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Comedy

Zelig

- You wanted more when it was all over!

Fictional documentary about the life of human chameleon Leonard Zelig, a man who becomes a celebrity in the 1920s due to his ability to look and act like whoever is around him. Clever editing places Zelig in real newsreel footage of Woodrow Wilson, Babe Ruth, and others.

Release Date : 1983-07-15

Language :EnglishGerman

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Orion Pictures

Production Country : United States of America

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Woody Allen

Character Name : Leonard Zelig

Original Name : Woody Allen

Gender : Male

Mia Farrow

Character Name : Dr. Eudora Nesbitt Fletcher

Original Name : Mia Farrow

Gender : Female

Patrick Horgan

Character Name : The Narrator (voice)

Original Name : Patrick Horgan

Gender : Male

John Buckwalter

Character Name : Dr. Sindell

Original Name : John Buckwalter

Gender : Male

Marvin Chatinover

Character Name : Glandular Diagnosis Doctor

Original Name : Marvin Chatinover

Gender : Male

Stanley Swerdlow

Character Name : Mexican Food Doctor

Original Name : Stanley Swerdlow

Gender : Male

Paul Nevens

Character Name : Dr. Birsky

Original Name : Paul Nevens

Gender : Male

Howard Erskine

Character Name : Hypodermic Doctor

Original Name : Howard Erskine

Gender : Male

Richard Whiting

Character Name : Other Doctor

Original Name : Richard Whiting

Gender : Male

Ralph Bell

Character Name : Other Doctor

Original Name : Ralph Bell

Gender : Male

Will Hussung

Character Name : Other Doctor

Original Name : Will Hussung

Gender : Male

Gale Hansen

Character Name : Freshman #1

Original Name : Gale Hansen

Gender : Male

Michael Jeter

Character Name : Freshman #2

Original Name : Michael Jeter

Gender : Male

Peter McRobbie

Character Name : Workers Rally Speaker

Original Name : Peter McRobbie

Gender : Male

Richard Litt

Character Name : Charles Koslow

Original Name : Richard Litt

Gender : Male

Mary Louise Wilson

Character Name : Sister Ruth

Original Name : Mary Louise Wilson

Gender : Female

Alice Beardsley

Character Name : Telephone Operator

Original Name : Alice Beardsley

Gender : Female

Paula Trueman

Character Name : Woman on Telephone

Original Name : Paula Trueman

Gender : Female

Garrett M. Brown

Character Name : Actor Zelig

Original Name : Garrett M. Brown

Gender : Male

Marianne Tatum

Character Name : Actress Fletcher

Original Name : Marianne Tatum

Gender : Female

Charles Denny

Character Name : Actor Doctor

Original Name : Charles Denny

Gender : Male

Michael Kell

Character Name : Actor Koslow

Original Name : Michael Kell

Gender : Male

John Rothman

Character Name : Paul Deghuee

Original Name : John Rothman

Gender : Male

Deborah Rush

Character Name : Lita Fox

Original Name : Deborah Rush

Gender : Female

Stanley Simmonds

Character Name : Lita's Lawyer

Original Name : Stanley Simmonds

Gender : Male

Robert Berger

Character Name : Zelig's Lawyer

Original Name : Robert Berger

Gender : Male

Jeanine Jackson

Character Name : Helen Gray

Original Name : Jeanine Jackson

Gender : Female

John Doumanian

Character Name : Greek Waiter

Original Name : John Doumanian

Gender : Male

Willy Holt

Character Name : Rally Chancellor

Original Name : Willy Holt

Gender : Male

Susan Sontag

Character Name : Susan Sontag - Contemporary Interviews

Original Name : Susan Sontag

Gender : Female

Saul Bellow

Character Name : Saul Bellow - Contemporary Interviews

Original Name : Saul Bellow

Gender : Male

Irving Howe

Character Name : Irving Howe - Contemporary Interviews

Original Name : Irving Howe

Gender : Male

Marshall Cole Sr.

Character Name : Calvin Turner - Contemporary Interviews

Original Name : Marshall Cole Sr.

Gender : Male

Ellen Garrison

Character Name : Older Dr. Fletcher - Contemporary Interviews

Original Name : Ellen Garrison

Gender : Female

Jack Cannon

Character Name : Mike Geibell - Contemporary Interviews

Original Name : Jack Cannon

Gender : Male

Theodore R. Smits

Character Name : Ted Bierbauer - Contemporary Interviews

Original Name : Theodore R. Smits

Gender : Male

Sherman Loud

Character Name : Older Paul Deghuee - Contemporary Interviews

Original Name : Sherman Loud

Gender : Male

Elizabeth Rothschild

Character Name : Older Sister Meryl Fletcher - Contemporary Interviews

Original Name : Elizabeth Rothschild

Gender : Female

Kuno Sponholz

Character Name : Oswald Pohl - Contemporary Interviews

Original Name : Kuno Sponholz

Gender : Male

Ed Herlihy

Character Name : Pathe News Announcer (voice)

Original Name : Ed Herlihy

Gender : Male

Dwight Weist

Character Name : Hearst Metrotone Announcer (voice)

