Friday, April 3, 2026

Tousi TV: U.S. Pilot Rescued From Iran - Army Prepare Ground Invasion

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Monday, March 30, 2026

Play It Again Sam (1972)

 


Play It Again, Sam is a 1972 American comedy film written by and starring Woody Allen, based on his 1969 Broadway play of the same title. The film was directed by Herbert Ross, instead of Allen, who usually directs his own written work.

The film is about a recently divorced film critic, Allan Felix, who is urged to begin dating again by his best friend and his best friend's wife. Allan identifies with the 1942 film Casablanca and the character Rick Blaine as played by Humphrey Bogart. The film is liberally sprinkled with clips from the movie and ghost-like appearances of Bogart (Jerry Lacy) giving advice on how to treat women.

Plot

Set in San Francisco, Play It Again, Sam begins with the closing scenes of Casablanca, with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. Allan Felix watches the film in a cinema, mouth agape. He leaves the cinema depressed that he will never be like Bogart.

Apart from apparitions of Bogart, Allan also has frequent flashbacks of conversations with his ex-wife, Nancy, who constantly ridiculed his sexual inadequacy. His best friend, Dick Christie, and Dick's wife, Linda, try to convince him to go out with women again, setting him up on a series of blind dates, all of which turn out badly. Throughout the film, he is seen receiving dating advice from the ghost of Bogart, who is visible and audible only to Allan. Nancy also makes fantasy appearances, as he imagines conversations with her about the breakdown of their marriage. On one occasion, the fantasy seems to run out of control, with both Bogart and Nancy appearing.

When it comes to women, he attempts to become sexy and sophisticated, in particular he tries to be like his idol, Bogart, only to end up ruining his chances by being too clumsy. Eventually, he develops feelings for Linda, around whom he feels relatively at ease and does not feel the need to put on the mask. At the point where he finally makes his move on Linda (aided by comments from Bogart), a vision of his ex-wife appears and shoots Bogart, leaving him without advice. He then makes an awkward move. Linda runs off but returns, realizing that Allan loves her.

However, their relationship is doomed, just as it was for Rick and Ilsa in Casablanca. Dick returns early from Cleveland and confides to Allan that he thinks Linda is having an affair, not realizing that her affair is with Allan. Dick expresses to Allan his love for Linda.

The final scene is an allusion to Casablanca's famous ending. Dick is catching a flight to Cleveland, Linda is after him, and Allan is chasing Linda. The fog, the aircraft engine start-ups, the trenchcoats, and the dialogue are all reminiscent of the film, as Allan nobly explains to Linda why she has to go with her husband, rather than stay behind with him. Bogart says that he has learned how to be himself and no longer needs him for advice. The music from the scene in Casablanca resumes the theme, "As Time Goes By", and the film ends.

Cast

Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman appear in archival appearances from Casablanca as Richard "Rick" Blaine and Ilsa Lund, respectively.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 97% of 35 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.4/10.[1] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 77 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[2]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the film, giving it three out of four stars and saying, "as comedies go, this is a very funny one." He elaborated, concluding, "Maybe the movie has too much coherence, and the plot is too predictable; that's a weakness of films based on well-made Broadway plays. Still, that's hardly a serious complaint about something as funny as Play It Again, Sam."[3] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune also gave it three out of four stars, writing, "For those who prefer their films with a beginning, middle and an end, and, consequently, were unsettled by the hellzapoppin' plots of 'Bananas' or 'Take the Money and Run,' 'Play It Again Sam' will provide warmth, sanity, and an unconventional story with laughs."[4] Vincent Canby of The New York Times called it "a very funny film" although he felt that "the shape of the ordinary Broadway comedy, with three acts and a beginning, middle and end, inhibit the Woody Allen that I, at least, appreciate most."[5] Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film was "in the tradition of the best bright comedies of the past, full of funny lines and situations but supported and enriched by an accurately perceived and recognizable character whose own consistency provides the logic for mad events and a lasting power for the laughter."[6] David McGillivray of The Monthly Film Bulletin called it "a treat for Woody Allen fans and a quite amusing, unobjectionable comedy for everyone else," though he thought it "hardly improves" upon the original play.[7]

Influence

Quentin Tarantino said on his commentary track for True Romance (1993) that the character of Elvis Presley as portrayed by Val Kilmer, who appears to Christian Slater's character and gives advice and assurance, was based on the Bogart character in this film.

