Play It Again, Sam (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: May 12, 2025
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
Herbert RossRelease Date(s)
1972 (February 26, 2025)Studio(s)
APJAC/Paramount Pictures (Imprint Films/Via Vision Entertainment)- Film/Program Grade: A
- Video Grade: A-
- Audio Grade: A-
- Extras Grade: A
Review
[Editor’s Note: This is a Region-Free Australian Blu-ray import.]
Some movies reference or pay homage to other movies. Scream uses visual references to Hitchcock’s Psycho. In The Faculty, teenagers suddenly turn into soulless, emotionless shells of human beings much like the characters in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Easy A draws on numerous John Hughes movies. Galaxy Quest is a hilarious take on Star Trek and Sleepless in Seattle is a loving valentine to An Affair to Remember. In 1972, Woody Allen offered a humorous tribute to Casablanca with Play It Again, Sam, adapted from his play of the same title.
Allen Felix (Woody Allen) is a film critic and film lover. The home he shares with his wife, Nancy (Susan Anspach), is a virtual museum of film history, with posters, still photos, and other movie memorabilia dominating the decor. When Nancy announces that she wants a divorce and walks out, Allen, bewildered and depressed, looks to his best friend, Dick (Tony Roberts) and his wife, Linda (Diane Keaton), for emotional support. Linda and Dick not only put up with Allen’s neuroses and self-deprecation, they also try to set him up with single women they think he’d like. Allen, however, is more likely to heed dating advice from the specter of his favorite actor, Humphrey Bogart (Jerry Lacy), costumed and in character as he was in Casablanca. In fact, the entire opening of the film shows Allen sitting in a darkened theater watching, transfixed, as the final scene of Casablanca plays out.
Meanwhile, Dick is constantly running off on business, making sure to check in with his office constantly to leave phone numbers where he can be reached at every minute of his day. So Linda hangs out with Allen, keeping him company, offering encouragement, and trying to ease his insecurities. She’s non-judgmental, spends time unselfishly with him, and serves as friend/therapist, all while making excuses to herself for Dick’s frequent absences from her life.
Reprising their original roles from the stage play, the four leads all are excellent. Woody Allen plays his trademark neurotic with nervous ticks, awkwardness, slapstick fumbling, and innumerable social faux pas. This is the persona he’s made famous through his films and once again he derives laugh after laugh from it.
Roberts adds subtle humor and humanity to the fast-talking, business-obsessed Dick, whose sincere concern for his friend is superseded only by self-interest. Keaton’s performance as Linda is especially good, balancing a grounded, gentle empathy with Allen’s eccentricities. Keaton has a fine-tuned comedic gift and impeccable timing that make the gags flow naturally. The screen chemistry between Keaton and Allen makes the film sparkle. The two would go on the star in the Academy Award-winner Annie Hall.
Woody Allen’s screenplays have always been refreshingly tight, avoiding padding and any element that doesn’t drive the narrative. The comedic moments are integral to the plot and serve the characters. Pace is brisk and writer Allen is generous in sharing comic moments, though the lion’s share of one-liners are his.
Play It Again, Sam concludes where it began—with a modern version of the final scene from Casablanca complete with a key decision to make, an airplane idling on a foggy tarmac, and even Keaton’s Ingrid Bergman-inspired hat setting the stage for the climax, a perfect resolution for cinephile Allen Felix.
Play It Again, Sam was shot by director of photography Owen Roizman on 35 mm film with Panavision cameras and lenses, finished photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Archive footage from Casablanca is in black & white. Clarity on the Blu-ray is very good, though the black & white sequences are a bit fuzzy. The color palette is broad, ranging from Allen Felix’s drab, floppy clothes to the brighter hues of Linda and Dick’s fashionable attire. Production design of Allen’s apartment, with film memorabilia everywhere, speaks to his fascination with vintage movies. In a nightclub scene, red light dominates, and the final scene, set on an airport tarmac, is enshrouded in fog. Details such as reflections from a movie screen onto Allen’s glasses, clothing patterns, writing on posters, and Allen’s freckled complexion are well delineated.
The soundtrack is English 2.0 LPCM Dual Mono. Optional subtitles are English SDH. Dialogue is clear and distinct. Actor Jerry Lacy speaks with a tone and slight lisp that recreates Humphrey Bogart’s speech pattern. Woody Allen speaks quickly but is always easy to understand and the jokes aren’t lost. The theme song, As Time Goes By, is heard from time to time, creating an audio connection to Casablanca. The score by Billy Goldenberg nicely contributes to mood.
