Manhattan Murder Mystery

''Manhattan Murder Mystery'' is a 1993 American black comedy mystery film directed by Woody Allen, which he wrote with Marshall Brickman, and starring Alan Alda, Allen, Anjelica Huston, and Diane Keaton. The film centers on a married couple's investigation of the death of their neighbor's wife.

The film began as an early draft of ''Annie Hall'', which Allen co-wrote with Brickman. Eventually, the script evolved and principal photography took place in 1992, in the titular city. It was released in August 1993 to positive reviews. Keaton was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical. This film marked the eighth, and most recent, collaboration between Allen and Keaton.

Plot

Larry Lipton and his wife Carol meet their older neighbors Paul and Lillian House in the elevator in a pleasant encounter. The following night, Lillian is found to have died of a heart attack. The Liptons are surprised by the death because she seemed so healthy and are suspicious of Paul's cheerfulness so soon after his wife's death. Carol starts to investigate, even inventing an excuse to visit him. An urn she finds in Paul's apartment contradicts his story that Lillian had been buried. Larry becomes frustrated with Carol, telling her she's "inventing a mystery". Carol sneaks into Paul's apartment while he's away and finds more telling signs. Lillian's urn is missing, there are two tickets to Paris and hotel reservations with a woman named Helen Moss. Carol calls Ted, a close friend who agrees with Carol's suspicions and urges her to keep snooping. When Paul returns unexpectedly, Carol hides under the bed and overhears Paul's conversation with a woman who she suspects is Helen Moss.

Ted and Carol track down where Helen Moss lives, they follow her to a theater owned by Paul. They discover that Helen is a young actress and eavesdrops on them talking about money. A few days later, Carol spots a woman who's a dead ringer for the supposedly dead Lillian on a passing bus. Upon Larry's suggestion that she has a twin, Ted investigates but finds Lillian has none. Larry and Carol follow her to a hotel and, under the pretense of delivering a personal gift, they enter her hotel room, but find her lying dead on the bedroom floor. They call the police, who subsequently find no trace of the dead body. The Liptons search the room for clues. While leaving, they get trapped in the lift and accidentally stumble across Lillian's body inside the emergency exit panel. At that moment, the lights go out and the Liptons stumble into the basement in pitch darkness. Upon exiting the street, they spot Paul putting the body in the trunk of his car. They follow him to a junkyard where they witness him disposing of the body in a melting furnace.

The Liptons meet Ted and Larry's friend and client Marcia Fox and hatch a plan to bring Paul to justice by telling him they retrieved Lillian's body from the furnace and tricking Helen into a fake audition where her voice is recorded, edited, and later used to harass Paul, by demanding he gives Larry and Carol $200,000 or kill them if he wanted everything covered up. Marcia also tells them her theory that the dead body in the apartment is Lillian's rich sister who looked similar to her and that when she visited the Houses she had a heart attack. They then took advantage of the situation by claiming Lillian had died so that they could profit from her will. However, Paul double-crossed Lillian and killed her so that he could run away with Helen who he had been having an affair with.

The plan backfires as Paul kidnaps Carol and calls Larry, demanding Lillian's body, in exchange for Carol. Paul and Larry meet in the theater and get into a scuffle. Larry breaks free and searches for Carol, with Paul in pursuit. An array of mirrors and glass behind the theater reflect the film being screened (Orson Welles' ''The Lady from Shanghai'') and mislead Paul several times. Suddenly, Paul's loyal assistant Mrs. Dalton, an older paramour earlier brushed aside by him in favor of Helen, shoots him in an exchange of gunfire. Larry rescues Carol and they call the police. After the cops arrive, Marcia discusses with Ted that her theory was correct and they arrange to have dinner together.

Cast

Production

Allen started ''Manhattan Murder Mystery'' as an early draft of ''Annie Hall'', but he did not feel that it was substantial enough, and he decided to go in a different direction. He had put off making the film for years because he felt it was too lightweight, "like an airplane book read". Allen decided to revisit the material in the early 1990s. He contacted Marshall Brickman, who co-wrote ''Annie Hall'', and they developed the story further. The role of Carol was originally written for Mia Farrow, but the part was recast when she and Allen ended their relationship and became embroiled in a custody battle over their three children. Allegations in the media claimed that changes were made to the film in what was "definitely a reaction" to Allen's relationship problems, including the casting of Anjelica Huston as "a much younger first time novelist" with whom Allen's character became romantically involved (Huston was 41 during production).

