Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* [*But Were Afraid to Ask] Blu-ray Movie Review

Daring people to say the book was better.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 26, 2016

Note: This film is also available as part of the set Woody Allen: Six Films 1971-1978.

The six films included in a new set from Arrow comprise some of Woody Allen’s best known and best loved offerings, but they also provide a nice window into Allen’s evolution from a schtick and gag laden auteur to a filmmaker with something obviously a bit deeper on his mind than “only” going for the gusto in terms of laughs. Tracing the kind of frankly odd route from Bananas to Interiors may not provide much grist for a mill interested in narrative through lines, but it at least provides ample evidence that Allen, no matter how he’s seen currently within the context of his external “baggage,” has always been a relentlessly unique force in the contemporary film world. Allen’s filmmaking craft also increases exponentially over the half dozen films in this set, and one of the more interesting things to pay attention to is how his directorial chops noticeably improved in terms of even relatively simple things like framings and how to set up a shot for maximum impact. But Allen’s writing went through a similar metamorphosis, slowly but surely turning away from, or at least relying less upon, sight gags and just downright goofiness in favor of more intellectually prone humor. Allen continues to be a divisive figure, not just in the annals of cinema but (not to state the obvious) for some of the personal choices he’s made through the years (not to mention allegations that have been leveled against him), but these six films, most done before any major “brouhahas” had started to append “meta” analyses to his offerings, are an often stunning example of a brilliant comedic mind who also began to nurture his more dramatic tendencies.

There could probably be nothing in today’s world like the publishing phenomenon that greeted the release of David Reuben’s best seller Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* *But Were Afraid to Ask in 1969 for any number of reasons. First of all, no one seems to be afraid to ask anything about sex anymore, which may be due at least in part to the sexual revolution that occurred in the 1960s and beyond, a sea change in attitudes that was fostered in no small way by Reuben’s own book. The sexual revolution may have in fact provided any and all answers people may have been prone to ask back in the “Dark Ages” (meaning pre-sixties), and the rise of the internet has pounded a few more nails into this particular coffin, namely readily available sexual content of all sorts and (just to be a little snarky about it) the death of the publishing industry. But in 1969, Reuben’s book, aided by that somehow cheeky asterisk, rose to the top of the sales charts globally and sparked what was a new frankness in discussions about this aspect of human behavior. Woody Allen’s kinda sorta cinematic adaptation of what would seem to be a particularly unadaptable source tome plays human sexuality for laughs, which some may feel (probably rightly) is an easy target.

A year after Allen had gotten involved in international skirmishes in Bananas, Allen called a truce of sorts in the war between the sexes, or at least curated a détente whereby he was able to offer a series of vignettes that exposed (no pun intended) certain foibles that men and women have, either separately or together. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (we’ll forsake the *But Were Afraid to Ask part for the rest of the review) is in some ways Allen’s homage to burlesque, in more ways than one. While the unavoidable emphasis on the quasi-salacious is one way the film recalls vaudeville routines of yore, the very structure of the film suggests the heyday of theatrical shows cobbled together out of a series of acts.

As with any portmanteau like this, some vignettes are bound to resonate more with individual viewers than others. While there’s something at least amusing about several, including one positing Allen as a court jester attempting to deal with a comically obstinate chastity belt and another featuring Wilder as a doctor who ends up falling for a sheep (winding up drinking Woolite to drown his sorrows), for me the funniest bits were in the fake game show called What’s My Perversion? , which was undoubtedly politically incorrect back in the day but which has now achieved a probably slightly unseemly subtext given some of Allen’s history (alleged or otherwise). Filmed in black and white and made to look like an old kinescope What’s My Perversion? has the added benefit of an amusingly eclectic group of “celebrity” participants, including one Regis Philbin. The film’s finale (in more ways than one) is a bizarre but enjoyable sequence featuring Allen as one of a gaggle of sperm about to “launch” into the unknown. It’s obviously outré but still manages to dovetail perfectly into Allen’s frequently twitchy, neurotic screen persona.

In a way, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* is Allen’s early version of any given Saturday Night Live episode. There are some fantastic skits, along with less wonderful ones that still have occasional great bits in them, and then still others that will probably completely fall flat for at least some viewers. The film is probably therefore more of a hit and miss proposition (no pun intended) than some other Allen comedies.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* [*But Were Afraid to Ask] Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Academy with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. (This disc is locked Region B.) This film, like Bananas, its sibling in the Woody Allen: Six Films 1971-1978 set, hasn't yet been released on Blu-ray in the United States, but very much like Bananas, its overall video presentation falls pretty much in line with many of the other Allen offerings culled from the MGM/UA archives that have been released for the American market. There's a bit more of a heterogeneous quality to the look of this film, simply due to the different settings and styles, but my overall reaction to the transfer is that it may be just slightly on the dark side. This tends to deplete shadow definition and general detail levels in any number of darker scenes, and, again as with Bananas, there's a fair amount of crush where things like black clothing can more or less disappear into the surrounding shadows. When the film ventures out of doors or provides a brightly lit sequence, the palette pops quite well and detail levels are generally very good, though it should be noted that some of the film is intentionally soft (some of the dewy moments in the jester sequences with Lynn Redgrave, for example). As noted above in the main body of the review, the What's My Perversion? sequence is in black and white and distressed to resemble a jittery, slightly "ghosty" looking, kinescope. Grain is pretty coarse and even chunky looking at times (again, as with Bananas), but generally resolves very naturally. Elements have typical age related issues like dirt and flecks, but nothing that's overly problematic.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* [*But Were Afraid to Ask] Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* features an LPCM 2.0 mono track that encounters a few hurdles but which generally provides an enjoyable listening experience. There's some built in damage to elements like the archival opening recording of "Let's Misbehave", which is suitably "crackly" and "poppy" as befits something probably sourced off of an old acetate or 78 rpm recording. There's another kind of odd anomaly during the Gene Wilder sequence where he's having dinner with his "wife", Elaine Giftos. There's a low frequency hum that suddenly intrudes, but there's also a piano solo cue used as underscore, and that problem may be endemic to that piece, since the hum ends when the piano stops. Otherwise, things may not be overwhelmingly impressive, but have relatively little to complain about. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and some of the fun sound effects (especially in the film's sci-fi finale) ring quite impressively.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* [*But Were Afraid to Ask] Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (HD; 2:30)

Note: Arrow provided check discs for review purposes, so I can't comment on any additional supplements in terms of insert booklet essays and the like.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* [*But Were Afraid to Ask] Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* is a bit of a grab bag for Allen, and as such its general quality tends to ebb and flow through the various vignettes. There's certainly something here for everyone (so to speak), and those who are already attuned to early Allen neuroticism blended with an overactive libido will no doubt find laughs, albeit perhaps more sporadically than in other early Allen efforts. Technical merits are generally very good, and Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* comes Recommended.