An unexpected delight for Woody Allen fans this week. Men Of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story – a short, unreleased film written and directed by Woody Allen in 1971 – has been put online. The extremely rare film has never aired, never been made available for purchase and for decades had to be watched in person at the Paley Center For Media in New York.
This is a true find. Originally made of PBS, it was cancelled just before airing. Many Allen fans make the pilgrimage to the Paley Center just to watch this film. For years we’ve heard about it, seen the odd blurry photo of it. Now, the trek is over and you can enjoy the film now. Basically, we’ve just discovered a lost Woody Allen film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQaTR1BTwZE
The film is a mockumentary based on the Nixon administration. It’s a form Allen explored a couple of years earlier with Take The Money And Run, and would go on to perfect with Zelig. It features some familiar faces including Louise Lasser and Diane Keaton. It is the first time Allen and Keaton worked together on screen.
We will be posting a full review soon – it deserves it. In the meantime, enjoy this short film from Allen in his early, funny prime.
3 Comments
Nice! A real gem of a find! Its as if instead of finding the missing Watergate tapes, we found some missing Woody tapes. Kudos!!!!
I am one of the fans who travelled from Brazil to the Library of Congress in Washington to see it…afterwards, I saw it again at the Paley Media Center.
Is the film quality it Paley a lot better?