Tony Roberts column

    Woody Allen was the consummate bumbler, a neurotic nerd stumbling his way through his movies. Tony Roberts was his polar opposite- handsome, suave, self-assured. Woody’s friend who exemplified the old saw that opposites attract. Woody’s films provided Roberts with great parts, but he had quite a good movie CV otherwise.

I’ll start with Tony’s films outside of the Woody Allen sphere. Star Spangled Girl (1971) is a Neil Simon story which was first a play. It has three main characters: Andy Hobart (Tony Roberts) editor and publisher of a struggling radical newspaper, Norman Cornell (Todd Susman) Andy’s friend and roommate and Amy Cooper (Sandy Duncan), a world-class swimmer training for the Olympics. Norman falls for her, she falls for Andy, and there are lots of Neil Simon laughs. 

Al Pacino is Serpico (1973) a straight New York City cop who just can’t abide the corruption swimming around him.  Unable to get any help from elsewhere, he enlists his friend Blair (Tony Roberts) who is a reporter with connections. They get the story run in the NY Times and a real investigation follows. Set up by his crooked colleagues, Serpico gets shot in the face and nearly dies. But the Times story won’t go away and neither will he, so he gets his chance to testify before a grand jury. This is a true story.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) is a nail-biter so good they made it again in 2009. Tony Roberts has a minor part as Deputy Mayor Warren LaSalle. Four robbers board the subway at different stops and commandeer the train. They demand a ransom or they will kill a passenger every minute. The city agrees to pay but the ransom is caught in a wreck. With minutes to spare, the ransom arrives. The crooks set the “dead man’s switch” which keeps the train running without a conductor. The crooks depart and the train barrels on. That’s all I’m telling.

Tony Roberts’ inauguration into the Woody Allen arena began with Play It Again, Sam (1972). Woody is the usually awkward nerd Allan. Roberts is Dick Christie, Allan’s best friend. Diane Keaton, another regular in the Woody stable, is Dick’s wife and Allan has a crush on her. The movie is jazzed up by the ghost of Humphrey Bogart, as this film has many echoes from Casablanca. 

In Annie Hall (1977) Diane Keaton is the title character  and Woody is Alvy, neurotic as always and trying to make a go of it with Annie. Roberts is Rob, who is Alvy’s always faithful best friend and who has a TV show. The movie is mostly about Alvy and Annie’s up and down relationship. Her clothing became more famous than the movie!

In Stardust Memories (1980) Tony Roberts is , well, Tony. He is once again Woody Allen’s best friend. Allen is Sandy Bates, a successful film maker. A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy (1982) is definitely lesser Woody. Roberts appears as Dr. Maxwell, one of many sex besotted cast members. In Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) Roberts as a very minor part as Norman (he wasn’t even credited). 

Roberts’ final foray into Woody land is in Radio Days,  the nostalgic look back at 40's radio shows, many of which are played out in snippets of plot. Tony Roberts’ voice is his main entree here as he portrays the “Silver Dollar Emcee”. 

All of the movies in this article are available somewhere. All are for grown-ups.