Play It Again, Sam: A Romantic Comedy in Three Acts

Every line of Allen’s script is set alongside over 1,000 frames from the film, to create a kind of ’talking book' version of the movie, itself adapted from his hit Broadway play. Ah, for those days when one had to wait for a movie to be shown again at a revival house, or to simply read about it in the library. (Heck, by the '90s when I was a kid, I still had to do that for plenty of older films!)

This may be a completely unnecessary blast from the past, but it's a reminder of how good Allen is as a comic writer that you can simply set the script against photos and still find laughs or insights on most every page.

Allen's second Broadway hit was also his debut as a stage actor, coming out after he had directed his first feature film. This was really very important in defining the "Woody Allen persona" and was adapted into a fairly faithful and charming film a few years later.

A "photonovel" of sorts of one of my favorite Woody Allen movies, "Play It Again, Sam". Includes an introduction and interview with the producer, Herbert Ross. All the lines from the movie are depicted here, with stills from the scenes they appeared in.The effect is a little stiff, but it's great for the afficiondo of the movie who would like to be able to track down the appearance of any given line.

Mesmo quando não em clima anárquico, Woody Allen ainda é o neurótico mais engraçado dos EEUU e Play It Again, Sam versa sobre um crítico de cinema com problemas de sedução que toma Humphrey Bogart como modelo. Allen, no seu melhor, explora a lacuna entre o escapismo do cinema e a realidade. Talvez a coerência excessiva e o enredo previsível sejam a maior fraqueza. Ainda assim, é uma engraçada e satisfatória comédia em que o humor realmente se desenvolve a partir do protagonista e não do enredo.