My Long Happy History With Woody Allen and the Sadness of Suppression

Woody Allen, young comic

Imagine that you were accused of a crime 30 years ago. After two separate investigations you were cleared of any wrongdoing and it was further suggested that a third party had prompted your accuser to make their claims. You also took and passed a lie detector test. But decades later the accusations have re-surfaced, your accuser has a successful and well-known brother who has helped amplify these claims. Many people believe your accuser. You are vilified on social media and find it difficult to find work. A book you write about your life is suppressed. It would be like living in a Kafkaesque nightmare.

Of course this is analogous to the situation that the legendary director, writer, actor and comedian Woody Allen has found himself in. Fortunately he is financially secure, his work is accepted and enjoyed in Europe and he’s not the sort of person to wallow in victimhood. After all, he has done everything he can to refute the claims, he’s secure in his innocence and is the type of person who will carry on with his work regardless.

I have been a Woody Allen for about 55 years. When I was a kid America’s greatest comics were regularly on TV. They appeared on talk shows, variety shows and specials. There were legends like George Burns, Jack Benny and Bob Hope. There were comedians in their prime like Alan King, Jonathan Winters, Phyllis Diller and upcoming talents such as Bill Cosby, Robert Klein and George Carlin. There was also a bespectacled, nervous looking, little chap who told long, meandering (and funny) stories. His name was Woody Allen. While I loved anyone who could make me laugh, Woody was different. He looked like the smart, nerdy kid at school who made jokes about anyone and everyone but was never caught. He was not an imposing adult figure in a suit standing at a microphone and confidentially doling out one-liners. He was a confessed neurotic, vulnerable and wonderfully human. Woody was more clever by half than those old fogies. He seemed at once intelligent and insecure, wise and scared hip and nerdy. There was no bravado, no sardonic charm. Woody was relatable.

In my later teens Woody Allen started making films. They were hilarious. First there was Take the Money and Run (1969) a faux documentary about an inept bank robber (Allen) who once played cello in a marching band and confuses bank employees with bad handwriting on his stick up notes. It was the Allen’s stand up routines writ large on the big screen. It was followed by Bananas (1971), about a New York nebbish (Allen again) caught up in a Latin American revolution, which was even funnier, then there were Play it Again Sam (1972) (which he wrote and starred in but did not direct) Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask (1972), Sleeper (1973) and Love and Death (1975). They were all funny and my friends and I repeated our favorite lines from them over and over. I saw them in theaters several times and -- in those pre-streaming DVD days -- would cancel all other plans to watch them when they came on TV. I even audio-recorded parts of Play it Again, Sam and committed entire bits of dialogue to memory.

Woody had a unique persona. The anti-intellectual intellectual. They atypical ladies’ man. The perpetually bowed but never beaten neurotic. Like Groucho Marx he seemed smarter and hipper than everyone else because of his indefatigable humor. Life can’t defeat a wit. Others admired the suave James Bond, I preferred the pixelated Woody Allen and the way his humor made him a step ahead. There was always a girl's heart to be won in Woody's films. Sometimes he succeeded and sometimes he didn't. But he always got the last laugh.

Annie Hall

When I was 23 another new Allen film hit theaters called Annie Hall (1977). This was his best film yet. It also signaled a different direction in his oeuvre. It was like Woody had grown up (not that anyone was pining for him too). Annie Hall was not silly or slapstick. While there was broad humor it was mixed in with a more sophisticated wit and a more earnest story. Annie Hall seemed like a grown up film, sophisticated, mature yet still a Woody.

Annie Hall was followed by Interiors (1978) which was as far from a comedy as you could get. I was not ready for it and I remember hoping this was not the start of a new direction in Woody’s film-making. It would be 10 years before I could watch it again and another 20 before I came to embrace it.

But after the uber serious Interiors came Manhattan (1979) (which today ranks as my favorite film of all time). It represented an important moment in my development as a cinephile. There was so much that I began to appreciate in films starting with Manhattan, such as cinema photography, soundtracks, lighting and smart dialogue. Manhattan was in some ways a companion piece to Annie Hall, both represented the new Woody Allen, in which there was humor aplenty but the tail that wagged the dog was the story, not the gags.

