A Little Night Music (1977) Reviews

• Mis-Blamed Mis-terpiece

  fshepinc2005-08-06

  There are several misunderstandings about this woefully mis-guided film floating around. First, Liz Taylor cannot be blamed for the sound of her singing -She was dubbed! I've heard her actual vocals -be very, very glad that another singer was used. Only Len Cariou, Diana Rigg, and Laurence Guittard's singing voices are their own. The decision to move the locale from Sweden to Austria had nothing to do with art and everything to do with finances. The picture was financed by an Austrian company... And woefully underfunded, which limited neophyte director Prince's re-shoot options (re the ever-expanding, ever-contracting Liz). Prince has said he simply couldn't figure out a way to use the vocal quintet for the film, so they and their songs were cut. Sondheim wrote new lyrics for Liaisons, and the song was filmed (as was In Priase of Women) but for some reason they were cut from the final version of the film. Perhaps length. Perhaps to keep the focus on the Cariou-Taylor plot line. The new version of The Glamorous Life was extremely well-done, and shows the potential of the piece in surer, better-financed hands. Casting the film proved extremely difficult. Liz Taylor's name value was crucial to the production. Many different leading men were considered, and in the end Cariou was only brought in at the very last minute because no one else had been signed. Ditto with Laurence Guittard. It's ironic that their performances are the best in the film. Most of the blame for this shambles falls on Hal Prince. He allowed the movie to be far too dark and Taylor to be far too desperate and clutching. Stephen Sondheim is said to have encouraged the dark tone. Perhaps another director would have lightened things up a bit and allowed the film to be more romantic and fun. A DVD transfer is extremely unlikely -The original negatives are all but destroyed, not having been preserved properly. Image Entertainment had the title on their release list for some time, but eventually gave up on it, saying the original elements were unusable and the title not likely to sell nearly enough copies to make a restoration worthwhile. The sound, in particular, is problematic -as it was terrible to begin with. There is a very good laserdisc release of the film, which is much clearer than the VHS version, but it's exceedingly hard to find. So -What was good about this film? The new Glamorous Life song/sequence worked wonderfully, as did the expanded Everyday A Little Death sequence. Cariou, Guittard, and Rigg gave excellent performances. Jonathan Tunick's new orchestrations and underscoring were, as always, first-rate -particularly during Erik's attempted suicide. (Tunick has a cameo as the conductor at the film's opening.) Prince's transition from the theatre stage to "real life" was well done, and the movie has a very promising start. Fans of the original stage musical will forever be frustrated by this film version, which could have been wonderful. UPDATE: Since I wrote this the film has been (at last!) released on DVD, and the soundtrack recording is now on CD. Several reviewers have complained of the poor quality of the DVD, but the video and audio restoration work was extremely well done. The film never looked or sounded better. According to the new liner notes for the soundtrack CD there were four additional songs from the stage score that were to be filmed, but the production ran out of money. I'm upped my original rating of the film, as each time I see it I find more to enjoy.

• Deserves a DVD release

  Jvbway2005-12-13

  This is probably one of the most maligned film versions of a stage musical ever made. And a while some of it's criticisms are well deserved, this film certainly has it's benefits. Among the better parts of the film there is, above all, Diana Rigg's Charlotte. Rigg ranks as one of the most under-appreciated actresses of all time, and her performance is simply pitch-perfect. It is also fortunate to have Len Cariou, Laurence Guittard and Hermoine Gringold re-create their stage roles, and Lesley Ann Down is a lovely addition, well cast as Anne, even if she doesn't do her own singing. On the downside, the setting of the film is unwisely moved to Vienna, where there is . no midnight sun, and much of the score is eliminated. And then there is the controversial casting of Elizabeth Taylor as Desiree. Taylor is a very gifted actress, but in this role Taylor is simply a black hole, overly dramatic and lacking the warmth and joy Glyinis Johns brought to the stage role. Still, since it is based on one of the finest musicals of all time, this film deserves a DVD release

• Not without interest, but without feeling

  didi-51999-10-22

  I really wanted to like this film - the songs are fabulous, and, together with Follies and Company, it really is one of Sondheim's best musicals. But this is a wasted opportunity. The strongest overlapping trio (Now/Soon/Later) on stage sounds terrific, here it just doesn't work. Other songs - particularly Liaisons and The Miller's Son - are missing. It looks drab and empty. But it does have its good points - Send in the Clowns is quite touching (it doesn't have to be sung - look at what Judi Dench and Elaine Stritch have done with it if you're not convinced) and Elizabeth Taylor is the perfect choice for Desiree. It Would Have Been Wonderful works well and is by far the musical high point. As some kind of record of the show, it is adequate, mildly satisfying, and passes the time. But it certainly isn't great art and fails to engage any hint of interest in the characters.

• Considering everything it's really quite good!

  bestactor2003-12-31

  I love this Sondheim masterpiece and having seen what Sondheim considers the finest staging ever (New York City Opera) live and on video many times over, the movie still has significant virtues. It was widely panned and dismissed as if all the film critics secretly met and took a vote to hate it together. Yes, some songs have been cut and some themes (most sadly, Mme. Armfeldt's) basically eliminated. But there are still some truly definitive performances and beautifully mounted scenes. And Elizabeth Taylor is far from terrible in her part. Unfortunately the current film on video is in terrible deterioration. This film deserves to be preserved as a rare film adaptation in Sondheim library. Remember the horrible film versions of Funny Thing Happened..., South Pacific and other great Broadway musicals that received poor screen adaptations. Taken in context of how seldom movie versions successfully transfer to the screen, A Little Night Music is not great but is certainly good, and far better than many other movie musicals that seem to be held in higher esteem than they deserve.

• Not definitive but definitely under-appreciated

  michaelanderson652006-10-02

  Based on Ingmar Bergman's film SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT, this musical film adapted by its Broadway creators Hugh Wheeler (screenplay), Stephen Sondheim (Music and Lyrics) and Harold Prince (director), concerns three mismatched couples. Actress Desiree Armfeldt (Elizabeth Taylor), is seeing Count Mittelheim (Laurence Guittard) who is married to Charlotte Mittelheim (a delicious scene stealing performance from Diana Rigg). Frederick Egerman (Len Cariou), Deseiree's past lover, is married to the still-virginal Anne (Lesley-Anne Down), who is half his age. Frederick's son Erick (Christopher Guard) is hopelessly in love with his stepmother Anne (who is actually only a year younger than he.) Petra (Lesley Dunlop); Frederick and Anne's maid, Madame Armfeldt (Hermione Gingold); Desiree's mother, and Frederika (Chloe Franks); Desiree's daughter - round out the action which occurs in town and culminates during a hectic "Weekend in the Country" at Madame Armfeldt's sprawling manor. Forget what you've heard or read about the film. Yes, it is flawed in context to the Broadway original, but considering it was made when film musicals were all but dead in Hollywood, it is amazing that it even exists. The score is still just as witty and romantic and features a wonderful new version of THE GLAMOROUS LIFE written specifically for the film. The cast, many of them reprising their original stage roles, is uniformly superb! And despite all the nasty comments, Elizabeth Taylor is quite charming as Desiree (especially in the duet YOU MUST MEET MY WIFE with Cariou.) Sondheim even added a new verse or two for the marvelous song EVERY DAY A LITTLE DEATH. If you get a chance - see this film anyway that you can as it may just steal your heart.