Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex *But Were Afraid to Ask
Here's the honest truth: this 1972 Woody Allen comedy is wild, uneven, and weirdly brilliant all at once. It's not a single story. Instead, Allen stitched together seven separate sketches — each one a different take on sex — and released them as one sprawling 88-minute film. Some bits land perfectly. Others feel like they're reaching. Most people remember the ones that work and forget the rest existed.
Why this film still matters (even if you've never heard of it)
Allen didn't just make a sex comedy in 1972 — he made a parody of cinema itself. Each segment impersonates a different movie genre: medieval farce, Italian art-house cinema, gothic horror, a game show, and (inexplicably) the interior of a human body during intercourse, reimagined as a military command center.
What's striking is the commitment. Allen and his cast don't wink at the audience. They play every bit straight. Tony Randall, as the neurologist narrating sperm deployment, delivers his lines with the gravity of someone managing a moon landing. Lynn Redgrave goes full physical comedy in her segment without a trace of self-consciousness. Gene Wilder — who doesn't appear in the official cast list but shows up in one of the film's most memorable sketches — turns in deadpan gold.
The thing nobody mentions is how technically inventive this gets. The Italian neo-realist parody isn't lazy pastiche — it's shot in the style of Antonioni or early Fellini, and Allen commits to the bit completely. The game-show sequence lands its satire of American consumer culture with almost surgical precision.
Who's in this thing, and should you care?
Director & Writer: Woody Allen (who also stars in multiple roles)
Cast: John Carradine, Lou Jacobi, Louise Lasser, Anthony Quayle, Tony Randall, Lynn Redgrave, Gene Wilder
Release: 1972, United Artists
Rating: R (subject matter makes this adults-only)
Runtime: 88 minutes
IMDb score: 6.7/10 (from 43,000+ votes)
The cast is genuinely remarkable for a low-budget comedy of that era. Louise Lasser was Allen's ex-wife at the time, which lends their scenes a particular kind of lived-in awkwardness that you can't manufacture. It's uncomfortable in exactly the way Allen seems to want it to be.
Box-office-wise, the film earned $18,016,290 domestically — a solid return that confirmed Allen could pull audiences as a filmmaker, not just a stand-up comedian or writer. He made this between Bananas (1971) and Sleeper (1973), which means he was in his most fertile creative period. The film picked up 1 award win and 1 nomination, which is modest but respectable for a sketch comedy that critics weren't sure how to classify.
The vignettes that actually work
Here's the thing about anthology comedy: you're only as good as your best sketch, and you're only as remembered as your worst. This film's highs are genuinely high. The sperm-as-paratroopers climax shouldn't work — the concept is absurd, the execution is elaborate, and it goes on longer than any joke should — but it does work. I kept thinking about it long after the credits.
The game-show bit, where contestants answer increasingly invasive questions about sex, nails the particular American discomfort with talking honestly about desire. Randall's neurologist sequence, which I mentioned earlier, manages to be both intellectually clever and physically funny, which is harder than it sounds.
Not everything lands. One or two sketches feel padded. A couple feel like Allen's reaching for something that never quite comes into focus. But that's the nature of sketch films — you're rolling the dice on every segment.
Where to watch it right now
The film's on major streaming platforms, and availability shifts quarterly depending on licensing deals. Your best bet is to check Movie OTT's where-to-watch tracker — it updates in real time and covers regional differences, so you won't waste time hunting through three different apps to find it. Streaming rights for early-1970s catalog titles bounce around more than newer releases do, so what's available this month might migrate elsewhere by next quarter.
If you're outside the US, availability varies by region, and the tracker catches those differences automatically.
If you liked X, you'll probably like this
Start with Bananas (1971) first — it's more conventionally structured and shows where Allen's anarchic sensibility came from. Then watch Everything You Always Wanted to Know, which lets that sensibility run wild. Follow up with Sleeper (1973) to see him refine the formula. Movie OTT's editorial team recommends this watch order for building out your early Allen filmography; each one escalates the strangeness slightly, which makes the progression feel intentional rather than random.
If you love sketch comedy (Saturday Night Live, Monty Python), parody cinema (Mel Brooks, The Cannonball Run), or just weird 1970s American humor in general, this one's essential. Hard to say if all seven segments hold up equally well. But as a snapshot of Allen at his most freewheeling — before he started chasing "serious" material — it's irreplaceable.
The reviews, then and now
When it came out, critics were split. Some found the sketch format frustrating. Others thought the highs justified the occasional misfire. Over time, reassessment has been kinder. The Rotten Tomatoes score sits at 88% Fresh, which reflects what most reviewers have come to agree on: the best moments here are genuinely inspired, and Allen's willingness to fail spectacularly in service of a joke is itself a kind of artistic courage.
The IMDb rating of 6.7 tells you something useful — it's warmly liked rather than universally adored. Expect an entertaining, weird ride that doesn't pretend to be more than it is.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Is this actually based on Dr. Reuben's book?
Yes. Allen adapted (very loosely) Dr. David Reuben's 1969 bestseller *Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask. He borrowed the title and chapter structure but replaced the clinical content with absurdist comedy. You don't need to have read the book to get the film.
Q: Should I watch this with kids?
No. The R rating exists for a reason. It's not graphic in a modern sense, but the subject matter and some scenes make it strictly adult viewing.
Q: How does this compare to Allen's other early comedies?
It's looser and weirder than Bananas, more anarchic than Love and Death. If you like his early stuff, you'll find something to enjoy here — though it's not his tightest work.
Q: Where's the best place to find it streaming?
Check Movie OTT's tracker. Regional availability shifts, and the tracker catches all those variations in one place.
TL;DR: A 1972 Woody Allen sketch comedy that's uneven but weirdly inventive. Some bits are genuinely brilliant; others miss. If you like early Allen, parody cinema, or sketch comedy in general, it's worth the 88 minutes. Streaming availability varies by region — use Movie OTT's tracker to find it.
