BOOTLEG FILES 910: “My Annie Hall” (2018 short film based on Woody Allen’s classic).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Unauthorized mini-remake of the Oscar-winning film.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Nope.
When the subject of fan films is raised, most people associate that genre with younger people creating souped-up spins of classic action and adventure films. In 2018, a most unusual fan film made headlines, but this did not involve a hyperactive riff on the “Star Wars” or “Batman” series, but instead it was inspired by Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall” – and even more remarkable, the film’s stars were a pair of senior citizens.
The impetus behind this endeavor were 29-year-old Matt Starr and 25-year-old Ellie Sachs, who worked with Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, a senior center in New York City, on remaking a classic film with the elderly members of the center. Neither Starr nor Sachs had filmmaking experience, and they initially planned to shoot their little fan film on a cell phone.
The center’s members were asked to vote on which classic film they wanted to remake, and the choices were narrowed down to “Annie Hall” and (incredibly) “Singin’ in the Rain.” The Woody Allen film was picked, with 94-year-old Harry Miller as Alvy Singer and 74-year-old Shula Chernick as Annie Hall.
What was going to be a micro-scale endeavor took on a bigger life, with a crew of 20, a three-week shooting schedule around Manhattan and a budget of $11,000. The resulting film was a 27-minute version of the 1977 comedy, with much of the original dialogue from Allen’s creation retained.
Allen himself was not aware that this film was being made, and Starr and Sachs never asked for his permission to use his copyright-protected material. Allen only learned about it after the New York Times ran an article about the production. Through his publicist, Allen gave Starr and Sachs his blessing on their project while adding that he “saw no reason to interfere with those seniors’ enjoyment of life.”
Not that Allen had any reason to worry about the pirating of his work. “My Annie Hall” only had a few screenings at the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House. The wider public only saw a few brief clips in a segment on “CBS Sunday Mornings,” but the full film was not available until four years ago when Statt and Sachs uploaded it to YouTube.
As for the film itself, “My Annie Hall” is cute and sweet – to a point. It is best when it gently recreates the original’s scenes with the lobsters in the kitchen, Annie’s first club gig – Chernick sings nicely, although the noisy sound effects of the original are absent here – and the split screen with the characters venting their frustrations to their respective therapists.
But not unlike many fan films, the production is a triumph of enthusiasm over talent. Neither Miller not Chernick had previous film acting experience, and its shows – the elderly stars come across as geriatric facsimiles of the iconic Allen and Keaton performances, giving flat recitations of the original’s dialogue with little feeling for the wit and nervous energy that brought the Oscar-winning screenplay to life.
And, to be cruel, the novelty of “My Annie Hall” wears off very quickly, and by the closing credits it feels like a home movie that is amusing to those who made it but less than entertaining to those who stumbled over it.
In a way, it is a shame that Starr and Sachs didn’t create an original film with Miller and Chernick rather than remake “Annie Hall” – perhaps a story of late-life love with a sense of genuine emotion, rather than a novelty short with old folks pretending to be Allen and Keaton.
Or maybe I’m just being a nasty old thing in not appreciating “My Annie Hall”? Here is film, via YouTube – feel free to judge for yourself and share your opinions.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: While this weekly column acknowledges the presence of rare film and television productions through the so-called collector-to-collector market, this should not be seen as encouraging or condoning the unauthorized duplication and distribution of copyright-protected material, either through DVDs or Blu-ray discs or through postings on Internet video sites.
Listen to Phil Hall’s award-winning podcast “The Online Movie Show with Phil Hall” on SoundCloud and his radio show “Nutmeg Chatter” on WAPJ-FM in Torrington, Connecticut, with a new episode every Sunday. His new book “100 Years of Wall Street Crooks” is now in release through Bicep Books.