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

I don't know why films like this one aren't made anymore. (Probably because PCness has made it really hard to get away with a lot of jokes.) Equal parts ridiculous and shocking, perhaps a bit too shocking for delicate sensibilities, the film does not have a boring moment. Thoroughly entertaining, extremely noneducational, and highly hilarious.

The movie about sex, showing no more nudity than one fake boob. This multi-sketch movie is a bit uneven for its own good, but on the other hand, the top is wonderful! I know that I have seen that one long ago, but if I saw the whole movie then I have forgotten the rest, and I can see why.Some reviewers have noted signs of Monty Python inspiration, I would widen the scope to British humor of the 70's. Let's return to that later.I will rate all the sketches with one to five stars.*** Jester sketch, "Do aphrodisiacs work?". Somewhat funny, but not enormously so. Kind of elegant ending though, and you might like Allen's bumbling jester trying to be funny. I suspect this is first because it was felt to be one of the best. ** Sheep sketch, "What is sodomy". The beginning, with a doctor (Gene Wilder) getting an odd visitor, is hilarious, with Wilder's confused expression and long pause when trying to grasp what he heard, and then struggling to stop the herd from bringing the sheep inside... but that's it. The rest of the sketch is plain unfunny. It should have stopped right at the moment when we see that the doctor falls for the sheep too. Period. Then it might have worked. ** Italian sketch "trouble reaching an orgasm" has the Italian as an odd spicing. Mildly amusing, when the husband (Allen) realizes what turns her on, but only mildly. * The transvestite sketch. It starts in a totally different direction, with a man irritated on friends showing off, and then switches to him dressing as a woman, jumping out the window to avoid getting caught in the act... and I just fast-forward, finding absolutely nothing to laugh about. ** What's my perversion, "what are sex perverts?", is another case like the sheep, a funny idea taken too far. As a parody of the famous "What's my line" this is really funny, but only for a short sketch. This runs tedious long before it is over. *** The mad scientist sketch (about sex research), although a slow starter, does make more points than most of the others, some crude but still there are some more memorable. The Frankenstein's Monster references are very strong but only marginally funny, and so are the doctor's experiments. I must say that there are some funny "research topics". On the negative, I must mention the big script flaw, where all the other people in the lab are forgotten after the disaster. What happens next is of course remarkable, we get something that really feels like an idea from the British Cambridge gang (remember Kitten Kong?), the ravaging giant breast that can only be captured with a giant bra! It is a totally bizarre idea, and funny in that sense. Also, the special effect budget was not tight here, the scene with the approaching giant tit and Allen luring it into capture is truly impressive (except that we never see the bra closing completely, I guess that was too hard)! But I still thinks I can rank it a bit above the rest. ***** Inside body scene, "What happens...": This is the absolute top of the entire movie, by far! The whole idea of viewing the body from the inside is not new, but can be very funny, and here it certainly is! Sperms as paratroopers (including Allen), and Burt Reynolds as brain cell, the brain as a command center, various body functions as departments... Lovely!All in all, I think Allen would have needed some more people writing, tightening up the gags a bit, raising the tempo in many of the sketches. There are fun moments, but they are often too far apart. One great sketch, two fairly funny and the rest pretty forgettable sketches is not enough for a great movie, but it doesn't make it an awful one either.

The Three Acts:The initial tableaux: The film is an anthology. Each story is about an aspect (or several) of sexual behaviour.a. Chastity belts and aphrodisiac potions in medieval times in England.b. Gene Wilder as a respected physician who falls in lust with a patient's sheep.c. Italian-speaking Woody Allen trying to be as macho as possible, but cannot initially find the key to his wife's satisfaction.d. A middle class man experiments with women's clothes.e. A game show, filmed in grainy black and white, has panelists attempting to guess the perversion of the guest.f. John Huston as the mad scientist rejected by Masters and Johnson. He's out to prove his strange theories. As a side effect (second part of the vignette), a giant mobile breast is created that terrorises the countryside. Allen and MacRae play a scientist and a journalist covering the action.g. Tony Randall quarterbacks the male brain's attempt to manage bodily resources during a hot romantic date.Delineation of conflicts: In each case, some aspect of sexual behaviour is explored. The vignettes are self-contained. The common thread, though, is that some private behaviour can become public, with consequences varying from embarrassment to jail to death.Resolution: The surfacing of private sexual behaviour is done for comic effect.

This is seven segments of weird stories about sex. They are basically extended skits and with varying degrees of success.1.Do Aphrodisiacs Work? Woody Allen is a court jester and Lynn Redgrave is the Queen with a chastity belt. I like this one for Woody and Lynn. They have some fun together.2.What Is Sodomy? Gene Wilder and a sheep is a one joke skit. It runs out of steam and don't go anywhere truly surprising.3.Why Do Some Women Have Trouble Reaching an Orgasm? The Italian is funny for about 5 seconds. Then it becomes style over substance. Other than a malfunctioning dildo, I don't think any of it is particularly funny.4.Are Transvestites Homosexuals? Sam Musgrave (Lou Jacobi) is a middle-aged married man trying out women's clothes. It's dated and it's also missing Woody. I can only imagine Woody trying to hide his cross dressing.5.What Are Sex Perverts? It's a black and white parody of the TV game show What's My Line? It's a bit weird as if in a surreal alternate universe.6.Are the Findings of Doctors and Clinics Who Do Sexual Research and Experiments Accurate? Researcher Victor (Woody Allen) and reporter Helen Lacey (Heather MacRae) are going to Dr. Bernardo (John Carradine), a former colleague of Masters and Johnson. He's got an assistant named Igor. It's classic Woody dealing with a madman. Carradine is hilarious as a Frankenstein-like character.7.What Happens During Ejaculation? This takes a look at a man's body like a NASA operation with many characters controlling him. This is the best segment and has the iconic sperm-Woody. This is by far the funniest. Woody left the best for last.