September - 1987
Genre: Drama
Run Time: 82 minutes
Film Remarks:
The film Woody Allen made twice. This humorless drama spotlights a family dealing with their
problems in their house in Vermont.
Main Cast:
- Denholm Elliott .... Howard
- Dianne Wiest .... Stephanie
- Mia Farrow .... Lane
- Elaine Stritch .... Diane
- Sam Waterston .... Peter
- Jack Warden .... Lloyd
- Ira Wheeler .... Mr. Raines
- Jane Cecil .... Mrs. Raines
- Rosemary Murphy .... Mrs. Mason
See Full Cast & Credits
Editorial:
September is best known as the movie Woody Allen made twice, bang on top of each other, and still brought in
on time and on budget. He decided the casting wasn't working, switched some actors and roles, and altogether
dumped Sam Shepard (who subsequently had very uncomplimentary things to say about Allen as a director of
actors). That was some kind of achievement and said reams about Allen's efficiency and adaptability as a
filmmaker. Unhappily, the congratulations end there, for September is the single most excruciating
viewing experience the Woodman ever invited audiences to share.
You could say September is Interiors without the laughs (joke: there are no laughs in Interiors either),
without the pull of the Hamptons shore outside the windows, and without the chill, elegant eye of Gordon
Willis behind the camera. Members of a thoroughly unappealing family convene for a weekend in Vermont.
Over the course of it, almost everybody reveals a lurking preference to have a new significant other in
his or her life. You will not care who, how, or why, or acquire any insights into the mysteries of human
relationships. Just as Maureen Stapleton brought the breath of life to the emotionally stunted mollusks
in Interiors, so here Elaine Stritch injects some sting as Mia Farrow's irrepressibly bitchy mother. The
other cast members are Sam Waterston, Dianne Wiest (fresh from her Hannah and Her Sisters Oscar), D
enholm Elliott, and Jack Warden. Them you may sympathize with, for theirs is a thankless task.
--Richard T. Jameson on Amazon.com
Movie Trivia and Awards:
Many fans already know that September is the film Woody filmed twice.
But did you also know....
Additional:
Budget: $10m (USA)
Gross: $486,434 (USA)
Release Date: December 18, 1988 (USA)
March 9, 1988 (France), April 22, 1988 (Finland)