The 2005 song "Beautiful and Light" by Tunng contains samples from the film.

The Second City comedy troupe's television show SCTV parodied the film. Play It Again, Bob stars Allen (Rick Moranis) and Bob Hope (Dave Thomas).

The Family Guy episode "Play It Again, Brian" is an homage to the film, with Brian Griffin having unrequited feelings for Lois Griffin, his best friend Peter's wife.

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Bananas (1971)

 


Bananas is a 1971 American comedy film directed by Woody Allen and starring Allen, Louise Lasser, and Carlos Montalbán. Written by Allen and Mickey Rose, the film is about a bumbling New Yorker who, after being dumped by his activist girlfriend, travels to a tiny Latin American nation and becomes involved in its latest revolution.[1] Parts of the plot are based on the book Don Quixote, U.S.A. by Richard P. Powell.[2]

Filmed on location in New York City and Puerto Rico,[3] the film was released to positive reviews from critics and was number 78 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies" and number 69 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs in 2000.

Plot

The film opens with Howard Cosell's coverage of the assassination of the president of the fictional "banana republic" of San Marcos and a coup d'état that brings Gen. Emilio Molina Vargas to power.

Fielding Mellish is a neurotic blue-collar man who tries to impress social activist Nancy by connecting with the revolution in San Marcos. He visits the republic and attempts to show his concern for the native people. However, Vargas secretly orders his men, disguised as Vargas's opponents, to kill Mellish to make the rebels look bad so that the U.S. will send Vargas financial aid. Mellish evades Vargas's assassins but is shortly captured by the real rebels. Vargas declares Mellish dead regardless, leaving Mellish no choice but to join the rebels for two months. Mellish then clumsily learns how to be a revolutionary. When the revolution is successful, it becomes apparent that Esposito, the Castro-style leader, has gone mad. The rebels decide to replace him with Mellish as their president.

While traveling back to the U.S. to obtain financial aid, Mellish (sporting a long fake beard) reunites with Nancy and is exposed. In court, Mellish tries to defend himself from a series of incriminating witnesses, including a reigning Miss America and a middle-aged African-American woman claiming to be J. Edgar Hoover in disguise. One of the witnesses does provide testimony favorable to Mellish, but the court clerk, when asked to read back this testimony, replies with an entirely different, wholly unfavorable rendition. Mellish is eventually sentenced to prison, but his sentence is suspended on the condition that he does not move into the judge's neighborhood. Nancy then agrees to marry him. The film ends with Cosell's coverage of the between-the-covers consummation of their marriage, an event that was over much more quickly than Nancy had anticipated, with Mellish anticipating a rematch in the early spring.

Cast

Eddie Barth and Nicholas Saunders make their theatrical film debuts as the characters Paul and Douglas, while comedian Conrad Bain plays Semple and actor Allen Garfield plays the Man on Cross. Uncredited appearances include Sylvester Stallone as a subway thug #1, Mary Jo Catlett as a woman in a hotel lobby[4] and Tino García in an undisclosed role.

Production

Development

According to an interview in the notes of the film's DVD release, Allen said that there is absolutely no blood in the film (even during executions) because he wanted to keep the light comedic tone of the film intact.

Allen and Lasser had been married from 1966 to 1970 and were divorced at the time the film was made.

The verdict in Mellish's legal case is portrayed as the headline story of a Roger Grimsby newscast.[5] Included in the scene is a parody television advertisement for New Testament cigarettes with a Catholic priest (Dan Frazer) promoting the fictitious brand while performing the sacrament of the Eucharist.[6] The movie received a C (condemned) classification from the National Catholic Office for Motion Pictures because of the spoof.[5]

Original title

The film was originally titled El Weirdo. The film's screenwriters Woody Allen and Mickey Rose wrote the first 40 pages of the film under the title El Weirdo and submitted it to a producer who rejected it. In the year 1971, a different producer released the completed film under a new title, Bananas.[7]

Budget and filming

According to a July 1970 Los Angeles Herald Examiner article, Bananas cost $1.7 million and was the first of a three-picture deal Allen had with United Artists.[5] A riot scene involving 2,000 students was shot at Queens Community College in New York.[5]

The scene where musicians appear to play instruments in pantomime at General Vargas's dinner was not originally planned; the rented instruments had not arrived on set, and Allen decided the miming fit the film's tone.[2]

