''Everyone Says I Love You'' is a 1996 American

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

written and directed by

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

. It stars Allen,

Alan Alda Alan Alda (; born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo; January 28, 1936) is an American actor, screenwriter, and director. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for playing Captain Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the war come ...

Drew Barrymore Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, director, producer, talk show host and author. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a ...

Goldie Hawn Goldie Jeanne Hawn (born November 21, 1945) is an American actress, dancer, producer, and singer. She rose to fame on the NBC sketch comedy program ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (1968–1970), before going on to receive the Academy Award and Go ...

Edward Norton Edward Harrison Norton (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received numerous awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe Award and three Academy Award nominations. Born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised ...

Julia Roberts Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. Known for her leading roles in films encompassing a variety of genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and thr ...

Tim Roth Timothy Simon Roth (born 14 May 1961) is an English actor and producer. He began acting on films and television series in the 1980s. He was among a group of prominent British actors of the era, the "Brit Pack (actors), Brit Pack". He made hi ...

Natasha Lyonne Natasha Bianca Lyonne Braunstein ( ; born April 4, 1979) is an American actress, director, writer, and producer. She is known for playing Nicky Nichols on the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019), for which she ...

and

Natalie Portman Natalie Portman (born Natalie Hershlag, he, נטע-לי הרשלג, ) is an Israeli-born American actress. She has had a prolific film career since her teenage years and has starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving mu ...

. Set in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, it features singing by actors not usually known for musical roles. The film did not do well commercially, but is among the more critically successful of Allen's films, with ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'' critic

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

even ranking it as one of Allen's best.

Plot

The emotions of an extended upper-class family in Manhattan are followed in songs at New York, Paris and Venice. Various characters act, interact and sing in each cities. They include young lovers Holden and Skylar, Skylar's parents Bob and Steffi, Steffi's ex-husband Joe, Joe and Steffi's daughter Djuna, Von, a lady whom Joe meets, and a recently released prison inmate, Charles Ferry, who is inserted between them, leading to their breakup.

Cast

as Bob Dandridge *

as Joe Berlin *

as Skylar Dandridge (singing voice dubbed by Olivia Hayman) *

Lukas Haas Lukas Daniel Haas (born April 16, 1976) is an American actor and musician. His acting career has spanned four decades, during which he has appeared in more than 50 feature films and a number of television shows and stage productions. Early life ...

as Scott Dandridge *

as Steffi Dandridge *

Gaby Hoffmann Gabrielle Mary Antonia HoffmannStated on ''Finding Your Roots'', November 21, 2017 (born January 8, 1982) is an American actress. She initially found success as a child actress, appearing in ''Field of Dreams,'' ''Uncle Buck,'' and ''Sleeples ...

as Lane Dandridge *

as Djuna "D.J." Berlin *

as Holden Spence *

as Laura Dandridge *

as Von Sidell *

as Charles Ferry *

David Ogden Stiers David Allen Ogden Stiers ( ; October 31, 1942 – March 3, 2018) was an American actor and conductor. He appeared in numerous productions on Broadway, and originated the role of Feldman in '' The Magic Show'', in which he appeared for fou ...

as Arnold Spence * Itzhak Perlman as himself *

Edward Hibbert Edward Hibbert (born 9 September 1955) is an American-born British actor and literary agent. He played Gil Chesterton in the TV series ''Frasier''. He also voiced Zazu in both '' The Lion King II: Simba's Pride'' and '' The Lion King 1½''. E ...

as a Harry Winston Salesman *

Patrick Cranshaw Joseph Patrick Cranshaw (June 17, 1919 – December 28, 2005) was an American character actor known for his distinctive look and deadpan humor. He is best known for one of his last roles, that of Joseph "Blue" Pulaski, a fraternity brother, i ...

as Grandpa *

Billy Crudup William Gaither Crudup (; born July 8, 1968) is an American actor. He is a four-time Tony Award nominee, winning once for his performance in Tom Stoppard's play ''The Coast of Utopia'' in 2007. He has starred in numerous high-profile films, inc ...

as Ken Risley *

Robert Knepper Robert Lyle Knepper (born July 8, 1959) is an American actor best known for his role as Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell in the Fox drama series '' Prison Break'' (2005–2009, 2017), Samuel Sullivan in the final season of the NBC series ''Heroes'' (2 ...

