Diane Keaton RIP

As Andy Williams (and no doubt, many other crooners) sang "Where do I begin?"

For me, Diane Keaton was the face of the 1970s. It started with "Play it again, Sam" which I saw for the first time in 1973 and then many times after. As sad as it is to say, Woody Allen (as Alan Felix) was very much a role model for me at the time, and I would have loved to have swapped places with him. I would have gotten to fall in love with Diane.

Then came the run of WA/DK films - Sleeper, Love and death, followed by the ultimate "Annie Hall", then "Interiors" and "Manhattan". La di da. These are part of my DNA, and even though I haven't watched them in years, I am sure that there are scenes that I can quote verbatim.

I'm not sure how the connection came about, but in 1976 (or thereabouts) I read the book "Looking for Mr Goodbar" by Judith Rossner, who at the time was very much the flavour of the month. The book was turned into a film, where the lead character was played by Diane - very much out of type. As the Guardian puts it, Keaton’s performance in the once shocking film Looking for Mr Goodbar from 1977 is one that deserves to be better known: a minor work, maybe, but it was bold and courageous casting against type for Keaton to play the schoolteacher (a very Keatonian profession) who has a need to explore casual sexuality in the same frank if off-the-record way that men are allowed to do: this was a through-the-looking-glass Annie Hall and she is terrific in it. I can remember exactly where and when I saw this: in March 1978, the evening before my final exam as a student in London - this exam basically examined everything that we had learnt and so in a sense there was no way to prepare for it. We were told to take the evening off prior to the exam in order to come relaxed so I watched this film in the West End. I have to say that I don't actually remember the film itself.  

In the 1980s, the only film of Diane's that I saw and remember was "The little drummer girl¹" in which she was totally miscast (IMHO). I saw films of hers during the following decades but didn't enjoy any of them except for one, "Something's gotta give", that dates from 2003 - twenty years ago.

Below I've saved a few pictures from the 70s.

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