Throughout my adult years I looked forward to — as did my wife, many of my friends and millions of people worldwide — Woody’s films which, from the late Sixties through the present, have been an annual event. Many have joined Annie Hall and Manhattan as some of my favorite films of all time, among them Stardust Memories (1980), Zelig (1983), Broadway Danny Rose (1984), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Radio Days (1987), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993), Bullets Over Broadway (1994), Match Point, (2005), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Midnight in Paris (2011), Blue Jasmine (2013) and Wonder Wheel (2017). (I still hold some of his earlier films in high regard, particularly Bananas and Love and Death.)

Some of his films have been straight comedies, some strictly drama, and in many the twain have met, one was even a musical -- Everyone Says I Love You (1996). Woody has tackled a variety of themes through his films, especially the perilous world of romantic relationships.

Woody Allen has directed 49 films. I was about to write that that’s a prodigious output but that would be akin to saying that Babe Ruth hit a lot of home runs. It’s incredible for me to realize how much joy, laughter, enlightenment and intellectual inspiration he has brought to my life and not incidentally to millions of others.

Yet six years ago I contemplated renouncing and abandoning him. His adopted daughter Dylan Farrow had in detail repeated the claims initially made when she was a child, that Woody Allen sexually abused her. (I vaguely remembered something about allegations against him at the time but I was then a full time teacher and busy with two small children and it had all been cleared up and put to rest anyway). This airing came via the New York Times column of Nicholas Kristof. I read her account and was horrified and determined that I would sell all my Woody DVDs and books. There is little in this world lower than a child molester. However it seems I am different from the average American, for I decided to further investigate the matter. Maybe there would be further corroboration and maybe there was another side to the story.

Lo and behold I discovered that Dylan’s charges had been thoroughly investigated — twice — Woody had passed a lie detector test and there were hints that Dylan had been coached by her mother Mia Farrow. I then discovered Bob Weide on Twitter who had directed an excellent documentary on Woody. He seemed to know the case backwards and forwards and it wasn’t long before the l'affaire de Woody came into focus.

Woody and Soon-Yi

Frankly it’s an ugly mess, one that Mia Farrow is mostly responsible for. Untangling it all here is beyond my ken but suffice to say it all started when Mia Farrow, with whom Woody had had a long relationship, discovered that Woody was having an affair with Soon-Yi Previn (this after Woody and Mia had broken up), one of her adopted children. Soon-Yi is 35 years younger than Allen. As Woody has said, “the heart wants what it wants.” Contrary to what I’ve seen over and over again on Twitter (the home to millions upon millions of lies, prevarications, mistruths, misconceptions, falsehoods and utter nonsense) Woody was not Soon-Yi’s father, adopted or otherwise. They also did not at any time live under the same roof and he did not “groom” her. Falling in love with someone three and half decades your junior who is the adopted daughter of your ex lover is a bit on the shady side but so too is having an extra marital affair (as Mia Farrow has been want to do). Woody did nothing illegal nor immoral in carrying on as he did with Soon-Yi and to date the couple has been happily married for 23 years and have successfully raised two adopted daughters. Something Woody's detractors ignore.

Mia was enraged by Woody’s affair with Soon-Yi and vowed revenge, telling him that he had taken her daughter and she was going to take his. This she accomplished by convincing Dylan (who along with Ronan and Moses were adopted by Woody and Mia) that her father had molested her. Witnesses attest to this.

Dylan has one story to tell of molestation and it takes place on a day -- August 4, 1992 -- when the house was full of people. It is thus a totally implausible tale given the circumstances. Woody was being watched carefully on the day in question. as he was persona non grata after the discovery of his affair with Soon-Yi. Also Dylan describes the violation as being committed in a small attic or crawl space. Woody is a notorious claustrophobe so this is impossible, never mind the logistics of the tiny area and her inclusion of a toy train set that was not, according to Moses, there nor could have been (he was 14 at the time, Dylan was seven and Ronan four).

The first investigation into the allegations of abuse was conducted by the child abuse clinic of Yale-New Haven Hospital, they concluded: “It’s our expert opinion that Dylan was not sexually assaulted by Mr. Allen. Further, we believe that Dylan’s statements on videotape and her statements to us during our evaluation do not refer to actual events that occurred to her on August 4, 1992.”

A second investigation was done by the New York Department of Social Services which stated: “No credible evidence was found that the child named in this report has been abused or maltreated. This report has, therefore, been considered unfounded.”

The Yale report also said of Dylan:  "She told the story in a manner that was overly thoughtful and controlling. There was no spontaneity in her statements, and a rehearsed quality was suggested in how she spoke."

I will here pause and offer you links to articles that explain matters better than I can.

