Allen's third feature film as a director tells the story of Fielding Mellish (played by Allen), a New Yorker who accidentally becomes embroiled in a South American revolution while trying to impress a woman, and becomes the ruler of the small island nation of San Marcos. Possibly the best example of Allen's earlier, more straightforward comedies.
The film that beat Star Wars to the 1977 Best Picture Oscar introduced a level of drama that was absent from Allen's earlier comedies. It is also credited with creating the template for the modern romantic comedy. Allen plays the neurotic comedian Alvy Singer against Diane Keaton's eponymous heroine. The distinctive mannish tailoring of Hall's costumes had a big influence on late 1970s style.
Two years later, Allen and Keaton teamed up again for another relationship driven comedy drama. Allen plays a 42-year-old twice-divorced writer who is dating a 17-year-old girl, but falls in love with his best friend's girlfriend, played by Keaton. The widescreen, black-and-white cinematography depicted New York at its most alluring, and the film was nominated for two Oscars.
In the 1980s, Allen's films became more philosophical, but this 1986 tale of an extended family of New Yorkers combined this new perspective with the comedy of his earlier films. The story of Hannah (Mia Farrow) and her dysfunctional family is told in interconnecting vignettes that span the course of a year. It received seven Oscar nominations.
After a strong run in the early Nineties with the acclaimed Husbands and Wives and Manhattan Murder Mystery, Allen directed this 1920s period comedy. It stars John Cusack as a playwright who, in order to get financing for his latest work, agrees to cast the girlfriend of a mafia boss in the lead role. The film received seven Oscar nominations.