BOOTLEG FILES 853: “Woody Allen” (1965 British television special).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: Not yet.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: A performance rights clearance issue.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.
On February 10, 1965, British television audiences who tuned into ITV had their first look at Woody Allen, who starred in an eponymous one-off television special. Most viewers that night probably thought “Woody Who?” – he was unknown in Britain and his fame in his own country was mostly limited to occasional appearances on television talk shows and in clubs that featured up-and-coming stand-up comics.
Viewed today, “Woody Allen” is a fascinating time capsule of Allen before he achieved movie stardom. Indeed, Allen’s films have become such a dominant part of the popular culture that it is easy to forget his roots doing stand-up.
In some ways, this special came about by accident. Johnnie Hamp was a television producer working as the head of entertainment at Granada Television and was in talks with composer Burt Bacharach over a potential special in early 1965. In a chat about up-and-coming talent, Bacharach mentioned Allen to Hamp – the producer never heard of him, but he was a fan of American-style comedy and was curious to get an idea of his material. Bacharach (who had the same agent as the comic) arranged for Hamp to receive a comedy album by Allen and he was impressed with the material.
As luck would have it, Allen was in Paris at the time for his first film, “What’s New, Pussycat?” – Allen wrote the script and had a supporting role. Hamp traveled to Paris and offered him the opportunity for his own television special. Allen would later recall his growing unhappiness with the production of “What’s New, Pussycat?” and the changes that were made to his material, so having the opportunity to perform his own work without interference was appealing. Hamp arranged for Allen to travel to Manchester and packed the audience with British entertainment professionals, including many members of the “Coronation Series” series.
“Woody Allen” is mostly Allen at a microphone stand – he disconnects the microphone from its resting place but spends much of the show leaning on the stand. Allen’s presentation is all nervous energy – he often rubs his hand over his head and nods frequently as if to encourage approval from his audience.
The beauty of Allen’s comedy is his command of the language. He recalls a former college classmate whom he encounters as a married woman, stating, “She’s practicing with her husband what they refer to as rhythmic birth control. Apparently, she’s not been able to keep a beat. She’s densely populated.”
Allen almost immediately self-identifies as New York Jewish, highlighting how his parents were formerly Orthodox Jewish until “they built in my neighborhood what they refer to as a Reform synagogue – out of chromium. They furnished it with Danish modern furniture and hanging lamps. They make it very simple for you – you can drive in now, pray by mail. The last thing I heard was that they were going to give up worshiping once a year on the high holidays and hold a fashion show.”
Allen’s uneasy relationships with the opposite sex occupies much of his material. A key moment comes when he states, “My weak spot is women, you should know this about me. I always think someday they’re going to make me a birthday party with a giant birthday cake, and a naked woman is going to leap out of the cake, hurt me, and leap back in.” His penchant for dissing intellectual pretensions with absurdity is also on display – he tells of bookmakers “fixing” the ballet “The Dying Swan” – Allen wisecracks, “Apparently, there was a lot of money bet on the swan to live.”
The peak of the show is Allen’s final routine regarding what transpired when he took a moose to a costume party. Even offering a slight hint of this craziness would be a major spoiler – for those unfamiliar with the routine, it has to be absorbed without any knowledge of what to expect.
There are two times where “Woody Allen” falters. The first is when he gives the spotlight to Danny Meehan, an American actor/singer for a solo musical number. Meehan is strictly okay as a performer but his bit comes across as intrusive. Allen may have realized during the taping that Meehan’s number didn’t work – he returns to the stage to quip, “Some people think I had him on just because we’re both Irish.”
The second stumble is the fadeout when Allen takes out his new comedy album and insists it is “unbreakable and lasts for life” – but a simple snap of the disc results in its destruction. It is a dull sight gag that doesn’t fit into what came before it.
Producer Hamp would later recall in an interview that “there were a lot of very positive letters” from viewers regarding the Allen show. However, it was never packaged for sale to the American market and was considered lost until a video copy was discovered in 2013.
To date, “Woody Allen” has never been made available for U.S. home entertainment release – it is not likely that Allen would want this early work back in commercial circulation. However, a version with Italian subtitles can be found on YouTube in a three-part posting. Allen fans will greatly enjoy this rare offering.
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.
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