''Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)'' is a 1972 American

sex comedy Sex comedy, erotic comedy or more broadly sexual comedy is a genre in which comedy is motivated by sexual situations and love affairs. Although "sex comedy" is primarily a description of dramatic forms such as theatre and film, literary works such ...

anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film, package film, or portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of several shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme ...

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 consists of a series of short sequences loosely inspired by David Reuben's 1969 book of the same name. The film was an early success for Woody Allen, grossing over $18 million in North America alone against a $2 million budget, making it the 10th highest-grossing film of 1972.

Film structure

The credits at the start and close of the film are played over a backdrop of a large mass of white rabbits, to the tune of "

Let's Misbehave "Let's Misbehave" is a song written by Cole Porter in 1927, originally intended for the female lead of his first major production, ''Paris''. It was discarded before the Broadway opening in favor of " Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love". However, the ...

" by

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 ...

. The film consists of seven vignettes, as follows: # ''Do Aphrodisiacs Work?''
A court jester gives a

love potion A love potion ( la, poculum amatorium) is a magical liquid which supposedly causes the drinker to develop feelings of love towards the person who served it. The love potion motif occurs in literature, mainly in fairy tales, and in paintings, ...

to the Queen but is foiled by her

chastity belt A chastity belt is a locking item of clothing designed to prevent sexual intercourse or masturbation. Such belts were historically designed for women, ostensibly for the purpose of chastity, to protect women from rape or to dissuade women and the ...

. There are references to

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' throughout. # ''What Is Sodomy?''
Dr. Ross falls in love with the partner of an Armenian patient, a sheep. # ''Why Do Some Women Have Trouble Reaching an Orgasm?''
Allen's homage to Italian film-making in general and ''

Casanova 70 ''Casanova 70'' is a 1965 Italian comedy film produced by Carlo Ponti, directed by Mario Monicelli and starring Marcello Mastroianni, Virna Lisi, Enrico Maria Salerno and Michèle Mercier. Plot NATO officer Andrea Rossi-Colombotti is a ladies' ...

'',

Michelangelo Antonioni Michelangelo Antonioni (, ; 29 September 1912 – 30 July 2007) was an Italian filmmaker. He is best known for directing his "trilogy on modernity and its discontents"—''L'Avventura'' (1960), ''La Notte'' (1961), and ''L'Eclisse'' (1962 ...

, and

Federico Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and most ...

in particular, about Gina, a woman who can only reach orgasm in public. # ''Are Transvestites Homosexuals?''
Sam Musgrave, a middle-aged married man, experiments with women's clothes. # ''What Are Sex Perverts?''
A parody of the television

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a panel game show that originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent U.S. revivals. The game uses celebrity panelis ...

'' called ''What's My Perversion?'', filmed in B&W

kinescope Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film, directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 194 ...

-style and hosted by Jack Barry. The four panelists who attempt to guess the contestant's perversion are

Regis Philbin Regis Francis Xavier Philbin (; August 25, 1931 – July 25, 2020)Archived aGhostarchiveand thWayback Machine was an American television presenter, talk show host, game show host, comedian, actor, and singer. Once called "the hardest working ma ...

, Robert Q. Lewis,

Pamela Mason Pamela Mason (10 March 1916 – 29 June 1996), also known as Pamela Kellino, was an English actress, author, and screenwriter, known for being the creative partner and first wife of English actor James Mason. Early life and personal life Born ...

, and Toni Holt. After they fail to guess that the contestant's perversion is "Likes to expose himself on subways," a second segment of the show is presented, in which a selected viewer (in this case a rabbi) gets to act out his

bondage Bondage may refer to: Restraints *Physical restraints **Bondage (BDSM) Bondage in the BDSM subculture, is the practice of consensually tying, binding, or restraining a partner for erotic, aesthetic, or somatosensory stimulation. A partn ...

and

humiliation Humiliation is the abasement of pride, which creates mortification or leads to a state of being humbled or reduced to lowliness or submission. It is an emotion felt by a person whose social status, either by force or willingly, has just dec ...

fantasy while his wife eats pork. # ''Are the Findings of Doctors and Clinics Who Do Sexual Research and Experiments Accurate?''
Victor, a sex researcher, and Helen Lacey, a journalist, visit a Dr. Bernardo, a researcher who formerly worked with

Masters and Johnson The Masters and Johnson research team, composed of William H. Masters and Virginia E. Johnson, pioneered research into the nature of human sexual response and the diagnosis and treatment of sexual disorders and dysfunctions from 1957 until the 1 ...

but now has his own laboratory complete with a lab assistant named

Igor Igor may refer to: People * Igor (given name), an East Slavic given name and a list of people with the name * Mighty Igor (1931–2002), former American professional wrestler * Igor Volkoff, a professional wrestler from NWA All-Star Wrestling * ...

