June 14th: MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY (Woody Allen, 1993)

A New York couple become amateur sleuths when they suspect an elderly neighbor in their apartment may have killed his wife.

Woody Allen flirted with writing a mystery for decades, and an early draft of his breakthrough hit Annie Hall featured a mystery subplot. While his 1992 film Husbands and Wives seemed eerily topical coming out on the heels of his public breakup and custody battle with longtime personal and professional partner Mia Farrow, its follow-up couldn't be any more different, a return to the broader comedy of the 1970s.

Allen reunited with two key creative figures who he hadn't teamed up with since 1979's Manhattan, his old screenwriting collaborator Marshall Brickman, and former co-star Diane Keaton, both Oscar-winners for Annie Hall. While Keaton's part was originally written for Farrow, she enlivened the role with her own particular brand of comic timing.

Other cast members included two actors who had appeared in Allen's Crimes & Misdemeanors, Anjelica Huston (The Grifters) and Alan Alda (The Aviator). Also appearing are theatre veteran Jerry Adler (TV's The Sopranos), Lynn Cohen (TV's Sex and the City), Joy Behar (TV's The View), and a young Zach Braff.

As suggested by its title, the film was shot primarily in Manhattan, particularly the Upper West and East Sides, and Greenwich Village. Returning to work with Allen behind the camera for the seventh time was legendary Italian cinematographer Carlo Di Palma, who had worked on noteworthy films by Michelangelo Antonioni (Blow-Up, Red Desert). Like their previous film, he relies mostly on handheld camerawork, often peeking around corners and quick zooms with an investigative POV.

Allen was inspired by various films of Alfred Hitchcock, and the plot plays like a variation of that director's Rear Window. References to other classic films are peppered throughout, culminating in a climax that takes place during a theatrical showing of Orson Welles's film noir The Lady From Shanghai, with the action of Allen's characters mirroring those on the screen.

The film was released to positive reviews and had a modest take at the box office. Keaton received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance, Huston a BAFTA nomination, and the film was nominated for the French César award for Best Foreign Film.

Running time is approx. 100 minutes.