best film: The Godfather would be the easy choice for almost every actor in film history, so it is no surprise it is Diane Keaton’s strongest as well. But there is company here for at the top for Keaton- The Godfather: Part II is not far behind the 1972 original, and both Annie Hall and Manhattan land in the top 100 of all-time. So Keaton bests even Julianne Moore here. Still though, It is Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 crime opus that lands at the top here. Keaton’s part in the film, and series, is nowhere near as essential to the film as Pacino, Brando, Gordon Willis, Nino Rota and others- but her scenes with Pacino and her portrayal of Kay are absolutely vital to the film. She also gets the dazzler of a perfect ending.
Michael closes the door on Kay to conclude The Godfather
best performance: Annie Hall wins by a landslide here despite her strong contributions to a many other films over the course of her career. Keaton is the titular Annie of course and her transformation carries the arc of the film. Woody as Alvy Singer is consistent, very funny- but it is Keaton who gives the hands down best performance in the film. She sings (and not only sings- but sings with vulnerability), is awkward, charming and authentic.
Annie Hall– the pinnacle for Keaton- she is brilliant in a masterpiece.
stylistic innovations/traits: Keaton’s last archiveable was 1993 and that is a weakness. Still though, her work from 1972 to 1993 holds up with the best of that era. Keaton has many strengths- for starters, she is in four of the top 100 films of all-time. That is hard to top. Her blowup scene with Pacino in The Godfather Part II in particular is one of the key scenes of the entire trilogy. Keaton has the broader “early, funny films” with Woody of course as well like Sleeper and Love and Death– but then also the more mature art-house Woody films in the late 1970s’ like the aforementioned Annie Hall, Interiors and Manhattan. Her skill set translates to both comedy and drama alike- and her work in 1981’s Reds is important (though it broke up her and Woody) to show that she is much more than just the fortunate person who was cast in a bunch of Woody Allen and Francis Ford Coppola films when they were at their creative peaks.
from 1972-1982 Keaton was in ten archiveble films, three best picture winners, and four of the best 100 films of all-time- including The Godfather: Part II here
directors worked with: Woody Allen (7) and Francis Ford Coppola (3). She has thirteen (13) total archiveable films and eleven (11) were in collaborations with Woody (he did not direct Play it Again, Sam but he did write and co-star) or Coppola.
from Interiors– oddly enough the Prince of Darkness Gordon Willis (cinematographer) captured Keaton five times during this stretch: both Godfather films, and then the three collaborations to end the 1970s with Woody including Interiors here
top five performances:
- Annie Hall
- The Godfather: Part II
- Reds
- Interiors
- Manhattan
Keaton could do both comedy and drama like Katharine Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine- this is from 1975’s Love and Death here. As proof of her range, during the early and mid 1970s Keaton was simultaneously working with Coppola in The Godfather films and collaborating with Woody on his goofball comedies.
archiveable films
| 1972- Play It Again, Sam |
| 1972- The Godfather |
| 1973- Sleeper |
| 1974- The Godfather: Part II |
| 1975- Love and Death |
| 1977- Annie Hall |
| 1978- Interiors |
| 1979- Manhattan |
| 1981- Reds |
| 1982- Shoot the Moon |
| 1987- Radio Days |
| 1990- The Godfather: Part III |
| 1993- Manhattan Murder Mystery |
RIP. Her later career could have been better but what a wonderful screen presence.
An interesting thing to note, I have seen Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977) cited as one of her best performances in a lot of tribute articles/videos. Hmm. And I feel like she definitely would have gotten nominated for that at the Oscars if Annie Hall didn’t come out in the same year. She got nominated at the Globes but they have seperate categories for Comedy and Drama (Annie Hall was in Comedy, this was in Drama). Tuesday Weld was nominated at the Oscars for Looking for Mr. Goodbar in the Supporting Actress category.
Brilliant film and performance. It seems that a huge part of her winning for Annie Hall was the one-two punch in the same year with both roles being so different. Keaton was a brilliant dramatic actress and more people should see her work in Goodbar.