. After they see a series of bizarre sexual experiments underway at the lab and realize that Bernardo is

insane Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to ...

, they escape before Helen becomes the subject of another of his experiments. The segment culminates with a scene in which the countryside is terrorized by a giant runaway breast created by the researcher. The first part of this segment is a parody of

Ed Wood Edward Davis Wood Jr. (October 10, 1924 – December 10, 1978) was an American filmmaker, actor, and pulp novel author. In the 1950s, Wood directed several low-budget science fiction, crime and horror films that later became cult cla ...

's '' Bride of the Monster'' (1955), and especially, '' The Unearthly'' (1957), which also stars John Carradine. The second part parodies many of the "Giant" monster movies of the nineteen fifties. # ''What Happens During Ejaculation?''
The

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

-like mission control center in a man's brain is seen, as he gets involved in a sexual clinch with an

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

graduate (knowledge that she is a graduate of NYU assures coital success). As he achieves orgasm, the soldier-like, white-uniformed sperm are dispatched

paratrooper A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during Worl ...

-style into the great unknown.

Cast

as Victor / Fabrizio / The Fool / Sperm *

John Carradine John Carradine ( ; born Richmond Reed Carradine; February 5, 1906 – November 27, 1988) was an American actor, considered one of the greatest character actors in American cinema. He was a member of Cecil B. DeMille's stock company and later ...

as Dr. Bernardo *

Lou Jacobi Lou Jacobi (born Louis Harold Jacobovitch; December 28, 1913October 23, 2009) was a Canadian character actor. Life and early career Jacobi was born Louis Harold Jacobovitch in Toronto, Canada, to Joseph and Fay Jacobovitch. Jacobi began acting ...

as Sam Musgrave *

Louise Lasser Louise Marie Lasser (born April 11, 1939) is an American actress, television writer, and performing arts teacher and director. She is known for her portrayal of the title character on the soap opera satire '' Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.'' She was ...

as Gina *

Anthony Quayle Sir John Anthony Quayle (7 September 1913 – 20 October 1989) was a British actor and theatre director. He was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his supporting role as Thomas Wolsey in the film '' Anne of the Thousand Days'' (1969 ...

as The King *

Tony Randall Anthony Leonard Randall (born Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg; February 26, 1920 – May 17, 2004) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying the role of Felix Unger in a television adaptation of the 1965 play '' The Odd Couple'' by Neil Si ...

as The Operator *

Lynn Redgrave Lynn Rachel Redgrave (8 March 1943 – 2 May 2010) was an English actress. She won two Golden Globe Awards throughout her career. A member of the Redgrave family of actors, Lynn trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962. B ...

as The Queen *

Burt Reynolds Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor, considered a sex symbol and icon of 1970s American popular culture. Reynolds first rose to prominence when he starred in television series such as ' ...

as Sperm Switchboard Chief *

Gene Wilder Jerome Silberman (June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016), known professionally as Gene Wilder, was an American actor, comedian, writer and filmmaker. He is known mainly for his comedic roles, but also for his portrayal of Willy Wonka in ''Willy Won ...

as Dr. Ross * Jack Barry as Himself *

Elaine Giftos Elaine Giftos (born 1942/1943) is a retired American model, actress, and dancer. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Giftos, she attended Pittsfield High School. While working as a fashion model in New York, Giftos was selected by the ...

as Mrs. Ross * Toni Holt as Herself * Robert Q. Lewis as Himself * Heather MacRae as Helen Lacey *

as Herself * Sidney Miller as George *

as Himself *

Titos Vandis Titos Vandis ( el, Τίτος Βανδής; 7 November 1917 – 23 February 2003) was a Greek actor. Biography Vandis began his career on the Greek stage in the late 1930s. In 1962, he won the Best Actor award for the film ''Poliorkia'' at ...

as Stavros Milos * Stanley Adams as Stomach Operator * Oscar Beregi as Brain Control *

Alan Caillou Alan Samuel Lyle-Smythe MBE, M.C. (9 November 1914 – 1 October 2006), who wrote under the name Alan Caillou, was an English-born author, actor, screenwriter, soldier, policeman and professional hunter. Biography Alan Lyle-Smythe was born in ...