According to Julian Fox's biography Woody: Movies from Manhattan, the film originally had a different ending in which Fielding, invited to make a revolutionary speech at Columbia University, would emerge from an explosion in blackface. Co-editor Ralph Rosenblum convinced Allen to change it.[8]

Theatrical title

The title is a pun, "bananas" being slang for "crazy", as well as being a reference to the phrase "banana republic" describing the film's setting. When Allen was asked why the film was called Bananas, his reply was, "Because there are no bananas in it." Some writers have made the connection between this and The Cocoanuts, the first film by the Marx Brothers, by whom Allen was heavily influenced at the time, and which featured no coconuts.[9]

Music

Reception

Box office

Bananas was the number one film at the U.S. box office on May 2, 1971, for one week, and finished as the 18th highest-grossing film of 1971.[11]

Critical response

Bananas was well received by critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 83% of 35 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.5/10.[12] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 67 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[13] Vincent Canby of The New York Times praised the film, saying: "Allen's view of the world is fraught with everything except pathos, and it's a view I happen to find very funny. Here is no little man surviving with a wan smile and a shrug, but a runty, wise-mouthed guy whose initial impulses toward cowardice seem really heroic in the crazy order of the way things are." He concluded: "Any movie that attempts to mix together love, Cuban revolution, the C.I.A., Jewish mothers, J. Edgar Hoover and a few other odds and ends (including a sequence in which someone orders 1,000 grilled cheese sandwiches) is bound to be a little weird—and most welcome."[14] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film three stars out of four and called the opening scene "one of the funniest bits of film," though he thought the romance "gets in the way" and "could have been omitted easily."[15]

Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "Allen seems to have been unable to figure a suitable finish for the plot, which does not so much peak as stop. Still the best jokes have a glorious insanity about them. Given the diminishing ability to laugh like blazing idiots these days, Bananas is welcome even if Allen is not quite at the top of his form."[16] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post wrote that the film was "in a word, hilarious," and "an immense improvement" over Take the Money and Run.[17] Richard Combs of The Monthly Film Bulletin thought that "the gags seem a little brighter than in Take the Money," but also found the scattershot humor "too undisciplined and disparate."[18] John Simon wrote of the film's plot: "None of it makes for sense or solidly developing humor, and much of it is in bad taste".[19]

Pauline Kael of The New Yorker wrote that the "inexplicably funny took over; it might be grotesque; it almost always had the flippant, corny bawdiness of a frustrated sophmore running amok, but it seemed to burst out, as the most inspired comedy does."[20]

Accolades

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All My Movies (Album Standard) (Updated 03/30/26)(835 Movies)

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Don't Drink The Water (1969)

 


Don't Drink the Water is a 1969 American comedy film starring Jackie Gleason and Estelle Parsons.[2] It is directed by Howard Morris and based upon a 1966 play Don't Drink the Water by Woody Allen. The supporting cast includes Ted Bessell and Joan Delaney.

In 1994, Allen remade the story as the television film Don't Drink the Water, with himself as Walter Hollander.[3]

Plot

Walter Hollander, a caterer, is on vacation with his wife Marion and daughter Susan. While flying to Athens, their plane is hijacked to Vulgaria, behind the Iron Curtain. While waiting for the plane to be cleared to take off again, Marion insists they go outside and take a few pictures. Unfortunately they are in a restricted area so the secret police suspect them of being spies. Inspector Krojak sends a squad of soldiers with machine guns to arrest them, and the Hollanders flee to the car of the American ambassador which is parked nearby.

The Hollanders take refuge in the U.S. Embassy nearby. The ambassador is away, leaving only his inept son Axel Magee to grant the Hollanders political asylum. Picketers protest outside the embassy as everyone tries to figure a way out. Complicating matters further is that Susan has fallen in love with Axel.

Marion busies herself by scrupulously cleaning the embassy as if it were her own home. Walter can make long-distance phone calls, but they bring only bad news...including that his catering business has become involved in a food poisoning scandal.

Axel hopes that an influential Arab Sheik might help out. But when the Sultan shows signs of wanting to add daughter Susan to his harem; Walter explodes and throws the Sultan out.

Axel finally gets the idea of throwing a fancy party at the Embassy, and to have the Hollander's leave in disguise among the guests. Father Drobney, an eccentric rabbi also seeking asylum, gets them through border checkpoints thanks to his knowledge of the local language.

Daughter Susan has remained behind to marry Axel and remain in the safety of the embassy while Walter, Marion, and Drobney escape Vulgaria in a rickety biplane.

Cast

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