Perhaps most important is the account provided by Moses Farrow another child adopted by Allen and Farrow. This blog post from May 2018 recounts growing up as an adopted child of Mia Farrow. Moses refutes claims that his father molested Dylan and he characterizes Mia as a cruel and capricious mother. Here is an excerpt from that post: "To those who have become convinced of my father’s guilt, I ask you to consider this: In this time of #MeToo, when so many movie heavyweights have faced dozens of accusations, my father has been accused of wrongdoing only once, by an enraged ex-partner during contentious custody negotiations. During almost 60 years in the public eye, not one other person has come forward to accuse him of even behaving badly on a date, or acting inappropriately in any professional situation, let alone molesting a child. As a trained professional, I know that child molestation is a compulsive sickness and deviation that demands repetition. Dylan was alone with Woody in his apartment countless times over the years without a hint of impropriety, yet some would have you believe that at the age of 56, he suddenly decided to become a child molester in a house full of hostile people ordered to watch him like a hawk. To the actors who have worked with my father and have voiced regret for doing so: You have rushed to join the chorus of condemnation based on a discredited accusation for fear of not being on the “right” side of a major social movement. But rather than accept the hysteria of Twitter mobs, mindlessly repeating a story examined and discredited 25 years ago, please consider what I have to say. After all, I was there – in the house, in the room – and I know both my father and mother and what each is capable of a whole lot better than you."

Soon-Yi also had her say in this New York article in September 2018. In it she also paints an ugly picture of Mia Farrow the mother. Apparently Mia had very different relationships with her children of color -- like Soon-Yi and Moses -- and her white children. Two of her adopted children have committed suicide.

Woody himself responded to Dylan's claims in the Times. In it he wrote the following: "The police began their investigation; a possible indictment hung in the balance. I very willingly took a lie-detector test and of course passed because I had nothing to hide. I asked Mia to take one and she wouldn’t. Last week a woman named Stacey Nelkin, whom I had dated many years ago, came forward to the press to tell them that when Mia and I first had our custody battle 21 years ago, Mia had wanted her to testify that she had been underage when I was dating her, despite the fact this was untrue. Stacey refused. I include this anecdote so we all know what kind of character we are dealing with here. One can imagine in learning this why she wouldn’t take a lie-detector test."

By far the most comprehensive take on the case comes from the aforementioned Mr. Weide in this interview from last April.

(Side note, as mentioned earlier Nicholas Kristof, a close friend of Mia’s has twice given over his column in the Times to Dylan but refused to do the same for Moses, thus offering only one side of the story. His bizarre reasoning was that if he gave voice to a second sibling than he’d have to let them all have their say. In other words if there is more than one side to a story, just present the one. If I were teaching journalism, as I have done, I would offer Mr. Kristof as an example of someone who has no journalistic integrity.)

Woody And Scarlett Johansson

Woody and Mia’s one biological child, Ronan Farrow (although Mia claims that Frank Sinatra may in fact be the father — not exactly a way to stake the moral high ground) used his sister’s claims against Woody Allen in conjunction with the burgeoning #Me Too movement, to launch his own career. After his investigative reporting on Harvey Weinstein helped bring the film mogul to justice, he has used his new-found power (along with the family name) to publicly batter Woody Allen and worse to pressure others to denounce him or deny his voice. Many actors have felt compelled to denounce Allen. Others such as Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson. Cate Blanchette, Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem and Woody's long-time friend, Diane Keaton have stood by him. Michael Caine initially swore never to work with Allen again but apparently looked further into the matter and did an about face. Too many in the entertainment industry -- who I choose not to name -- are clearly too afraid to contradict the Farrows. Newspapers, periodicals, publishers and distributors also quake in fear at the might of Ronan, as some have anonymously attested to.

Film fans in the US were denied seeing Woody’s latest film, A Rainy Day in New York (2019) as Amazon Studios refused to release it last year. It has been shown throughout Europe where it has performed well at the box office and with critics. There are currently no signs that it will be released in the US. He has since shot another film, Rifkin's Festival,  and I'd not bet money that we'll see in the states anytime soon.

Last week it was announced that Woody Allen’s long-awaited memoirs, Apropos of Nothing, would be published by Hachette books in April. Ronan had a snit fit. The New York Times happily published his tirade. Ronan’s minions on Twitter echoed his outrage, Hachette employees threatened a walk out if their company published the book. Hachette returned the rights to Woody. Ronan, Dylan and friends celebrated their victory over free speech. The memoirs of a man who has never been convicted of a crime and was cleared of the only one he was ever accused of have been repressed. So much for freedom of speech. It should be noted that Hachette books previously released the memoirs of a mob hit man who confessed to over 30 murders. I don’t know that Ronan or anyone else uttered a word of protest at that particular book’s publication.

