10 Genius Edits That Totally Saved Movies
5. 50 Minutes Of Subplots Were Cut - Annie Hall
Woody Allen's Annie Hall won four Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director, though considering what very nearly became of the film, it probably should've scored a nomination for Best Film Editing too.
Though the final cut of the movie clocks in at a svelte 93 minutes, Allen's first pass was a 2.5-hour epic dramedy with a portentous original title to match - Anhedonia (which means "the inability to feel pleasure in normally pleasurable activities").
The original form of the movie included a substantial murder-mystery subplot and numerous surreal sequences - including a basketball game between the New York Knicks and a number of legendary philosophers - which editor Ralph Rosenblum ripped out of the film almost entirely.
Of Rosenblum's work, co-writer Marshall Brickman said, "I didn't realise to what extent you could take a cut of two-and-a-half hours that is like an albatross running down the beach trying to achieve airspeed, and try to turn it into a hawk."
He added that Rosenblum and Allen "took everything out that wasn't an elephant. The elephant in this case was Woody and Diane [Keaton]."
While there's no denying the wisdom of streamlining the movie to focus on Alvy (Allen) and Annie (Keaton), it's still a damn shame the near-hour of missing material hasn't ever surfaced.