Annie Hall Missing Footage (1977)

Annie Hall is a 1977 film starring Woody Allen and Diane Keaton, marking one of their first collaborations. The film is considered both a turning point for Allen and his masterpiece. The film won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1978 and helped Allen put his name on the map in film history.

The film went through several different stages in both its scripting and filming process. Allen, being a notorious perfectionist, made an original cut that came out to 2 hours and 21 minutes and then cut it down to just 1 hour and 33 minutes. The story was originally written as a murder mystery surrounded by the love story that the film ultimately ended up focusing on instead. Allen has noted that many actors who appeared in the original cut were removed from the final product when he decided to make the film less dark and sinister.

There are several missing sequences to the film. There were sequences where Alvy and Annie go to hell and heaven that were considered hilarious by fans. Most notably, however, was the heavier prevalance of Christopher Walken, who ended up only making a cameo-length appearance in the final product. In the original film, he was going to be a murderer and had much more screen time.

Why Allen decided the change in direction is not known. Only a very small handful of scenes have seen the light of day, mostly the ones that center around the story that ended up in the film. Allen has expressed no interest in releasing the film in its original form. It isn't even known if he destoryed the original film negatives. Regardless, Annie Hall is still considered a cinematic treasure.