Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972)

Overview

Woody Allen’s Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask)* is a sketch comedy anthology, loosely inspired by the bestselling 1969 sex manual by Dr. David Reuben. Rather than a straightforward adaptation or educational satire, Allen uses the book’s provocative questions as jumping-off points for seven wildly different comedy vignettes, each lampooning a particular sexual taboo, myth, or neurosis.

The result is a film that’s uneven by design, blending slapstick, absurdist farce, parody, and psycho-sexual anxiety into a kaleidoscopic examination of sex in the early 1970s. It’s bawdy and juvenile at times, but also experimental, witty, and at moments, surprisingly subversive.

Structure and Segment Summaries

The film is divided into seven standalone segments, each introduced by a question from Reuben's book. Here’s a breakdown of each vignette:

"Do Aphrodisiacs Work?"

Premise: A court jester (Allen) in medieval times attempts to seduce a queen (Lynn Redgrave) using a love potion.

Style & Tone: Monty Python-esque parody of medieval romance, complete with fake accents, anachronisms, and sexual innuendo.

Analysis: The segment is a whimsical opening, setting the tone for irreverence. It plays like an extended SNL skit, showcasing Allen’s love of pastiche and his own nebbish persona clashing with archaic decorum. It’s silly fun, though not especially deep.

"What Is Sodomy?"

Premise: A respected doctor (Gene Wilder) falls in love with a sheep named Daisy, leading to personal and professional ruin.

Style & Tone: Deadpan absurdism with a straight-faced performance by Wilder.

Analysis: This is one of the most outrageous and oddly poignant segments. Wilder’s restrained performance sells the preposterous premise, making it both hilarious and vaguely tragic. The satire here digs into sexual taboos and societal hypocrisy, asking where the line between “kink” and “perversion” lies.

"Why Do Some Women Have Trouble Reaching an Orgasm?"

Premise: Allen plays an Italian man whose wife (Louise Lasser) can only achieve orgasm in public settings.

Style & Tone: A parody of European art films, particularly Fellini and Antonioni.

Analysis: Shot in black and white, with exaggerated melodrama and surreal imagery, this segment is a standout for cinephiles. It mocks the pretensions of European erotic cinema while simultaneously embracing its stylized beauty. Louise Lasser is excellent, and Allen’s visual homage is both affectionate and biting.

"Are Transvestites Homosexuals?"

Premise: A middle-aged man (Lou Jacobi) has a secret desire to dress in women’s clothing, which comes to light during a dinner party.

Style & Tone: Classic sitcom-style farce.

Analysis: Although its treatment of gender identity is dated by today’s standards, this segment is surprisingly empathetic for its time. It doesn’t ridicule the character so much as it places him in a social context of misunderstanding and repression. The comedy is built on tension and exposure, not cruelty.

"What Are Sex Perverts?"

Premise: A segment framed as a 1950s-style game show called What’s My Perversion?, where contestants guess the secret kinks of the guests.

Style & Tone: Satirical pastiche of old TV game shows.

Analysis: Sharp, punchy, and socially observant. This sketch skewers media’s sanitization of taboo subjects and the voyeurism of game show culture. It’s brief but effective, showing Allen’s gift for media satire.

"Are the Findings of Doctors and Clinics Who Do Sexual Research Accurate?"

Premise: A parody of mad-scientist horror films in which a sex researcher (John Carradine) creates a giant, rampaging breast.

Style & Tone: Sci-fi horror spoof, played for visual gags and absurd spectacle.

Analysis: Outrageously surreal and juvenile, this segment features a literal giant breast terrorizing the countryside. It’s cartoonish but also visually inventive. Though it’s the most immature sketch, its commitment to the absurd is commendable.

"What Happens During Ejaculation?"

Premise: The entire process of sexual arousal and ejaculation is depicted from inside the male body, imagined as a high-tech command centre (à la Fantastic Voyage or 2001: A Space Odyssey).

Style & Tone: Sci-fi parody and existential comedy.

Analysis: Arguably the film’s most ambitious segment, this one imagines the male body as a bureaucratic space mission. Tony Randall plays the brain, Burt Reynolds is the “mission control,” and Allen is a sperm cell nervous about doing his job. It’s clever, original, and hilarious—Allen’s neurotic humour in its purest form.

Themes

While the film is episodic and often juvenile, certain recurring ideas emerge:

Fear and Shame Around Sex

Each segment portrays sex as something fraught with confusion, guilt, or absurd consequences—mirroring the neuroses that would define Allen’s later films like Annie Hall and Manhattan. Even the most outlandish sketches explore the social and psychological baggage we carry into the bedroom.

The Absurdity of Sexual Norms

Allen uses parody and farce to challenge what is deemed "normal" or "deviant." From bestiality to transvestitism, he asks: who gets to decide what’s acceptable?

Parody as Commentary

Every segment parodies a different film genre—art house, horror, game shows, sci-fi—and uses the form itself to make statements about how sex is represented and processed in popular culture.

Direction and Style

Allen's direction here is surprisingly versatile. For a director early in his career, he flexes considerable visual range—mimicking genres and cinematic styles with accuracy and flair. From the black-and-white Fellini parody to the sterile control-room aesthetic of the final sequence, Allen proves he’s more than just a stand-up comic with a camera.

His editing choices (done with co-editor Eric Albertson) keep each segment tight, with effective pacing that ensures no idea overstays its welcome—even when the humour doesn’t always land.

Performances

Woody Allen plays himself in several segments, recycling his familiar neurotic, self-effacing persona to good effect.

Gene Wilder delivers perhaps the most grounded, memorable performance, managing to make an absurd situation feel oddly tragic.

Louise Lasser and Lynn Redgrave stand out in their respective segments, adding emotional depth to the satire.

Tony Randall and Burt Reynolds have brief but fun turns in the sci-fi segment.

Criticisms

Inconsistent quality: As with any anthology film, some sketches are stronger than others. The middle segments occasionally drag or rely too heavily on one-note jokes.

Dated humour: Some jokes haven’t aged well, especially in how the film treats gender identity and sexual orientation. Though often more curious than cruel, some viewers may find the treatment problematic by modern standards.

Lack of emotional stakes: The film is purely conceptual and doesn’t aim to develop characters in a meaningful way. It’s a comedy revue, not a narrative experience.

Legacy and Cultural Impact

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex was both a commercial success and a turning point in Woody Allen's career. It helped cement his reputation as a daring, intellectual comedian willing to tackle taboo topics with a blend of wit, absurdity, and philosophical curiosity.

It paved the way for more personal and formally inventive films like Sleeper (1973), Love and Death (1975), and Annie Hall (1977), where Allen’s neurotic explorations of relationships and sexuality would be grounded in character-driven narratives rather than broad skits.

It’s also a time capsule of early 1970s attitudes toward sex—just after the sexual revolution, when films were beginning to break taboos but still often did so with juvenile glee.

Conclusion

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex is a bold, experimental comedy that veers between clever satire and adolescent humour. It’s not Allen’s most refined or consistent work, but it’s one of his most imaginative and risk-taking films.

For fans of sketch comedy, parody, and early '70s countercultural humour, it remains a fascinating, funny, and often subversive work.

An uneven but inventive sex comedy, rich in style and satire.