Trivia (Part1)
First film shot using the widescreen (2.35:1) anamorphic Panavision process for a film directed by Woody Allen.
Woody Allen disliked his work in this film so much he offered to direct another film for United Artists for free if they kept Manhattan on the shelf for good. Allan later reportedly said: "I
just thought to myself, 'At this point in my life, if this is the best I can do, they shouldn't give me money to make movies'."
Stacey Nelkin, whom Woody Allen dated while she was at New York's Stuyvesant High School, was reportedly the inspiration for the character of Tracey.
Presentations of this film on television (broadcast, cable or home video) required preservation of the widescreen format. This presented a problem in the U.S. since certain F.C.C. technical regulations did not permit a portion of the screen to be left blank as in letterboxing. The problem was solved by making the area above and below the frame gray. The regulations have since been changed and letterboxing with black borders is now permitted.
This is one of the very few Woody Allen films to not have opening credits.
While this is Woody Allen's least favorite of the movies he has directed, this was the most commercially successful film of his career. He said years later that he was still in disbelief
that he "got away with it".
Toward the end of the film, when Isaac is haranguing Yale, he mentions Yale someday being before a Senate subcommittee "naming names". In Le prête-nom, Woody Allen's character winds up before a Congressional committee to "name names", including the character played by Michael Murphy.
When released on video, it was the first cassette to be encoded with the letterbox format.
While talking to Mary in the museum, Issac (Woody Allen) says that the brain is the most overrated body part. While in Allen's film Woody et les robots, his character Miles Monroe
says that it's his second favorite body part.
Woody Allen wanted Jodie Foster for the role of Tracy which in the end went to Mariel Hemingway.
First film in black-and-white directed by Woody Allen.
The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, for Best Supporting Actress (Mariel Hemingway) and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Woody Allen), but
failed to win either Oscar.
The picture's cinematographer Gordon Willis once said that this film was his favorite of all the movies he had shot.
First of two Woody Allen films with the word "Manhattan" in the title. The second would be Meurtre mystérieux à Manhattan made and first released around fourteen years later in
1993.
Woody Allen has described the film as being a combination of his previous two films, Intérieurs and Annie Hall.
One of eight cinema movie collaborations of Woody Allen and actress Diane Keaton, Allen co-starring in six of them and directing seven of them.
Debut film of actor Mark Linn-Baker who was billed as Mary Linn-Baker and played a Shakespearian actor.
The only Woody Allen - Diane Keaton film which is in black-and-white.
According to the 'Virgin Film Guide', "The producers petitioned to change the 'R' rating to a 'PG' [for the USA] but were turned down, mostly because of the content concerning the
older man [Isaac, Woody Allen] and the teenage girl [Tracy, Mariel Hemingway]".
Apparently, there exists a clause in the studio's contract for the film that mandates that the movie must always be shown in letterbox format in any home video release and/or TV/cable broadcast.
The age difference between twice-divorced forty-two year-old comedy writer Isaac (Woody Allen) and seventeen year-old high-school student Tracy (Mariel Hemingway) was twenty-
five years.
The ninth feature film directed by Woody Allen.
First of five movie collaborations that actor Wallace Shawn has made with Woody Allen. The films include Manhattan, Radio Days, Ombres et brouillard, Melinda et Melinda and Le sortilège du scorpion de Jade.
The name of the book that Jill (Meryl Streep) wrote was "Marriage, Divorce and Selfhood".
The film's famous black-and-white movie poster featuring an image of a couple sitting on a park bench next to the Queensboro Bridge has becoming iconic in film history.
The movie is ranked at the No. #63 spot on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".
The United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2001.
The picture is ranked at No. #4 on Rotten Tomatoes' "25 Best Romantic Comedies".
The movie inspired the song, "Remember Manhattan", released on Richard Marx's debut album.
Woody Allen plays a TV writer in this movie. In real life, Allen was a television comedy writer during the 1950s.
Final major Woody Allen - Diane Keaton movie until Meurtre mystérieux à Manhattan debuted around fourteen years later. In between, Keaton did a cameo in Allen's Radio Days around eight years after this film.
The picture is ranked at the No. #76 spot on movie magazine Empire's Poll of the 500 Greatest Movies ever made.
The picture is ranked at the No. #46 rank on the AFI's "100 Years...100 Laughs" list.
All music on the movie's soundtrack were pieces of music from composer George Gershwin. The compositions were performed for the film by two orchestras, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
The picture is ranked at the No. #66 rank on the AFI's "100 Years...100 Passions" list.
Manhattan and New York is known for its skyscrapers. The movie's "Manhattan" title logo formed such high-rise buildings out all of its letters fit with highlighted lit-up square windows.
Studio United Artists originally had concerns about letting Woody Allen make a black-and-white picture due to the form's lack of commercial potential but UA executives eventually
relented and allowed Allen to make a B&W film.
Woody Allen was top first billed, Diane Keaton was billed second, Michael Murphy was third billed, Mariel Hemingway was fourth billed, Meryl Streep was billed fifth and Anne Byrne
Hoffman was sixth billed.
The name of the dog, a Dachshund, was "Waffles". According to website 'Wienerdogs', "In the movie..."Waffles" [is] a standard smooth Doxie belonging to Diane Keaton...Waffles is
seen in the house, being held during a conversation, and taken for a walk during a date".
Woody Allen has said of this film: "I presented a view of the city as I'd like it to be and as it can be today, if you take the trouble to walk on the right streets".
