Sleeper

Comedy, Sci-Fi

Woody Allen	Miles Monroe
Diane Keaton	Luna Schlosser
John Beck	Erno Windt
Mary Gregory	Dr. Melik
Don Keefer	Dr. Tryon
John McLiam	Dr. Aragon
Bartlett Robinson	Dr. Orva
Chris Forbes	Rainer Krebs
Mews Small	Dr. Nero (as Marya Small)
Peter Hobbs	Dr. Dean

Director	Woody Allen
Producer	Jack Grossberg
Writer	Woody Allen; Marshall Brickman

If Interiors was Woody Allen's Bergman movie, and Stardust Memories was his Fellini movie, then you could say that Sleeper is his Buster Keaton movie. Relying more on visual/conceptual/slapstick gags than his trademark verbal wit, Sleeper is probably the funniest of what would become known as Allen's "early, funny films" and a milestone in his development as a director. Allen plays Miles Monroe, cryogenically frozen in 1973 (he went into the hospital for an ulcer operation) and unthawed 200 years later. Society has become a sterile, Big Brother-controlled dystopia, and Miles joins the underground resistance--joined by a pampered rich woman (Diane Keaton at her bubbliest). Among the most famous gags are Miles's attempt to impersonate a domestic-servant robot; the Orgasmatron, a futuristic home appliance that provides instant pleasure; a McDonald's sign boasting how-many-trillions served; and an inflatable suit that provides the means for a quick getaway. The kooky unthawing scenes were later blatantly (and admittedly) ripped off by Mike Myers in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. --Jim Emerson

Product Description:
Miles Monroe has been cryogenically frozen for 100 years. When he's illegally awakened, he discovers he's a wanted criminal in world that has drastically changed from the one he left behind.

Drawing on the great tradition of silent comedy, Sleeper is Woody Allen's first film to tame his verbal wit and showcase his emerging skill with visual and physical comedy. Starring Diane Keaton (directed by Allen for the first time), Sleeper is "a bizarre mixture of New York neuroses, splendidly lunatic sight gags, Alice-in-Wonderland illogic, and too-funny-to-be-painful satire" (Los Angeles Herald-Examiner)!

When cryogenically preserved Miles Monroe (Allen) is awakened 200 years after a hospital mishap, he discovers the future's not so bright: all women are frigid, all men are impotent, and the world is ruled by an evil dictator…a disembodies nose! Pursued by the secret police and recruited by anti-government rebels with a plan to kidnap the dictator's snout before it can be cloned, Miles falls for the beautiful -- but untalented -- poet Luna (Diane Keaton). But when Miles is captured and reprogrammed by the government -- to believe he's Miss America! -- it's up to Luna to save Miles, lead the rebels, and cut off the nose…just to spite its face.

"Divine comic madness! Sleeper is an inspired work!" -The Hollywood Reporter