Not surprisingly publishers in Germany, Spain, France and Italy are going ahead with publication of Woody's memoirs. Apparently the long and angry arm of Ronan Farrow does not extend across the Atlantic Ocean.

Evidently people outside of the United States are willing to do a modicum of research and understand that there are two sides to a story and they have the capacity to figure out which one makes the most sense. One would have hoped that would be characteristic of Americans.

Over the years I’ve had many (mostly futile) jousts with people on Twitter who are part of the anti-Woody mob. Apparently all they need to hear is that there has been an accusation of molestation against a man and the hell with due process, he’s guilty and facts are of little interest. What has been especially disappointing about these cyber encounters is the extreme vitriol which has been directed at me for having the temerity to defend an innocent man.

On a number of occasions I’ve been called a defender of child molestation, sexual assault and child rape. (This suggests that these people consider any lawyer who defends an accused murder to be someone who condones murder.) The anger in their tweets is palpable and they do not want to even consider opposing views. I’ve looked at the Twitter profiles of some of the people who’ve directed venom my way, and many have seemed like otherwise stable, rational, successful people.
I’ve also participated in Twitter threads in which an anti-Woody has been presented with fact after fact and had false claim after false claim refuted. Many respond with, “I still believe her.” (As Bob Weide has pointed out it is possible to believe Dylan and still think Woody is innocent, after all Mia convinced the child that she was really molested.)

I can’t also help but notice some bigotry on display. People believe the white girl (Dylan) who accuses the Jew (Woody) but don’t believe the Asians (Soon Yi and Moses) who defend him.

Woody and Cate Blanchett

Also when discussing Woody one cannot ignore the fact that he has been working in show business for 60 years and not one accusation of inappropriate behavior has been leveled against him by a woman. Indeed he is written strong and compelling roles for women and directed the following women to Oscar wins: Diane Keaton (Annie Hall) Dianne Wiest (Hannah and Her Sisters and Bullets Over Boradway) Mia Sorvino ((Mighty Aphrodite) Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona) and Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine). Seven other women in Allen films have been nominated for Oscars.

I love Woody Allen. His work has been a huge part of my life. He ranks as my second favorite director (behind his own hero, Ingmar Bergman) and is my all-time favorite screenwriter. He was a great comic, is an excellent writer and a keen observer of the human condition. Woody has been an inspiration and a major influence to me, to the world of cinema and to our culture as a whole. Yet a large swath of Americans think of him as the worst kind of villain despite his proven innocence Worse his creative output is currently being denied to the American public. Joseph McCarthy would be proud. People can believe who they want to believe and hate who they want to hate, but to deny others the opportunity to see their films or read their books is unconscionable. As has been suggested, even if Woody was guilty of molestation, his writing should be made available. They would be in a country that lived up to its credos.

It is absolutely infuriating. It is depressing. It is un-American. But given that it is happening here and not in Europe, it might be time to sadly say that this is very much of the America of today.

Perhaps Ronan has started to go too far. Perhaps there will be a backlash. Perhaps people will start  listening to reason. I can only cling to such hope.

More links:

Woody and Mia: A Modern Family Timeline 
The Heart Wants What it Wants 
Nanny Casts Doubts on Farrow Charges
Woody Allen Defends Himself on 60 Minutes
Dylan Farrow: Step off the Stage
Woody-Mia Redux Psychology Today
Woody Allen’s Innocence Should be a Feminist Cause
The Report of Clinic Yale-New Haven
Woody Allen Mia Farrow and the Troubled Tale With a Thousand Twists
Mia’s Nanny says Woody was the Better Parent
No Matter What you Think of Woody Allen Censorship is Wrong
The Case for Woody Allen’s Innocence

As and addendum I offer the following. As an assignment on research and critical thinking, a professor at  Brooklyn College, had his Introduction to Journalism class read Dylan's piece in the New York Times and Woody's response in the same paper. He then had them watch a CBS interview with Dylan, they then read Moses' blog post and the article about Soon-Yi. Most of the students -- all of them women -- had only seen the Dylan interview and believed her story. Of the 15 students who did all the reading and completed the assignment, 13 concluded that no molestation took place or had serious doubts about her claim.

Imagine that.