In the fall of 1992, Allen called Diane Keaton and asked her to fill in for Farrow, and she immediately accepted. When asked if he had re-written the script to fit Keaton's talents, Allen said:

Making the film was a form of escape for Allen because the "past year was so exhausting that I wanted to just indulge myself in something I could relax and enjoy". He also found it very therapeutic working with Keaton again. After getting over her initial panic in her first scene with Alan Alda, Keaton and Allen slipped back into their old rhythm. After she had trouble with that scene, Allen decided to re-shoot it. In the meantime, she worked with her acting coach and did other scenes that went well. According to Allen, Keaton changed the dynamic of the film because he "always look(s) sober and normal compared to Keaton. I turn into the straight man". Huston said that the set was "oddly free of anxiety, introspection and pain", and this was due to Keaton's presence.

The film was shot in the fall of 1992 on the streets of Greenwich Village, the Upper East Side and the Upper West Side. Allen had cinematographer Carlo Di Palma rely on hand-held cameras, "swiveling restlessly from one room to another, or zooming in abruptly for a close look."

Larry and Carol Lipton's apartment is at 200 East 78th Street, between 2nd and 3rd Avenue and between two groups of New York City Designated Landmarks, east of one group of rowhouses and west of another group. Allen staged a climactic shoot-out in a roomful of mirrors that, according to Allen, referenced a similar shoot-out in Orson Welles' film ''The Lady from Shanghai''.

The film marked Allen's second and final film with TriStar Pictures, and it was speculated in the press that this deal was not extended because of the filmmaker's personal problems or that his films were not very profitable. Allen, however, denied these allegations in interviews at the time. Zach Braff, who was 17-years-old at the time, appeared in one scene as Nick Lipton, the son of Larry and Carol. Years later, he said: "When I look at that scene now, all I can see is the terror in my eyes.”

Soundtrack

*I Happen to Like New York (1930) – Written by Cole Porter – Performed by Bobby Short
*The Best Things in Life Are Free (1927) – Music by Ray Henderson – Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva – Performed by Erroll Garner
*The Hallway (1944) – Written by Miklós Rózsa
*Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman)(1843) – Written by Richard Wagner – Performed by Chor der Staatsoper München
*Take Five (1959) – Written by Paul Desmond – Performed by The Dave Brubeck Quartet
*I'm in the Mood for Love (1935) – Music by Jimmy McHugh – Lyrics by Dorothy Fields – Performed by Erroll Garner
*The Big Noise from Winnetka (1938) – Music by Ray Bauduc and Bob Haggart – Lyrics by Gil Rodin and Bob Crosby
*Out of Nowhere (1931) – Music by Johnny Green – Lyrics by Edward Heyman – Performed by Coleman Hawkins
*Have You Met Miss Jones (1937) – Music by Richard Rodgers – Lyrics by Lorenz Hart – Performed by Art Tatum-Ben Webster Quartet
*Guy and Dolls: Overture (1951) – Written by Frank Loesser – Performed by the New Broadway Cast (1992)
*Sing, Sing, Sing (1936) – Written by Louis Prima – Performed by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra
*Misty (1954) – Written and performed by Erroll Garner

Reception

Box office

''Manhattan Murder Mystery'' opened on August 18, 1993, in 268 theaters and made USD $2 million in its opening weekend. It went on to gross $11.3 million in North America, below its estimated $13.5 million budget. Its £1,920,825 in box office made it the number-one film in the United Kingdom for the weekend ending January 23, 1994.

Critical response

The film was well received by critics and holds a 94% positive "Fresh" rating on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with 29 positive out of 31 reviews.

In his review for ''Newsweek'', David Ansen wrote, "On screen, Keaton and Allen have always been made for each other: they still strike wonderfully ditsy sparks". ''USA Today'' gave the film four out of four stars, and advised fans to forget Allen's tabloid woes because "there's a better reason why Allen fans should give it a shot. It's very, very funny, and there's no mystery about that". Janet Maslin called it a "dated detective story" but also wrote, "it achieves a gentle, nostalgic grace and a hint of un-self-conscious wisdom". Desson Howe, in ''The Washington Post'', complained that there was "little 'new'" in this film. Allen and Keaton are essentially playing Alvy Singer and Annie Hall gone middle-aged".

Nominations

* 1994 César Awards: Best Foreign Film
*48th British Academy Film Awards: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Anjelica Huston
*51st Golden Globe Awards: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role – Comedy/Musical, Diane Keaton

References

External links

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1993 films
1993 comedy films
1990s black comedy films
1990s comedy mystery films
1990s crime comedy films
American black comedy films
American comedy mystery films
American crime comedy films
Films directed by Woody Allen
Films produced by Robert Greenhut
Films set in Manhattan
Films shot in New York City
Films with screenplays by Marshall Brickman
Films with screenplays by Woody Allen
TriStar Pictures films
Uxoricide in fiction
Films about sisters
1990s English-language films
1990s American films