Original Name : Dwight Weist

Gender : Male

George Hamlin

Character Name : Experimental Drugs Doctor

Original Name : George Hamlin

Gender : Male

Robert Iglesia

Character Name : Man in Barber Chair

Original Name : Robert Iglesia

Gender : Male

Eli Resnick

Character Name : Man in Park

Original Name : Eli Resnick

Gender : Male

Edward McPhillips

Character Name : Scotsman

Original Name : Edward McPhillips

Gender : Male

Sol Lomita

Character Name : Martin Geist

Original Name : Sol Lomita

Gender : Male

Ed Lane

Character Name : Man on Telephone

Original Name : Ed Lane

Gender : Male

Sharon Ferrol-Young

Character Name : Miss Baker

Original Name : Sharon Ferrol-Young

Gender : Female

Dimitri Vassilopoulos

Character Name : Martinez

Original Name : Dimitri Vassilopoulos

Gender : Male

Stephanie Farrow

Character Name : Sister Meryl

Original Name : Stephanie Farrow

Gender : Female

Francis Beggins

Character Name : City Hall Speaker

Original Name : Francis Beggins

Gender : Male

Jean Trowbridge

Character Name : Dr. Fletcher's Mother

Original Name : Jean Trowbridge

Gender : Female

Ken Chapin

Character Name : On-Camera Interviewer

Original Name : Ken Chapin

Gender : Male

Gerald Klein

Character Name : Hearst Guest

Original Name : Gerald Klein

Gender : Male

Vincent Jerman-Jerosa

Character Name : Hearst Guest

Original Name : Vincent Jerman-Jerosa

Gender : Male

Erma Campbell

Character Name : Zelig's Wife

Original Name : Erma Campbell

Gender : Female

Anton Marco

Character Name : Wrist Victim

Original Name : Anton Marco

Gender : Male

Louise Deitch

Character Name : House-Painting Victim

Original Name : Louise Deitch

Gender : Male

Bernice Dowis

Character Name : Vilification Woman

Original Name : Bernice Dowis

Gender : Female

Bernie Herold

Character Name : Carter Dean

Original Name : Bernie Herold

Gender : Male

Elizabeth Kaitan

Character Name : German Girl (uncredited)

Original Name : Elizabeth Kaitan

Gender : Female

Arthur Anderson

Character Name : Other Doctor (uncredited)

Original Name : Arthur Anderson

Gender : Male

Bubba Dean Rambo

Character Name : Charleston Dancer (uncredited)

Original Name : Bubba Dean Rambo

Gender : Male

Kim Johnston Ulrich

Character Name : Beauty Contestant (uncredited)

Original Name : Kim Johnston Ulrich

Gender : Female

Michael Blevins

Character Name : Lizard Dancer (uncredited)

Original Name : Michael Blevins

Gender : Male

Jon Hayden

Character Name : Reporter (uncredited)

Original Name : Jon Hayden

Gender : Male

Mae Questel

Character Name : Helen Kane (voice) (uncredited)

Original Name : Mae Questel

Gender : Female

Ruth Leon Weiman

Character Name : Mother of a Graduate (uncredited)

Original Name : Ruth Leon Weiman

Gender : Male

Tug Wilson

Character Name : Police Officer (uncredited)

Original Name : Tug Wilson

Gender : Male

Reviews

L

ltcomdata

@ltcomdata

2021-06-23

A charming mockumentary about a fictional 1920s personality filmed as if cobbled together from old black-and-white footage.

T

tmdb28039023

@tmdb28039023

2022-09-03

Leonard Zelig is a "human chameleon," but Zelig the film doesn't stop at mimicry. Indeed, this fictional documentary written, directed, and starring Woody Allen differentiates between imitation and parody the same way Hitchcock differentiated between action and suspense. For example, the protagonist's parents used to punish him by locking him in a dark closet. If that were it, the film would simply be copying an aspect of Ingmar Bergman's childhood; Allen's genius lies in adding that when Zelig's parents are really mad, they "get into the closet with him." Zelig's targets go beyond the filmmaker's family, and include the press (“in those days, you'd do anything to sell papers. To get a story, you'd jazz it up, exaggerate, even maybe play with the truth a little bit. But here was a story. It was a natural. You just told the truth and it sold papers. It never happened before"), politicians ("He was selling the same piece of property to a lot of the same people, and... Matter of fact, a congressman from Delaware bought it twice"), psychologists (“I worked with Freud in Vienna. Yes, we broke over the concept of penis envy. Freud felt that it should be limited to women”), and philosophers (“His performance endears him as well to many leading French intellectuals, who see in him a symbol for everything” ). Set in the 1920s and 1930s, the film revolves around Leonard Zelig (Allen), an indistinct man who has the ability to alter his appearance and behavior to fit those of the people around him; e.g., “When two Frenchmen enter, Zelig assumes their characteristics and speaks reasonable French. In the company of a Chinese person, he begins to develop oriental traits;” etc etc. This desire and ability to blend in ironically makes him an outcast; “Zelig's very existence is a non-existence. Devoid of personality, his human qualities long since lost in the confusion of life, he sits alone, silently staring into space, a figure, a non-person... The one who only wanted to fit in, to belong, to go unnoticed by his enemies and being loved, neither fits nor belongs, is supervised by enemies, and remains abandoned”. His protean nature also gives him access to a number of famous people and historical events. In this sense, Zelig is ahead of Forrest Gump, not only in that it precedes it, but also in that it surpasses it. Zelig is disruptive in more ways than one; while Forrest finally fades into the background as a new, Zelig anarchically places his protagonist, much to his own dismay, front and center of the action; in the Vatican he creates commotion by interrupting a ritual that had not been celebrated in “63 years” (while “His Holiness Pope Pius XI tries to swat the intruder with a sacred decree”), and in Germany the greatest irony of all: his "desired immersion in the mass and anonymity" lead the Jew Zelig to join the Sturmabteilung — the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party — ruining Hitler’s speech at a Nazi rally ("We couldn't believe our eyes. Hitler's speech was ruined. He wanted to make a good joke about Poland, but just then, Zelig interfered and Hitler was extremely upset").