Review #1,279: 'Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* But Were Afraid to Ask' (1972)

Few anticipated the success of Dr. David Reuben's book Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* But Were Afraid to Ask upon its publication in 1969. Nevertheless, it skyrocketed to the top of the book charts, arriving at a time when the sexual revolution was in full swing for the younger generation, and older couples were starting to feel more comfortable discussing the joys of sex and all the kinks that come with it. It seemed like a truly 'unadaptable' book, or at least one that never flirted with the idea of making it to the big screen. But that didn't stop Woody Allen, the young comedy writer and director still very much in his sillier, more slapstick stage of his career, who was fresh off the success of satirical spoof Bananas.

Structuring the film as a series of vignettes, each receiving its own opening title taken from the book's chapter headings, Allen gave himself free reign to toy with a variety of ideas and tones that were no doubt swimming around in his massive brain. As is the case with almost all portmanteau movies, some sections are great, others are forgettable, and the odd one is outright terrible. The final result is one staunchly defended by Allen die-hards, but for some of us this is one the comedy giant's weakest early movies. It opens promisingly enough with "Do Aphrodisiacs Work?", a sex farce set in medieval times with Allen as a court jester trying in earnest to get into the knickers of Lynn Redgrave's Queen. Fearing both the wrath of the King (Anthony Quayle) and having his advances spurned, he employs a potion that will make the Queen desire the first man she sees.

Not all the jokes land, but it's amusing enough, highlighting Allen's unique talent for playing the motor-mouthed neurotic and firing off double entendres. Other highlights include Gene Wilder as a doctor who falls in love a sheep belonging to an Albanian farmer, and a Fellini-inspired section in which Allen's character becomes obsessed with pleasing his wife. The worst involves John Carradine as a wacky researcher conducting a variety of outrageous sexual experiments, before he accidentally unleashes a giant milk-squirting breast into the countryside. The main problem, 45 years after its release, lies within the title. It could be down to the lasting effects of the sexual revolution or the abundance of hardcore porn now available to stream at any time, but people are no longer afraid to ask. Many of the topics covered in Everything You Always Wanted to Know... are now openly discussed on daytime TV, so the film feels more like a time capsule of a more innocent time than the boundary-pushing experiment it once was.


Directed by: Woody Allen
Starring: Woody Allen, John Carradine, Lou Jacobi, Louise Lasser, Anthony Quayle, Tony Randall, Lynn Redgrave, Burt Reynolds, Gene Wilder
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie