Sleeper (film)

This article is about the 1973 film. For the 2005 film, see Sleeper (2005 film). For 2009 film, see Sleeper (2009 film).

Sleeper
Theatrical release poster by Robert McGinnis
Directed by	Woody Allen
Produced by	Jack Grossberg
Written by	Woody Allen Marshall Brickman
Starring	Woody Allen Diane Keaton John Beck Marya Small Susan Miller
Music by	Woody Allen
Cinematography	David M. Walsh
Editing by	O. Nicholas Brown Ron Kalish Ralph Rosenblum
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	December 17, 1973
Running time	88 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English Yiddish
Budget	$2 million
Box office	$18,344,729

Sleeper is a 1973 futuristic science fiction comedy film, written by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman, and directed by Allen. The plot involves the adventures of the owner (played by Woody Allen) of a health food store who is cryogenically frozen in 1973 and defrosted 200 years later in an inept totalitarian state. The film contains many elements which parody notable works of science fiction.

Plot

Miles Monroe, a jazz musician and owner of the 'Happy Carrot' Health-Food store in 1973, is made subject to Cryopreservation without his consent, and not revived for 200 years. The scientists who revive him are members of a rebellion: 22nd-century America seems to be a police state ruled by a dictator, about to implement a secret plan known as the "Aires Project" (sic). The rebels hope to use Miles as a spy to infiltrate the Aires Project, because he is the only member of this society without a known biometric identity.

The authorities discover the scientists' project, and arrest them; but Miles escapes by disguising himself as a robot, and goes to work as a butler in the house of socialite Luna Schlosser (Diane Keaton). When Luna decides to have his head replaced with something more "aesthetically pleasing," Miles reveals his true identity to her; whereupon Luna threatens to give Miles to the authorities. In response, he kidnaps her and goes on the run, searching for the Aires Project.

Miles and Luna fall in love; but Miles is captured and brainwashed, by which he becomes a complacent member of futuristic society, while Luna joins the rebellion. The rebels kidnap Miles and force reverse-brainwashing, whereupon he remembers his past and joins their efforts.

Miles and Luna successfully infiltrate the Aires Project, wherein they learn that the national Leader was killed by a rebel bomb ten months previously, and all that survives is his nose. The nose has been kept alive, and the members of the Aires Project, mistaking Miles and Luna for doctors, ask them to clone the leader from this single remaining part; but Miles steals the nose and "assassinates" it beneath a steamroller.

Cast

• Woody Allen as Miles Monroe
• Diane Keaton as Luna Schlosser
• John Beck as Erno Windt
• Marya Small as Dr. Nero
• Susan Miller as Ellen Pogrebin
• Mary Gregory as Dr. Melik
• Don Keefer as Dr. Tyron
• Peter Hobbs as Dr. Dean
• John McLiam as Dr. Aragon
• Bartlett Robinson as Dr. Orva
• Chris Forbes as Rainer Krebs
• Brian Avery as Herald Cohen
• Jackie Mason (uncredited voice) as Tailor
• Douglas Rain (uncredited voice) as Evil Computer / Various robot butlers

Production

The film was shot in and around Denver, Colorado. The outdoor shots of the hospital were filmed at the Table Mesa Laboratory of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. There is also a cameo appearance of the main building of the Denver Botanic Gardens and of the signature concrete lamp posts. The Sculptured House, designed by architect Charles Deaton, is a private home known locally as the "Sleeper House" or "Flying Saucer House" located on Genesee Mountain near Genesee Park, west of Denver. The Mile Hi Church of Religious Science in Lakewood, Colorado was turned into a futuristic McDonald's, featuring a sign counting the number sold: The digit 1 followed by more than twenty zeroes.

The film contains several plot points which parody or spoof several well-known works of science-fiction, most notably H. G. Wells's The Sleeper Awakes and George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. Another direct homage/parody is the use of actor Douglas Rain (best known as the voice of the HAL-9000 computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey) to voice the evil computer in Sleeper.

But Sleeper is mainly a comedic tribute to the genius of two comedians whom Woody Allen deeply admires: Benny Hill (slapstick comedy, raucous music, sped-up motion scenes), and Bob Hope (one-liner comic delivery).

Alternate versions

There are two known cuts of Sleeper. The first, seemingly original cut, contains a dinner scene shortly after Miles and Luna return to the house where Miles was originally taken after revival. In the dialogue-less scene, Miles eats in time with a piano soundtrack while Luna watches him in amazement. In another cut distributed in the US, this scene is absent but another, in which Miles shaves using a high-tech mirror and accidentally tunes into the view from the mirror in another bathroom, is present in its place. The latter cut is on the MGM 2000 DVD, which has both a widescreen and full-screen version of the film, a trailer, Spanish dubbing, and French subtitles. The network television version cuts the scene in which Miles and Luna discover a 1990's newspaper with the headline "Pope's Wife Gives Birth to Twins".

Reception

• In 1974, the film was awarded the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation at Discon II, the 32nd World Science Fiction Convention, in Washington, D.C.
• In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Sleeper the 30th greatest comedy film of all time.
• Also in 2000, the American Film Institute listed Sleeper 80th among its 100 Years… 100 Laughs.

American Film Institute Lists

• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs - #80
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes:
  • LUNA SCHLOSSER: "It’s hard to believe that you haven’t had sex for two hundred years." MILES MONROE: "Two hundred and four, if you count my marriage." - Nominated
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) - Nominated

External links

• Sleeper at the Internet Movie Database
• Sleeper at Box Office Mojo
• Sleeper at Rotten Tomatoes