An enjoyable story about a childhood in a central American town around the years 1939 to 1944. Allen's own anecdotes (he narrates but doesn't appear) enliven and enrich the narrative, which runs separate stories of a poorish Jewish family from the backstreets, and of a cigarette girl (Mia Farrow) who narrowly avoids being shot by a gangster, gains a precarious living as a radio 'chantoose' and ends up becoming a lioness among Hollywood gossip columnists. Farrow, whether squeaking bronchial Bronx or clambering over rounded vowels when she takes elocution lessons, has never been better; even her singing isn't bad. Diane Keaton makes an appearance at the end as a band vocalist, and her singing is very good indeed.

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