Let's misbehaveThese seven sexually oriented stories are based on original and interesting ideas, but the realization of the film is bad in every way. Cheap production, poorly written script and unnatural and forced humor leave an insipid taste in your mouth. The second story, about a man in love with a sheep, and the seventh, which represents a human organism as a machine operated by a large crew faced with a sex opportunity, in my opinion, deserve eight and seven out of ten. Although the ideas on which other stories are based also have a lot of potential, these ideas are wasted on a rather stupid film.5,5/10

Few anticipated the success of Dr. David Reuben's book Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* But Were Afraid to Ask upon its publication in 1969. Nevertheless, it skyrocketed to the top of the book charts, arriving at a time when the sexual revolution was in full swing for the younger generation, and older couples were starting to feel more comfortable discussing the joys of sex and all the kinks that come with it. It seemed like a truly 'unadaptable' book, or at least one that never flirted with the idea of making it to the big screen. But that didn't stop Woody Allen, the young comedy writer and director still very much in his sillier, more slapstick stage of his career, who was fresh off the success of satirical spoof Bananas. Structuring the film as a series of vignettes, each receiving its own opening title taken from the book's chapter headings, Allen gave himself free reign to toy with a variety of ideas and tones that were no doubt swimming around in his massive brain. As is the case with almost all portmanteau movies, some sections are great, others are forgettable, and the odd one is outright terrible. The final result is one staunchly defended by Allen die-hards, but for some of us this is one the comedy giant's weakest early movies. It opens promisingly enough with "Do Aphrodisiacs Work?", a sex farce set in medieval times with Allen as a court jester trying in earnest to get into the knickers of Lynn Redgrave's Queen. Fearing both the wrath of the King (Anthony Quayle) and having his advances spurned, he employs a potion that will make the Queen desire the first man she sees. Not all the jokes land, but it's amusing enough, highlighting Allen's unique talent for playing the motor-mouthed neurotic and firing off double entendres. Other highlights include Gene Wilder as a doctor who falls in love a sheep belonging to an Albanian farmer, and a Fellini-inspired section in which Allen's character becomes obsessed with pleasing his wife. The worst involves John Carradine as a wacky researcher conducting a variety of outrageous sexual experiments, before he accidentally unleashes a giant milk-squirting breast into the countryside. The main problem, 45 years after its release, lies within the title. It could be down to the lasting effects of the sexual revolution or the abundance of hardcore porn now available to stream at any time, but people are no longer afraid to ask. Many of the topics covered in Everything You Always Wanted to Know... are now openly discussed on daytime TV, so the film feels more like a time capsule of a more innocent time than the boundary-pushing experiment it once was.

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.

I wonder what Woody Allen thinks of this movie now. I cannot believe he is proud of it, seeing how his later films were the antithesis of his earlier work. 'Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex * But Were Afraid To Ask' started out as a serious book by Dr.David Reuben, which became a runaway bestseller at the start of the '70's. Woody acquired the film rights, but decided to make it into a bad taste comedy. It takes the form of seven sketches, each named after a chapter in the book, including 'Do Aphrodisiacs Work?', 'What Is Sodomy?', 'Are Transvestites Homosexual?', 'What Happens During Ejaculation?' and so on. Woody appears in several; in the first, he is a medieval Jester who has the hots for 'The Queen' ( the late Lynn Redgrave ) and so slips her a potion designed to make her horny. Then we see him as an Italian man whose wife 'Gina' ( Louise Lasser ) cannot orgasm unless they are making love in a public place. He then resurfaces as 'Victor Shakapopolis' - the character he played in 1965's 'What's New Pussycat' - who encounters a mad scientist ( John Carradine ) conducting bizarre sexual experiments such as taking the brain of a lesbian and putting it in the body of a mail-man. Finally, in the most bizarre sequence, set inside a man's body, Woody plays a sperm! The sensitive, thoughtful comedy of 'Annie Hall' and 'Manhattan' is nowhere to be seen, instead the tone is one of smutty snickering throughout. Woody is like an eight year old school boy fascinated by sex who cannot wait to grow up and do it. At times, the film feels more like Monty Python. This is no more evident than in the scene where Woody is chased across open countryside by a gigantic female breast which spews jets of milk! Some interesting guest stars include Gene Wilder as a doctor infatuated by a sheep, Tony Randall and Burt Reynolds ( of all people ) as the operators of a man's brain, Lou Jacobi as a middle-aged Jewish man who loves dressing up in his wife's clothes, and the cast of 'What's My Line?' in a clever spoof called 'What's My Perversion?'. The role of the 'girl' in the final scene was played by Erin Fleming, Groucho Marx's girlfriend ( even though he was in his eighties at the time! ).Not an Allen classic, but worth seeing. Like his earlier movies, the humour is hit and miss, but the on-target gags are well worth waiting for. My favourite has to be 'Dr.Bernardo' ( John Carradine ) declaring he has finally established a link between excessive masturbation and going into politics!