous. But too much, and it becomes a distraction.

A seriously in depth look at Woody’s Career

It doesn’t duck the controversies but there is so much to cover from his early days with Sid Caesar, the leap to stand-up and then the remarkable 50 films he has made (so far). I finished this and immediately watched Coup de Chance and loved it. Sure he has had turkeys but so have greats like Hitchcock in their later years. Hitchcock was able to prove he still had what it takes with Frenzy and so has Woody.