Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask (1972)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Woody Allen

Writers:

David Reuben (book)
Woody Allen (screenplay)

Release Date:

6 August 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy

Tagline:

If you want to know how this man made a movie out of this book... "Everything you always wanted to know about sex* - *But Were Afraid to Ask" you'll have to see the movie!

Plot:

Seven segments related to one another only in that they all purport to be based on sections of the book by David Reuben...

Plot Keywords:

Aphrodisiac | Queen | Jester | Court Jester | Purity

Cast

Woody Allen	...	The Fool / Fabrizio / Victor Shakapopulis / Sperm #1
John Carradine	...	Dr. Bernardo
Lou Jacobi	...	Sam Musgrave
Louise Lasser	...	Gina
Anthony Quayle	...	The King
Tony Randall	...	The Operator
Lynn Redgrave	...	The Queen
Burt Reynolds	...	Switchboard
Gene Wilder	...	Dr. Doug Ross
Jack Barry	...	Himself
Erin Fleming	...	The Girl
Elaine Giftos	...	Anne Ross
Toni Holt	...	Herself
Robert Q. Lewis	...	Himself
Heather MacRae	...	Helen Lacey
Pamela Mason	...	Herself
Sidney Miller	...	George
Regis Philbin	...	Himself
Titos Vandis	...	Milos Stavros
Stanley Adams	...	Stomach Operator
Oscar Beregi Jr.	...	Brain Control (as Oscar Beregi)
Alan Caillou	...	The Fool's Father
Dort Clark	...	The Sheriff
Geoffrey Holder	...	The Sorcerer
Jay Robinson	...	The Priest
Ref Sanchez	...	Igor
Don Chuy	...	Football Player
Baruch Lumet	...	Rabbi Chaim Baumel
Tom Mack	...	Football Player
Robert Walden	...	Sperm
H.E. West	...	Bernard Jaffe
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
William Beckley	...	King's Herald (uncredited)

Directed by
Woody Allen

Writing credits
David Reuben		(book)
Woody Allen		(screenplay)

Produced by
Jack Brodsky	....	executive producer
Jack Grossberg	....	associate producer
Charles H. Joffe	....	producer
Jack Rollins	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Mundell Lowe

Cinematography by
David M. Walsh		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Eric Albertson

Casting by
Marvin Paige

Production Design by
Dale Hennesy

Set Decoration by
Marvin March

Makeup Department
Paul Stanhope Jr.	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Terry Carr	....	second assistant director (as Terry M. Carr)
Fred T. Gallo	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Barry Bedig	....	property master
Wallace Graham	....	construction coordinator

Sound Department
Al Gramaglia	....	sound re-recordist
Jack Solomon	....	sound mixer
John Strauss	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
Chuck Gaspar	....	special effects coordinator (uncredited)
Bob Overbeck	....	special effects assistant (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Harvey Plastrik	....	opticals

Stunts
Conrad E. Palmisano	....	stunts
Denny Arnold	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jerry Brutsche	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Wilbur Gossman	....	camera operator
Richard Moran	....	key grip
Joe Smith	....	gaffer (as Joseph Smith)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Arnie Lipin	....	wardrobe supervisor: male (as Arnold M. Lipin)
G. Fern Weber	....	wardrobe supervisor: female
Jack Faustino	....	wardrobe manager: Western Costume Co. (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Jonathan Bernstein	....	assistant editor
James T. Heckert	....	supervising editor

Music Department
Mundell Lowe	....	conductor
Phil Ramone	....	music recordist

Transportation Department
Joe Sawyers	....	transportation captain (as Joe R. Sawyers)

Other crew
Antonio Encarnacion	....	assistant to producers (as Tony Encarnacion)
Brian E. Frankish	....	location coordinator (as Brian Frankish)
Norman Gorbaty	....	title designer
Karen Hale Wookey	....	script supervisor (as Karen Wookey)
Joel Marrow	....	assistant to producers
Harvey Plastrik	....	opticals
Henry Polonsky	....	assistant to producers
Carol Shapiro	....	unit publicist
Teresa Stokovic	....	production secretary
Howard Storm	....	assistant to producers
Conrad E. Palmisano	....	photo double: Anthony Quayle (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Rollins-Joffe Productions

Distributors

• United Artists (1972) (USA) (theatrical)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print)
• New Star (2008) (Greece) (theatrical)
• United Artists Films (1973) (Finland) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (Brazil) (DVD)
• Asociace Ceských Filmových Klubu (ACFK) (Czech Republic)
• CBS/Fox (video)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1991) (USA) (laserdisc)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Pioneer Entertainment (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• A&R Recording Studios  music recorded at
• Cinemobile System  locations
• Magno Recording Studios  sound recording
• Western Costume Company  costumes supplied by

Also Known As:

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (USA) (short title)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Italy:VM14 (re-rating) | Italy:VM18 (original rating) | Singapore:M18 | Brazil:14 | Spain:18 | Argentina:18 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Finland:K-16 | France:-16 | Iceland:Unrated | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #23359) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Agoura, California, USA

Company:

Rollins-Joffe Productions

Trivia:

The seven segments are: - (1) Do Aphrodisiacs Work? in which a court jester is foiled by the Queen's chastity belt - (2) What is Sodomy? in which a doctor falls in love with one of his patients, who just happens to be a sheep - (3) Do Some Women Have Trouble Reaching Orgasm? Allen's homage to Italian film-making in general and Michelangelo Antonioni in particular - (4) Are Transvestites Homosexuals? in which a middle-aged man experiments with women's clothes - (5) What Are Sex Perverts? a send-up of game shows - (6) Are the Findings of Doctors and Clinics Who Do Sexual Research Accurate? in which the countryside is terrorized by a giant runaway breast and - (7) What Happens During Ejaculation? which is set in the brain (and other parts of the body) as a man gets involved in a sexual clinch.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Sam Musgrave asks directions to the bathroom, he is told "first door on the left," however after he ascends the stairs, the bathroom door is on his right.

Quotes:

Gina: [in Italian] It was my first time. Did you like it?
Fabrizio: [in Italian] Me? Are you kidding? More fun than laughing.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Kapou se xero: (#1.6)" (2001)

Soundtrack:

LET'S MISBEHAVE

Hit & Miss, But What Hits Is Hysterical

An uneven early work of Allen's, really just a series of sketches tied around the unbelievable popularity of the "sex" book "Everything You Wantedto Know About Sex, But Was Afraid To Ask" which in the early 1970's was THE book in popular culture. Many of the sketches are too long and "peter" out, but ALL of them have very funny jokes and insight, but two of the sketches are classics and are as funny as anything Allen ever wrote: Gene Wilder's bit where he plays a man who is destroyed after a certain "fetish" is introduced into his life and the last sketch, where they show the inside controls of a man's body as he gets ready to have sex with a date: Burt Reynolds and Tony Randall help run the master control room. This is brilliant and clever. Some times it's refreshing to just go back to Allen's early, silly films like Sleeper and Take The Money And Run, even though the man has gone onto important funny films with deep dramatic throughlines: Crimes & Misdemeanors, Deconstructing Harry and Husbands & Wives.