This article by Marion Meade explores the history and inception of Woody Allen’s Annie Hall.  According to Meade, Annie Hall, which ranked number thirty-one on the American Film Institute’s 1998 list of the best 100 movies ever made, is a self-reflective film based on Woody Allen’s own life, “parading his insecurities, phobias and deep self-deprecation.”  Despite Woody Allen’s financial and cinematic success and his apparent optimism about growing older referenced in a New York Times article from 1975, Woody apparently experienced anhedonia.  Anhedonia is the psychoanalytic term for the inability to experience pleasure.  Coincidentally, Annie Hall was originally titled Anedonia until United Artists, the studio that was backing Allen’s film, forced him to change the title.  The film is a semi-autobiographical account of Allen’s life and, more specifically, his (mostly failed) relationships.
            The premise of the article is that despite the film’s wild and enduring success, the creation of the film was not as smooth as one might think.  In fact, as the title of the article suggests, the film was so problematic that it almost did not get made.  When Ralph Rosenblum, the film’s editor, initially started looking through Allen’s 100,000 feet of footage he stated that it was “‘an untitled and chaotic collection of bits and pieces that
seemed to defy continuity,’ and he held little hope for popular success.”  The biggest obstacle for Rosenblum and Allen was trying to find a linear plot that rescued the film from being a scattered stream of consciousness monologue.  Rosenblum was able to do this by focusing on Alvy Singer’s relationship with Annie Hall, or rather Woody Allen’s relationship with Diane Keaton.  Even though this new focus allowed the studio to change the title to Annie Hall, the film is truly about Alvy Singer and his struggle with himself and his relationships.  Another major obstacle in the promotion of this film was Allen’s aversion to Hollywood and the use of publicity and marketing to promote the film.  Even though Woody Allen was supported by a major studio, his style was much more in line with that of an independent filmmaker than a Hollywood filmmaker.  This article is extremely relevant to history of Annie Hall and has a high level of credibility due to Meade’s use of legitimate sources including editor Ralph Rosenblum, Woody Allen himself, UA executives Eric Pleskow and Gabe Sumner, and her use of direct quotes from the film as evidence to support her arguments.

           Douglas Brode’s updated edition of Woody Allen: his films & career begins with a concise “interpretation of Woody Allen” and then chronicles his career one film at a time from What’s New, Pussycat (1965) to Hannah and Her Sisters (1986).  Brode does not present much analysis or opinion in his description of the different films, but manages to succinctly offer an inclusive recount of the development of each film as well as a summary, though somewhat superficial.  He provides an extended cast and credit list for each film and specifically addresses the roles that many of the key players perform in the motivation and creation of each film.  As per the description of Annie Hall, the text is significantly enhanced by the inclusion of incredibly evocative and telling still photographs from the film.  The description itself addresses the renaming of the film to Annie Hall after United Artists refused to let Woody Allen use his original title of Anhedonia.  Brode also confronts the issue of feminism and the message that Woody Allen is trying to convey about the role of women in relationships through his depiction of the relationship between Annie Hall and Alvy Singer.  Alvy’s narcissistic tendencies and the allegation that Annie Hall glorifies and promotes a narcissistic culture are noted in this section, but never analyzed.  The section on Annie Hall establishes the functionof this particular film within the framework of Allen’s other films.  Brode looks at how Allen’s earlier films such as What’s Up, Tiger Lily (1966), Take the Money and Run (1969), and Bananas (1971) influenced Annie Hall.  Many features of these earlier films can be seen in Annie Hall, but conversely, Allen makes significant strides between these earlier films and Annie Hall, and therefore the film marks major progress in both Allen’s narrative and cinematic form.  Brode also reveals the way in which Allen uses inspiration from Annie Hall in many of his later films.