as Greg *

Scotty Bloch Scotty Bloch (born Maybelle Scott, ) was an American East Coast of the United States, East Coast-based stage and television actress. Career Bloch worked as an actress since the 1940s. Her television work included playing Lucille O'Brien in t ...

as Lynn Spence * Isiah Whitlock as Cop * Kevin Hagan as Doorman * Navah Perlman as Pianist * Waltrudis Buck as Psychiatrist *

Christy Carlson Romano Christy Carlson Romano (born March 20, 1984) is an American actress and singer. She is known for playing Ren Stevens on ''Even Stevens'' and voicing the titular character from '' Kim Possible'', both of which aired on the Disney Channel. Early ...

as a Trick or Treat Child * Arlene Martell as a Nurse * Singers: Helen Miles, Arlene Martell, Emily Bindiger, Cindy Cobitt, Al Dana, Kevin DeSimone, Paul Evans, Chrissy Faith, Jeff Lyons, Michael Mark, Jenna Miles, Robert Ragaini, Lenny Roberts, Annette Sanders, Terry Textor, Vaneese Thomas and Ashley H. Wilkinson

Music

The film uses classic songs for each scenes and in some cases with unexpected dance routines. # "

Just You, Just Me "Just You, Just Me" is a song from the 1929 musical film ''Marianne'', composed by Jesse Greer with lyrics by Raymond Klages. It was introduced by Marion Davies and Lawrence Gray. The song has had many revisions after its first appearance and has b ...

" (Jesse Greer, Raymond Klages) — Edward Norton # " My Baby Just Cares For Me" (

Walter Donaldson Walter Donaldson (February 15, 1893 – July 15, 1947) was an American prolific popular songwriter and publishing company founder, composing many hit songs of the 1910s to 1940s, that have become standards and form part of the Great American Song ...

Gus Kahn Gustav Gerson Kahn (November 6, 1886October 8, 1941) was an American lyricist who contributed a number of songs to the Great American Songbook, including " Pretty Baby", " Ain't We Got Fun?", " Carolina in the Morning", " Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo ...

) — Edward Norton/Natasha Lyonne # "Recurrence/ I'm a Dreamer, Aren't We All" ( Ray Henderson,

Lew Brown Lew Brown (born Louis Brownstein; December 10, 1893 – February 5, 1958) was a lyricist for popular songs in the United States. During World War I and the Roaring Twenties, he wrote lyrics for several of the top Tin Pan Alley composers, esp ...

, B.G. DeSylva) — Dick Hyman/Olivia Hayman # "

Makin' Whoopee "Makin' Whoopee" is a jazz/ blues song, first popularized by Eddie Cantor in the 1928 musical '' Whoopee!''. Gus Kahn wrote the lyrics and Walter Donaldson composed the music for the song as well as for the entire musical. The title refers to ce ...

" (Donaldson, Kahn) — Tim Jerome # "Venetian Scenes/I'm Through With Love" (Kahn, Matt Malneck,

Fud Livingston Joseph Anthony "Fud" Livingston (April 10, 1906 – March 25, 1957) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, arranger, and composer. Career In the 1920s, he performed with Ben Pollack and served as his arranger (to summer 1925, and again ...

) — Dick Hyman/Woody Allen # "All My Life" ( Sam Stept,

Sidney Mitchell Sidney D. Mitchell (June 15, 1888 in Baltimore, Maryland – February 25, 1942 in Los Angeles, California) was a Hollywood film industry lyricist and composer. Mitchell is best known for his collaborations with Lew Pollack on movie scores at ...

) — Julia Roberts # "

" (Salsa Version) (Greer, Klages) — Dick Hyman and the New York Studio Players # " Cuddle Up a Little Closer" (Karl Hoschna,

Otto Harbach Otto Abels Harbach, born Otto Abels Hauerbach (August 18, 1873 – January 24, 1963) was an American lyricist and librettist of nearly 50 musical comedies and operettas. Harbach collaborated as lyricist or librettist with many of the leading B ...

