Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story

[StevePulaski]

Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story (1971)
Directed by: Woody Allen

Woody Allen as Harvey Wallinger.

Rating: ★★½
NOTE: Part of "Woody Allen Mondays," an ongoing movie-watching event.

For many years, Woody Allen's short film Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story was only shown during special screenings at the Paley Center Of Media in New York City. Originally shot to be aired on PBS, this curious oddity was pulled from the network's schedule last minute with rumors that executives feared of having their government funded revoked or lessened due to Allen's jabs at Richard Nixon-era politics. In present day, Men of Crisis is but a curious piece of history, not too divorced from the long-running political comedy popularized by the likes of Stephen Colbert and John Oliver.

Men of Crisis is also worth a look simply because it better contextualizes Allen's film Zelig, which would come out 12 years later and showcase the writer/director's technical prowess. This 26-minute short shows that Allen's desire to inject himself in archival footage and historic events dated back even to the problematic politics of the 1970s. He plays the titular Harvey Wallinger, a shameless parody of the-then controversial Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who despite his bumblings, is welcomed with open arms by Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew. Allen's Wallinger character is interspersed with newsreel and B-roll footage that accounts for his tenure that included war crimes and unrest and all began with a quirky childhood (Walligner's father dying in child-birth, him playing football for Harvard and being tackled so hard he could only speak Polish for six months).

Also along for the ride are Allen regulars Louise Lasser and Diane Keaton, who plays Wallinger's cross-eyed wife, who knows no better than to go along with his hapless schemes. Not a great deal of Men of Crisis is exceptionally funny, but much of it is satirical and cynical in a positive way. The editing is top-notch for the time, thanks to Allen and credited editor Eric Albertson, and both enjoy the freedoms offered by such a silly premise with great respect to telling faux-history in a realistic way.

Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story echoes many early shorts from Jean-Luc Godard: it's viewing is not discouraged, if inessential, its humor is greatly left up to the context of the period, the direction helps in showing where the mind of a very capable director was at an early point in his career, and it's an oddity sure to be appreciated by many adoring fans. Beyond Zelig, it more comfortably fits in with Take the Money and Run, Allen's first official feature, showing once again the comic's desire of taking preexisting material and unapologetically etching himself into it for a laugh.

Starring: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, and Louise Lasser. Directed by: Woody Allen.