Bonus materials on the Region-Free Blu-ray release from Imprint Films include the following:
- Audio Commentary by Martin Conterio
- Woody Allen: A Documentary, Part 1 (109:36)
- Woody Allen: A Documentary, Part 2 (82:58)
- The New Yorker (1:27)
- Woody Allen in Idaho (6:04)
- 12 Questions (5:59)
- Nettie (:45)
- Back to Brooklyn (3:27)
- Director Interview (6:11)
Audio Commentary – Film writer and author Martin Conterio refers to Play It Again, Sam as “highly regarded” and says that even though it was directed by Herbert Ross, it’s very much a Woody Allen picture. In the opening sequence, the themes of masculinity, nostalgia, and crisis are established. Rather than a tough guy, Bogart is shown to be selfless. Allen’s character in the film is willing to fight the effects of divorce. Bogart is the key to unlocking his masculinity. Allen Felix projects himself as Bogart. “It’s all about personas.” The title of the film is an often-misquoted line from Casablanca that people continue to use. Woody Allen finds it difficult to write for himself, so he concentrates on characters that fit him comfortably. He could never play a marine or macho individual. His character in the film has a very small circle of friends and is awkward among people he doesn’t know well. He’s “Everygeek,” yet also a romantic lead. Using Bogart in the film was based on a popular poster that was everywhere at the time, and Allen said, “Bogart was a happy accident.” Conterio provides overviews of Humphrey Bogart’s career and how the actor is regarded by film historians. Casablanca became an emblem of defiance against tyranny and the film has taken on a mythological quality. Both Play It Again, Sam and Casablanca are romantic and cynical at the same time. Play It Again, Sam is “both a fine comedy and a cautionary tale.”
Woody Allen: A Documentary, Part 1 – Celebrities including Diane Keaton, Larry David, Scarlet Johansson, Mira Sorvino, Leonard Martin, Chris Rock, Sean Penn, Owen Wilson, and Mariel Hemingway offer insights on Woody Allen the man and the director. Clips from his TV appearances are shown. Critics and film historians discuss Allen as total filmmaker. Early photos, comments from family members, and scenes of Allen playing clarinet in a jazz combo offer insight into Allen apart from writer/director/actor. He started writing jokes for Herb Shriner at age 16 or 17 and has never been unemployed since. Allen’s stand-up career, working as writer for Sid Caesar, and being influenced by comedian Mort Sahl are explored. Ever since his first film, Take the Money and Run, Allen has had complete control over his films.
Woody Allen: A Documentary, Part 2 – When it was becoming more expensive to shoot films in New York City, Woody Allen looked to foreign locations. When he arrives on the set, he’s told what’s scheduled to be filmed that day. He doesn’t like fancy effects, preferring simplicity in story telling. He discusses his process of writing scripts, working on a manual typewriter he’s had for forty years. Many actors are eager to work with him because he feels the best performance will emerge from the actor’s instincts. Naomi Watts refers to Allen as “the best actor’s director.” Behind-the-scenes footage of Allen directing actors on the set are shown. Early in his career, editing was done on moviolas. Then, editing became digital and saved lots of time. Woody Allen has a “fair chance of having a nice place in history.” Allen thinks reflectively, stating, “I’ve been lucky that I’ve lived many of my childhood dreams.”
The New Yorker – Woody Allen speaks about the importance to him of The New Yorker magazine. He never imagined he could have work of his published, but once it was, he became a regular contributor.
Woody Allen in Idaho – Mariel Hemingway, Allen’s co-star in Manhattan, talks about inviting Woody Allen to her home in Idaho. He accepted the invitation and, shortly after he arrived, her father led everyone on a hike with no trail. As the day waned and got colder, Woody was stumbling over sagebrush. Dining on pheasant that night, he was put off when her father mentioned he had shot the bird that morning. Woody left promptly the next day.
12 Questions – Woody Allen is asked questions he’d likely never had put to him before, including “What dead person you didn’t know in real life would you like to have dinner with?,” “If you had to never see a favorite movie or sporting event again, which would it be?, “What skill or talent that you don’t have, do you wish you could have?,“ and ”If you were about to be executed, what would your final meal be?” Allen answers them thoughtfully, without going for a laugh.
Nettie – Nettie Konigsberg, Woody Allen’s mother, talks about religion and its relation to her burial plans.
Back to Brooklyn – Woody Allen takes the viewer on a tour of his old neighborhood, talks about dating, and points out the location of the Kingsway, a Brooklyn movie theater that showed first-run films direct from their Broadway run. Allen says the theater was one of his frequent destinations.
Director Interview – In this short film, filmmaker Robert B. Weide says it represented a way to give his personal thanks to one of his cultural heroes. Weide saw all of Allen’s films growing up, and noted that Annie Hall was a “big game changer” because it was invested with an emotional bond, rather than being only series of verbal and sight gags. Allen never shows scripts to backers. He thinks of himself as an average filmmaker, working on the quantity theory—keep churning them out and some will be good.
Play It Again, Sam artfully blends comedy and romance with a tribute to Casablanca in a film about developing social courage and overcoming neuroses in order to function in the world. Allen Felix has a Bogart ghost as his Jiminy Cricket of a conscience, urging him on and tutoring him in how to deal with women. There are plenty of awkward moments—some even disastrous—but apart from being funny, they represent efforts on the part of a meek, terrified guy to discover self-assertiveness and recognize what true masculinity entails.
- Dennis Seuling