) — Billy Crudup/Sanjeev Ramabhadran # "Looking at You" (

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

) — Alan Alda # "Recurrence/ If I Had You" (

Ted Shapiro Ted Shapiro (October 31, 1899 – May 26, 1980) was a United States popular music composer, pianist, and sheet music publisher. Early life Shapiro was born on October 31, 1899 in New York City. He became a Tin Pan Alley songwriter and accompa ...

, Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly) — Dick Hyman/Tim Roth # " Enjoy Yourself (It's Later than You Think)" ( Carl Sigman,

Herb Magidson Herbert A. Magidson (January 7, 1906 – January 2, 1986) was an American popular lyricist. His work was used in over 23 films and four Broadway revues. He won the first Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1934. Life and career Magidson was ...

) — Patrick Crenshaw # " Chiquita Banana" (Leonard McKenzie, Garth Montgomery, William Wirges) —

# "

Hooray for Captain Spaulding "Hooray for Captain Spaulding" is a song, composed by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby originally from the 1928 Marx Brothers Broadway musical ''Animal Crackers'' and the 1930 film version. It later became well known as the theme song for the Grouch ...

/Vive Le Capitaine Spaulding" (

Bert Kalmar Bert Kalmar (February 10, 1884 – September 18, 1947) was an American songwriter, who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. He was also a screenwriter. Biography Kalmar, a native of New York City, left school at an early ag ...

Harry Ruby Harry Rubenstein (January 27, 1895 – February 23, 1974), known professionally as Harry Ruby, was an American actor, pianist, composer, songwriter and screenwriter, who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.Goldie Hawn Goldie Jeanne Hawn (born November 21, 1945) is an American actress, dancer, producer, and singer. She rose to fame on the NBC sketch comedy program ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (1968–1970), before going on to receive the Academy Award and Go ...

, who was told by Allen to intentionally sing worse because she sang too well to be believable as a normal person just breaking into song, and

, who convinced Allen that her singing was too awful even for the "realistic singing voice" concept he was going for. Her voice was dubbed by Olivia Hayman. The title song was written by

and

Harry Ruby Harry Rubenstein (January 27, 1895 – February 23, 1974), known professionally as Harry Ruby, was an American actor, pianist, composer, songwriter and screenwriter, who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...

movie ''

Horse Feathers ''Horse Feathers'' is a 1932 pre-Code comedy film starring the Marx Brothers. It stars the Four Marx Brothers (Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo), Thelma Todd and David Landau. It was written by Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, S. J. Perelman, an ...

'' (1932). Allen is a well-known

Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, singer, television star and vaudeville performer. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit an ...

fan. Marx's theme song from '' Animal Crackers'' (1930) "

" is featured, sung in French by a chorus of Groucho Marxes. Songs, film score and subsequent album recorded, mixed, and co-produced with Dick Hyman by Roy Yokelson.

Release

Box office

The film was released in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

on December 8, 1996 on three screens. Its opening weekend gross was $131,678 ($43,892 per screen). It ended with the run with $9,759,200.

Critical reception

The film was well received. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has a 77% "fresh" rating, based on 44 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The site's consensus states: "A likable, infectious musical, Woody Allen's ''Everyone Says I Love You'' is sometimes uneven but always toe-tapping and fun."

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

wrote a strongly positive review in ''The New York Times'', describing the film as "a delightful and witty compendium of the film maker's favorite things." Among the film's strongest detractors was

Jonathan Rosenbaum Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for ''The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008, when he retired. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has ...

, who described it as "creepy" and claimed "this characterless world of Manhattan-Venice-Paris, where love consists only of self-validation, and political convictions of any kind are attributable to either hypocrisy or a brain condition, the me-first nihilism of Allen's frightened worldview is finally given full exposure, and it's a grisly thing to behold."

Awards

The film was nominated for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy at the 54th Golden Globe Awards.

References

External links

*
''Everyone Says I Love You''
at Virtual History {{DEFAULTSORT:Everyone Says I Love You 1996 films 1996 romantic comedy films 1990s musical comedy films 1990s romantic musical films American musical comedy films American romantic comedy films American romantic musical films Cultural depictions of the Marx Brothers Films directed by Woody Allen Films produced by Robert Greenhut Films set in New York City Films set in Paris Films set in Venice Films shot in New York City Films shot in Paris Films shot in Venice Films with screenplays by Woody Allen Jukebox musical films Miramax films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films