EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SEX * BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK (1972)
Article 2475 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 1-11-2008
Posting Date: 5-22-2008
Directed by Woody Allen
Featuring Woody Allen, John Carradine, Lou Jacobi
Country: USA

Several stories are presented based on concepts on David Reuben’s book about sex.

Three of the seven segments of this anthology movie have fantastic content; the first one, in which a court jester attempts to seduce a queen, features a ghost and a love potion; the sixth one, in which a mad scientist performing horrible experiments with sex unleashes a giant breast loose on the world, and the final one, in which the workings of a brain during a sexual encounter are portrayed as a science fiction epic. The movie is amusing enough, but I think it gets its biggest laughs when Woody Allen nails the correct styles for the genre takes on the various episodes; in particular, the third episode (which parodies Italian movies, complete with subtitling), the fifth episode (a parody of a TV game show) and the sixth episode (horror movie parody with John Carradine exceedingly well cast as a mad scientist) work the best. The other episodes have moments as well; Gene Wilder and Lou Jacobi both give great performances as, respectively, a doctor in love with a sheep and a transvestite. After this movie, Woody Allen would take another shot at science fiction with SLEEPER.