The Fool's Father *

Don Chuy Donald John Chuy (July 20, 1941 – January 6, 2014) was a professional American football player who played guard for seven seasons for the Los Angeles Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Chuy was raised in nearby Nutl ...

as Football Player * Dort Clark as Sheriff *

Erin Fleming Erin Leslie Fleming (August 13, 1941 – April 15, 2003) was a Canadian actress best known as the companion, secretary and manager of comedian Groucho Marx during his final years. Early career Fleming was born Marilyn Suzette Fleming on Au ...

as The Girl * Geoffrey Holder as Sorcerer *

Baruch Lumet Baruch Lumet (''Burech Lumet''; 16 September 1898 – 8 February 1992) was an American actor best known for his work in the Yiddish theatre. Early life Lumet was born in Warsaw, then part of Congress Poland, to a Yiddish-speaking Jewish family. ...

as The Rabbi *

Tom Mack Thomas Lee Mack (born November 1, 1943) is a former American football player. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Mack played college football at the end and tackle positions for the Univ ...

as Football Player *

Jay Robinson Jay Robinson (April 14, 1930 – September 27, 2013) was an American actor specializing in character roles. He achieved his greatest fame playing Emperor Caligula in the film ''The Robe'' (1953) and its sequel ''Demetrius and the Gladiators' ...

as The Priest * Ref Sanchez as

* Robert Walden as Sperm * H.E. West as Bernard Jaffe *

Norman Alden Norman Alden (born Norman Adelberg, September 13, 1924 – July 27, 2012) was an American character actor who performed in television programs and motion pictures. He first appeared on television on ''The 20th Century Fox Hour'' in 1957. He ...

as Switchboard

Soundtrack

* "Let's Misbehave" (1927) - Music and Lyrics by

* "Battle Hymn of the Republic" (circa 1856) - Music by

William Steffe William Steffe (c.1830 – c.1890), born in South Carolina, United States, was a Philadelphia bookkeeper and insurance agent. He is credited with collecting and editing the musical tune for a camp-meeting song with the traditional "Glory Halleluja ...

- Lyrics by

Julia Ward Howe Julia Ward Howe (; May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910) was an American author and poet, known for writing the " Battle Hymn of the Republic" and the original 1870 pacifist Mother's Day Proclamation. She was also an advocate for abolitionism ...

* "Red River Valley" (1896) - Music by James Kerrigen - Played on harmonica by Woody Allen

Critical response

The film holds an 89% "Fresh" rating of on the review aggregation website

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 Wan ...

, based on 19 reviews. An August 1972 review by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' said that many of the film's ideas "sound good on paper" but that the "skits wind down rather than take off from the ideas"; the film includes "some broad, funny send-ups of other movies ('' Fantastic Voyage'', ''

La notte ''La Notte'' (; en, "The Night") is a 1961 drama film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni and starring Marcello Mastroianni, Jeanne Moreau and Monica Vitti (with Umberto Eco appearing in a cameo). Filmed on location in Milan, the film is the ...

''), and its fair share of memorably wacky lines" but that "overall it is just Woody marking time and being merely a little funnier". The ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an engine ...

Film Guide'' noted that some of the film's sketches are "dross, but the parodies of

Antonioni Michelangelo Antonioni (, ; 29 September 1912 – 30 July 2007) was an Italian filmmaker. He is best known for directing his "trilogy on modernity and its discontents"—''L'Avventura'' (1960), ''La Notte'' (1961), and ''L'Eclisse'' (1962 ...

(all angst and alienation of a wife who can achieve orgasm only in public places) and of TV panel games ('What's My Perversion?') are brilliantly accurate and very funny. Best of all is the sci-fi parody entitled ''What Happens During Ejaculation?''" In 2004,

Christopher Null Christopher Null is an American writer, film critic, and columnist. A former blogger for Yahoo! Tech, he was the editor of Drinkhacker.com, and the founder and editor-in-chief of Filmcritic.com, which operated from 1995 to 2012. In 2003, CNN cal ...

, founder of filmcritic.com, called it a "minor classic and Woody Allen's most absurd film ever".

Censorship

The film was banned in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

on March 20, 1973. A cut version was passed in 1979 and released theatrically in 1980, removing both a bestiality reference ("the greatest lay I ever had", referring to a sheep) and a man having sex with a bread loaf. The ban on the uncut version was eventually lifted.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex (But Were Afraid To Ask) 1970s sex comedy films 1972 films American anthology films American sex comedy films 1970s English-language films Films based on non-fiction books Films directed by Woody Allen Films produced by Charles H. Joffe Films shot in Los Angeles Films with screenplays by Woody Allen United Artists films 1972 comedy films Sketch comedy films 1970s American films