‘Woody Allen’ looks at creative process

You will see his typewriter, the Olympia portable Woody Allen has used for pounding out everything he’s written since his teens.

You will see the contents of the “idea drawer” in his bedside table where he stashes random paper scraps, any of which might inspire his next film.

You will see him in the role of director, both in the distant past and while making his 2010 film, “You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger” – a remarkable unveiling by an artist known for keeping a locked-down set.

In sum, you will see this legendarily private filmmaker up close and personal, charming and candid, and, yes, funny as he strikes a clear contrast with the neurotic, death- and sex-obsessed Manhattanite he has famously depicted in so many classic films.

An “American Masters” presentation, “Woody Allen: A Documentary” (Sunday and Monday, 9 p.m.) is a two-part, three-and-a-half-hour feast for all Allen fans and anyone else who is interested in a prolific, persistent artist’s creative world.

The film revisits Allen’s childhood in the Midwood section of Brooklyn and his first venture as a professional writer: supplying jokes to columnists and comics while still in high school. It covers his growing success in the 1950s and 1960s as a comedy writer for TV, then as a rising stand-up comic in his own right.

But this was all a prelude to “Take the Money and Run” in 1969, a zany comedy he wrote, directed and starred in – his first outing as an auteur who, astonishingly since then, has averaged one film per year for more than 40 years.

Allen has never been distinguished by his box-office might, although “Annie Hall” (1977) was a critical and commercial sensation, and this year’s “Midnight in Paris” caught everyone off-guard by becoming his highest grosser yet.

Speaking of his up-and-down fortunes, Allen says, with the flicker of a smile, “I don’t really care about commercial success – and the end result is, I rarely achieve it.”

More meaningfully, what sets Allen apart is the scale, scope and inquisitiveness of his output, which continues apace even as he approaches his 76th birthday on Dec. 1.

John Cusack, one of many stars from Allen’s films seen in the documentary, reports how, as a workday wears on, Allen will signal that it’s time to speed things up: He doesn’t want to miss the Knicks’ tip-off.

“I don’t have the concentration or the dedication that you really need to be a great artist. I’d rather be home watching the ballgame,” says Allen.

“What sometimes comes off as false modesty truly is modesty; the self-deprecating streak is very real,” says filmmaker Robert Weide, a lifelong Woody-phile who spent the past three years making the documentary.

Weide (rhymes with “tidy”) previously produced documentaries on The Marx Brothers, W.C. Fields, Mort Sahl and Lenny Bruce – comic heroes he happens to share with Allen. In October 2008, he made the latest of several overtures to Allen, seeking his participation in the documentary.

Then, Weide recalled, “I got a call from his assistant, saying, ‘Woody wants to know, if he were to do this…,’ and as soon as I heard the word ‘if,’ I thought, ‘I’m in!’ ”

Born in 1959, Weide discovered Allen when he saw “Take the Money and Run” as a 10-year-old, “and just loved it. I was fortunate to grow up with his films after that. And ‘Annie Hall’ led to my obsession.”

Weide in 1999 teamed up with Larry David to direct the one-hour HBO “Curb Your Enthusiasm” special, which led to the “Curb” series, where Weide remained for its first five seasons.

David (who appeared in Allen’s 2009 comedy “Whatever Works”) is among a number of on-camera interviewees rounded up by Weide for the documentary. Others include Mariel Hemingway, Diane Keaton, Louise Lasser, Sean Penn and Tony Roberts.

Soon-Yi Previn, Woody’s wife of nearly 14 years, declined to take part, as did her adoptive mother, Mia Farrow, with whom Allen had a 12-year relationship.

But the documentary doesn’t shut its eyes to the domestic scandal that erupted two decades ago. Nor does Allen, who marvels at the media circus that put him in the center ring.

“Apparently it was a good, juicy story,” he rationalizes with some understatement, “and it took a little edge off my natural blandness.”

Weide still seems amazed at having had the chance to look over the shoulder of his hero. And he’ll get to do it again: He speaks proudly of being among the chosen few invited to a screening of Allen’s current film-in-progress.

“I went back and told that to my high-school self,” he says with a laugh.