Trivia for
Sleeper (1973) More at IMDbPro »

• Woody Allen confirmed the scientific feasibility of his screenplay ideas in a single lunchtime meeting with Isaac Asimov.
  
  
• The rebels' anthem is the same one used in Bananas (1971).
  
  
• The voice of the evil computer is that of Douglas Rain, parodying his role as the voice of HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
  
  
• The device used to give injections is actually a "desoldering vacuum" (used for disassembling electronic components) that has been painted white.
  
  
• Miles is told that his world came to an end when a madman named Albert Shanker got hold of a nuclear device. Albert Shanker was the president of the American Federation of Teachers.
  
  
• The rebel hideout was filmed at "the Sculptured House", a residence designed and built by architect Charles Deaton in the mountains west of Denver. The home was constructed in 1963 but the interior was not yet complete at the time of filming. In 2004, the home was offered for sale for $10 million.
  
  
• Allen originally conceived the story (in which people in the future are forbidden to talk) as a plausible way of making a modern silent film.
  
  
• Woody Allen plays clarinet in the music score.
  
  
• Diane Keaton's second appearance in a Woody Allen-directed film. Their personal relationship was over by the time she started appearing in his movies.
  
  
• Allen also consulted with leading sci-fi writer Ben Bova to make sure that some of his futuristic predictions were feasible.
  
  
• Getting the elaborate sets and costumes right caused the film to run behind schedule and come in over budget, even though the final cost was still only $2 million.
  
  
• The final edit, condensing 35 hours of film footage into a 90 minute movie, was completed two days before the film opened.
  
  
• According to editor Ralph Rosenblum, Woody Allen filmed and then deleted a fantasy sequence in which Miles plays a game of chess with life-sized chess pieces, and is then sentenced to death by the chess pieces after he loses the game.
  
  
• After the movie was released in one country outside the USA as "Woody and the Robots", Woody Allen inserted a clause in all of his subsequent contracts that his movies' titles could not be changed by other parties.
  
  
• Premiere voted this movie as one of "The 50 Greatest Comedies Of All Time" in 2006.
  
  
• The exteriors for the beige building in which Woody Allen's character lives (and where the nose is destroyed) were shot at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Foothils Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, USA.
  
  
• Director Trademark: [Woody Allen] [writer] Luna is a poet.
  
  
• Woody Allen originally intended the film to be three hours long, and in two parts. The first part would have him in the present day, coping with life, until his illness. And the second half, would be the futuristic part. But, United Artists rejected this concept.
  
  
• Loosely based on the classic science fiction novel "When The Sleeper Wakes" by H.G. Wells.
  
  
• This film permanently ended plans for two productions based on H.G. Wells' "When the Sleeper Wakes". One proposed production was by American International (long shelved due to the high proposed budget) and the other by producer George Pal.
  
  
• Woody Allen had originally hoped to shoot much of the film in Brasilia, Brazil's futuristic capital city complex designed by urban planner Lucio Costa and architect Oscar Niemeyer. Budget limitations however restricted him to using locations within the continental USA.
  
  
• The Playboy centerfold shown to Miles Monroe/Woody Allen is that of Lenna Sjooblom, Miss November 1972.
  
  
• Re-titled "Woody and the Robots" in French-speaking Canada.
  
  

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