RIP Diane Keaton (1946-2025)
RIP to Diane Keaton. Losing so many legends this year.
@Harry and @Ross- RIP indeed- I saw this over the weekend and was traveling- but very sad- what a legend
I’d say it’s very poor decision making from Keaton to not have any archiveable film since 1993. She’s been decently relevant as a star for years after that. I mean in 2018, she had Book Club which grossed over $100M. But she has only done light dramas and comedies since then. I think De Niro fell into the same trap, but recovered since then.
@Drake- Can Keaton actually play Rosemary in Rosemary’s Baby , along with roles in Mia/ Woody colabs? I think she can play everything very well here but I’m uncertain about the physical transformation, climatic Paranoia and distress portrayed by Farrow? But is it within her range? Considering Farrow herself has not done it anywhere else but here- as far as I remember).
Sorry I keep asking these silly questions/ what-if scenarios but these things pop into my head and I love to get your thoughts, you’re quite proficient in movie/ performance/character analysis. I love your voice!
@M*A*S*H-I certainly haven’t seen anything from Keaton that is anything like Rosemary regardless of the physical transformation. Farrow’s hysteria is also present in Death on the Nile (a very underrated film) especially at the end.
@Malith- I agree with you that Keaton has not done anything like that but couldn’t she just act it out. Rosemary is fragile and naive-yes but she’s not dumb or mousy. Fragile, being passive, naivete are the traits Keaton can handle very well. The question is particularly the last hour and her growing hysteria- would she be able to act it out or is it outside her range.
@M*A*S*H-The thing is as much as I like Keaton she hasn’t given a performance as good as Farrow in Rosemary’s Baby or gone to the depths Farrow goes in the second half of Rosemary’s Baby.
@Drake- I agree to some extent but Annie Hall performance actually very close in quality (on Drake’s list these two performances are 20 spots apart). Annie Hall performance shouldn’t be discounted just because it’s more nuanced than out there in your face.
@Drake-its quite different though.
@M*A*S*H- Thank you for the kind words. I guess we’ll never know- but I can’t see Keaton pulling this one off
@Drake- I see. I get it.
@Drake- i have a question about one particular role. Do you think Keaton would particularly excel in Cecilia (Purple Rose) role? I feel it’d be an absolute perfect fit but few people disagree with me here.
Keaton plays naivete, innocence, low confidence, sweet, down to earth, whimsy, dreamer etc so many times in her career.
@M*A*S*H – She’d do fine here getting the audiences sympathy and agreed on the naiveté. Annie was very naïve
@Drake- Kay in Godfather part 1 as well. Very naive, innocent outlook.
And ofc in part 2 she’s full of disillusionment, resentment and pain.
@Anderson – Yes, I mean the Keaton vs. Farrow discussion is a fun one- you could do a whole study here. These are my rankings here and the two actors are ranked pretty close together. I could be wrong- but I think the reasons Keaton has a better reputation rests on a few factors: 1. box office – Keaton is just the bigger star- many of those lighter films of the last 30 years you’ve talked about here (Something’s Gotta Give, First Wives Club, Father of the Bride) 2. the sort of largely wrong assumption by many that Woody’s 1970s were way better than Woody’s 1980s 3. the Oscars- I think Keaton has 4 nominations and Farrow has none 4. Rosemary’s Baby (and Farrow’s work here) and and the sort of genre bias against it– it feels like it has lifted now in 2024- but for decades the idea that this film was on the level of Reds (let alone The Godfather films or Annie Hall) got laughed off by many cinephiles
@Drake and @Anderson- I see. You’re right @Drake. I agree with you but I have few thoughts on point 2, I think 80s Farrow/woody colabs are generally very well recieved. Hannah and Her Sisters often is considered the best work of Woody and The Purple Rose is Cairo is in tspdt top 1000 near 600th spot same as you. A lot of people I know consider Broadway Danny Rose to be Farrow’s best work and its widely appreciated as well. I think the reason why people (including me) generally consider Woody/ Keaton colabs to be better is because Keaton always got bigger footing. She’s like Toshiro Mifune if Farrow is Takashi Shimura.
