It has been 40 years since the iconic and semi-autobiographical comedy of Woody Allen arrived to the cinemas, on the 20th April 1977. However, the Oscar-winning romance never seems to get old. To celebrate its birthday, we rounded up 10 fun facts, that you might not know.
It wasn’t expected to be romantic. The director and co-writer Woody Allen’s original mission was not to make a relationship picture, and he was slightly disappointed with the result.
Also, the original title should have been different. It was planned to be Anhedonia, a word meaning the inability to experience pleasure in normally enjoyable circumstances, but a title that could not be sold.
It was supposed to be 140 minutes. Almost 50 minutes longer than it turned out.
Allen’s cocaine-induced sneeze was a real thing. The sneeze was unexpected, and stayed in the movie thanks to test audiences’ resultant delight.
The Truman Capote lookalike was played by Truman Capote. The writer of Breakfast at Tiffany’s portrayed a man who won the “Truman Capote lookalike” contest in the movie.
It inspired the America fashion in an unexpected way. The Annie Hall-look, with all the bowler hats, coats and blazers, baggy pants, and neckties became desired after the movies release.
Early drafts contained some fantasy elements as well. But honestly, can you imagine Annie and Alvy time-hopping to various historical events?
Some scenes were so cheesie, Allan couldn’t bear the idea of them. For example, a late-in-film fantasy bit in which a sentient traffic light convinces Alvy to fly across country and win Annie back. Allen thought the scene was so disgustingly cutesy that he allegedly tossed the prints into New York City’s East River.
Annie Hall is Woody Allens highest grossing movie by far. But it only beats Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters, and Midnight in Paris when adjusted for inflation.
Woody Allen didn’t like it. Although it won 4 Oscars, the director still wouldn’t refer to it as a masterpiece of his.
