Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask) is a 1972 American sex comedy anthology film directed by Woody Allen. It consists of a series of short sequences loosely inspired by David Reuben's 1969 book of the same name. The film was an early success for Woody Allen, grossing over $18 million in North America alone against a $2 million budget, making it the 10th highest-grossing film of 1972.

Film structure

The credits at the start and close of the film are played over a backdrop of a large mass of white rabbits, to the tune of "Let's Misbehave" by Cole Porter. The film consists of seven vignettes, as follows:

Cast

Soundtrack

Critical response

The film holds an 89% "Fresh" rating of on the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 19 reviews. An August 1972 review by Time said that many of the film's ideas "sound good on paper" but that the "skits wind down rather than take off from the ideas"; the film includes "some broad, funny send-ups of other movies (Fantastic Voyage, La notte), and its fair share of memorably wacky lines" but that "overall it is just Woody marking time and being merely a little funnier". The Time Out Film Guide noted that some of the film's sketches are "dross, but the parodies of Antonioni (all angst and alienation of a wife who can achieve orgasm only in public places) and of TV panel games ('What's My Perversion?') are brilliantly accurate and very funny. Best of all is the sci-fi parody entitled What Happens During Ejaculation?" In 2004, Christopher Null, founder of filmcritic.com, called it a "minor classic and Woody Allen's most absurd film ever".

Censorship

The film was banned in Ireland on March 20, 1973. A cut version was passed in 1979 and released theatrically in 1980, removing both a bestiality reference ("the greatest lay I ever had", referring to a sheep) and a man having sex with a loaf of rye bread. The ban on the uncut version was eventually lifted.