Annie Hall is the single best performance/ character in a Woody Allen film period. It’s one of greatest performance of 70s and of comedy genre in general. In Manhattan Keaton is co-lead alongside Woody both standing ahead of the ensemble. Ditto for Sleeper and Love and Death.
Keaton actually has maximum screen time in Interiors. And it can be said that Keaton gives the best performance in Sleeper, Love and Death, Annie Hall , Interiors and Manhattan .
Whereas Farrow gives the best performance in purple rose and Danny Rose but she’s part of a larger ensemble in Hannah, crimes and zelig.
Mdsummer night, Alice, September (where she is solo/co- lead) are not thoroughly remembered.
So simply put Keaton gets more number of leading roles in Woody’s films so that’s why more associated with him.
@Drake-Book Club was a big hit as well. And Marvin’s Room got attention at the Academy Awards too. But it’s sort of a shame she has been decently relevant for all those decades but hasn’t looked to work with proper auteurs. Granted she is in Sorrentino’s The Young Pope.
I did not realize how few archivable films she has outside the Woody Allen collaborations. If we count The Godfather Trilogy as one film, she only has 4 archivable films outside the Woody films.(The Godfather Trilogy, Shoot the Moon, Play it Again, Sam and Reds) compared to Farrow’s 3(Death on the Nile, Rosemary’s Baby, The Great Gatsby). Not much better.
But I always thought she had a longer career than Farrow. Probably because she has kept starring in these lighter films in the last 30 years.
I’m not familiar with Farrow’s work with Woody. But from what I have seen from Farrow(Rosemary’s Baby, Death on the Nile) and Keaton(Godfather, 1970’s Woody) they are very different actresses. And I think Farrow is more unique. She appears very hysterical and portrays desperation extremely well. Keaton is more of the charming type but can handle emotional scenes very well too. I think Farrow would be great in the Shelley Duvall The Shining role for example while I cannot see Keaton doing that.
@Lionel – exciting road ahead here with some big Woody films to cross off the list
@Lionel and @Drake
Keaton won’t do Rosemary’s Baby justice (i guess)
And since you’ve not seen 80s woody Allen films but like Keaton plays wide eyed naivete and innocent outlook in the Godfather part 1 and parts of Annie Hall, I think she’ll ace the purple rose role. She can play Tina in BDR (confident, sassy etc), Alice (quirky, naive, introspective), femme fatale role in shadows and fog.
@Drake- do you agree with me here. I think people may argue against purple rose – Cecilia role but think Keaton plays naivete excellently in the Godfather part 1 and sweet, approachable, down to earth in Anni Hall (in initial parts quite timid herself), sleeper etc. she also has a very sweet voice. Cecilia is timid but I don’t think she’s is weak-willed.
@M*A*S*H- Yeah I’m tracking and agree with you here. I think Keaton would do well in both Hannah and Her Sisters and Crimes & Misdemeanors. Keaton also moved away from Woody to take Reds and though it wasn’t worth missing the whole Woody/Mia era of films- it is a strong film and part of her resume.
@Drake- yep! A midsummer night’s sex comedy was written for Keaton. I don’t want her to lose Reds. It’s a great film and she’s so good in it. But those Woody/Mia films would have made her resume soar (not that it’s lacking or anything).
Also I think Crimes and misdemeanors seems easy fit for Keaton.
More so than Mia Farrow’s roles here for Hannah and Her Sisters Lee (Barbara Hershey role) seems like an even perfect fit, so does Sally (Judy Davis role) in husband and wives. Right?
@M*A*S*H- That tracks. I think Keaton can do Mia’s wife role in Hannah. I thought Hershey was much younger than both Keaton and Mia and her role as leee Lee benefitted a little from that- but she’s only a few years younger.
