The film was supposedly based on a popular sex manual written by Dr David Reuben, which adorned many middle class coffee tables at the turn of the decade. Allen made no attempt to do a straight adaptation from book into film - an impossible task - and instead chose to take seven of the chapter headings and use them as excuses for sketches lasting about ten to fifteen minutes each. He claimed to have included "every funny idea I've ever had about sex, including several that led to my own divorce." The quality of the jokes ranges from brilliant to wince-inducing, and most of them are as rude as you might imagine. However, I would say there is at least a laugh a minute and sometimes much more, although it depends on your personal sense of humour. I doubt that anyone will find that all of the sketches hit home for them, although I rate five out of seven, which isn't bad at all. I'll comment on the episodes individually.

1. Do Aphrodisiacs Work ?

This is set in Medieval times, with Woody as an abysmal court jester with the hots for the Queen. He gets the local apothecary to concoct a potion to loosen her up, but fails to anticipate the problems caused by a metal chastity belt. This one is a bit silly for my taste, with a lot of slapstick and very cheap innuendo. However, Lynne Redgrave is great as the Queen, and Woody tosses out some great one-liners, notably, "Hurry up, or it will be the renaissance and we'll all be painting."

2. What Is Sodomy ?

Gene Wilder is wonderfully funny in this skit, as a doctor who attempts to help a shepherd who has fallen in love with one of his sheep, Daisy. Unfortunately, the doctor takes one look at the sheep and falls in love with her too, taking her to seduce her and committ various sexual acts, thankfully off-screen. It all ends in tears, but Wilder is so good, and oddly poignant, as the flustered medic that it's a little less tasteless than it sounds. His lengthy reaction to hearing the shepherd's confession of love for the sheep is one of the best pieces of non-verbal comedy I have ever seen. My favourite moment is when a judge, during sentencing, condems Wilder's affair, "because the sheep was under eighteen years of age at the time."

3. Why Do Some Women Have Difficulty Reaching Orgasm ?

I didn't like this episode when I first saw the film, until I realised that it is a killingly funny, and totally accurate, pastiche of Antonioni. Allen plays an Italian film star whose wife is unable to have an orgasm - until, that is, she visits a busy department store. Woody is brilliant here, and virtually unrecognisable, and the whole sketch is, appropriately, in Italian with subtitles. Watch out for some classic one-liners.

4. Are Transvestites Homosexuals ?

This is certainly the least amusing chapter, with horrible overplaying from veteran Jewish comic Lou Jacobi, who discovers his love for cross-dressing during a respectable dinner party. If you like very heavy-handed physical comedy, this might appeal, but I tend to totally ignore it.

5. What Are Sex Perverts ?

A brilliantly accurate parody of fifties gameshows called "What's My Perversion", in which various deviants are wheeled on so that a celebrity panel can guess their particular fetish. It's prefaced by a hilarious spoof advert for hair gel, and the whole thing is so beautifully well observed that it's almost indistinguishable from the real "What's My Line" - the presence of real American gameshow celebrities helps a lot.

6. Are the Findings of Doctors and Clinics Who Do Sexual Research and Experiments Accurate ?

This turns out to be a full-blown (unfortunate phrase, sorry) horror film pastiche, with veteran horror film actor John Carradine as a mad scientist who has been performing various odd experiments, such as exchanging the brains of a lesbian and a union leader - which I found funny for some bizarre reason - and keeping a room full of lustful boy scouts. This is all very silly, but pretty funny - great moment when Allen says to the hunchback butler, Igor, "Posture, posture" - and it culminates in Allen being pursued through the countryside by a gigantic and voracious breast - "We'd better watch out, these things usually travel in pairs". Come to think of it, this story isn't much sillier than some real monster movies of the time, such as "Night of the Lepus", which featured rampaging giant rabbits.

7. What Happens During Ejaculation

Without question, this is the best episode and has achieved classic status on its own. The human body becomes huge scientific centre, with white coated technicians controlling every action and sweating work crews performing the more strenuous activites. Woody plays a very nervous sperm, fretting about what will happen once ejaculation occurs - "You hear about the pill some of these women take". This is inspired stuff, with a great in-joke about New York University, and some painfully accurate comments on male angst when confronted with a dominant female.

Incidentally, there was originally another episode, called "What Makes A Man Homosexual ?" in which Woody played a spider, but it was cut prior to release.

The Disc

MGM have released this as part of their excellent "Woody Allen Collection", which comprises all the films he made for United Artists between 1971 and 1980. It's a pleasing, if extras-lite disc, which boasts an anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer and a fullscreen version.

The picture quality is generally good. The various styles used in the film are nicely represented, the roughness of "What's My Perversion" contrasting well with the lush softness of the romantic interludes between Gene Wilder and Daisy the Sheep. Some scenes do appear to lack definition and there is some artifacting to be seen in places. There is a slightly dated feel to the image, with grain appearing throughout. However, the vibrancy of the colours is impressive. I especially liked the sharpness of the opening credits, which feature, appropriately, an awful lot of rabbits.

As you would expect, this is a mono soundtrack. This is quite correct, since the original film was monophonic. There are no problems, with a good balance between clear dialogue and the music track.

Woody Allen has publicly stated that he does not like the idea of extras on the DVD releases of his films. Indeed, he refuses to watch the films at all once they have been completed, so we could hardly expect a commentary track from him. I also suspect that he disapproves of deleted scenes and outtakes. We do, however, get the original 1972 trailer for the film, which looks pretty good considering its age, and a booklet inside the disc case.

There are a very generous 32 chapters and menus with backing music from the film.

As long as you're not too easily offended, you should find something to please you in this film, which is among the best of Allen's early work. It's admittedly not a masterpiece of cinema like "Manhattan", but then it doesn't set out to be. The DVD is fairly good in terms of technical quality, and has the only special features we are ever likely to get.

Mike Sutton