@Drake- Hershey is only three years younger than Farrow and two years younger than Keaton. Keaton herself is a year younger than Farrow.
I guess Lee is the middle sister in the film being more settled and mature than Holly.
Also the film doesn’t imply that Elliott’s infatuation is based on Lee being younger than Hannah. Right?
Keaton is perfect for that highly internalized and introspective character.
Lee is my favourite character in the movie. She also sort of stands out in Woody’s oeuvre. Her arc through the narrative is played in a very internalized way (like say Landau in crimes and misdemeanors). She gets least number of witty lines in the movie. Probably that’s why Hershey’s work is so underrated in the film because she’s the most understated of the five main characters (and even Von Sydow).
@M*A*S*H- You’re right- they are just closer in age than I had always thought. I saw this one nearly 40 years ago at this point.
@Drake- i guess you mean 4.
@M*A*S*H.- I mean 40- Hannah and Her Sisters is nearly 40 years old
@Drake- I’m sorry but I don’t get it. Do you mean that you saw the film back in 1986 and never revisited it or is it that when you first saw it in 1986 you through that Hershey’s character is quite young and then you found her to be only 2-3 years younger. I’m guessing it’s the latter- haha.
@M*A*S*H – the latter- I first saw this film so long ago and I guess always held the belief that she was much younger than both Mia and Keaton— its only when we had this conversation a few days ago I found out she was pretty close in age actually. Sorry for the confusion
@Drake- if Keaton and Woody Allen kept collaborating (Midsummer night’s sex comedy was written for Keaton) then do you think Keaton would have excelled in all of Mia Farrow’s roles in Woody’s films?
I can definately see it with the exception of one or two (Hannah and Her Sisters and Husband and Wives for instance for Instance- I think she’d be more fitting for Barbara Hershey and Judy Davis roles in those respective films) but Broadway Danny Rose seems a fit and her Annie Hall in the beginning of the movie makes me feel that she’ll ace that Purple Rose role as well. What do you think?
@M*A*S*H- Fascinating- I think both actors would play each other’s roles for the most part. I mean they’d tweak them and make them their own. But let me think on this- and perhaps others can chime in. This is a good question – probably worthy of a full length post or paper.
@Drake- you’re right! But I think Farrow can play unintelligent very well but Keaton cannot. Also I don’t think Celia in Purple Rose is unintelligent by any means. She’s just timid, repressed maybe. I think Keaton can play that.
Also, do you think that if the movie was made in 80s Keaton can play Marge Gunderson in Fargo- or do you think Keaton would be more flamboyant and less firm? I personally think Keaton can play that role very well. Keaton has charm, and charisma seen in a lot of Woody Allen movies and can also be rigid and firm (carry some authority) like in Reds.
@M*A*S*H- Really good work here- Keaton sure plays unintelligent in the “early, funny ones” Woody films like Sleeper and Love and Death.
Tougher for me to see her as Marge- perhaps you’re right though.
@Drake- you’re right, probably I meant a very dull character. But yeah Keaton can absolutely play timid, naivete, innocence etc as well as anyone
Giving it more thought I think I was wrong about Marge I guess. I think I just looked at it superficially. Along with being charming and firm macdormand filled Marge with nuances and expressions that seem so original and irreplicable at this point.
Are there any comedic roles outside of Woody Allen canon that seem a fit for Keaton?
Didn’t Looking For Mr. Goodbar made the archives? Absolutely crazy ending. Keaton was nominated for best Actress-Drama at the Golden Globes. The same year as Annie Hall
Hoping to see Maggie Cheung and Gong Li on this list!
Hi Drake hope all is well. I was wondering if you were still planning on getting the top 1000 list out at some point in the next few months? That’s a page I have been excited for a while.
@Harry- Thanks for checking in. That is the plan- but I did decide to hit pause for a bit. We’ll see on the timing of it.
@Malith- thank you for the assistance here