A Little Night Music
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Movie Reviews of A Little Night Music
Movie Review: Worth the Wait
Summary: 5 Stars
I have wanted this DVD for a long time and did not know how to get it. Then I started buying a few books from Amazon and decided to see if this DVD was available since it is a little old. Loved it!!Movie Review: A little Night Music DVD
Summary: 5 Stars
Great DVD of the musical. The original was damaged and I returned it and they sent out a second one. They are great to deal with in that way. The first one took forever to arrive though.Movie Review: A Little Night Music
Summary: 5 Stars
Delightful.....but I wish they had included two songs they left out from the music al.Movie Review: A Well Meaning Adaptation
Summary: 4 Stars
Like Sweet Charity almost a decade before, A Little Night Music was a musical adaptation of a foriegn language film, Ingmar Bergmans' classic Smiles of a Summer Night.
The Broadway musical was set in Stockholm but for the film they moved the action to Vienna and the beautiful Vienna Woods. But the story remains the same.
Lawyer Frederick Eggerman had a torrid affair with actress Desiree Armfeld but is now married to the virtuous Anne. Anne's best friend is the world wise Charlotte. Charlotte's husband, Count Carl Magnus is Desiree's current lover.
When Desiree returns to town, a series of events are set in motion and no one's life will be the same.
Elizabeth Taylor takes over the role of Desiree (originated by Glyniss Johns). While she tries her hardest, this is a complex score and even the simplist of songs needs a trained voice. Liz gives the best performance performance but her singing lets her down.
On the other hand, Diana Rigg takes over the role of Charlotte with flair. Her Charolette becomes the center of the film.
Three original cast members reprise their roles. Len Cariou, as Frederick, has the least demanding acting role but the most complex singing role. And Cariou has the voice to carry it off (well he was the original Sweeney Todd). Laurence Guittiard, as Carl-Magnus, has the comedy relief role and also the most complex song, In Praise of Women. And finally the incomperable Hermionie Gingold as Madame Armfeldt, Desiree's courtesean mother. She has not lost any of here grace or beauty. This role is almost a reprise of her role in Gigi but 20 years later!
Also back is the creative team, director Harold Prince and writer Hugh Wheeler. This is probably the biggest misstep of the movie. Prince is a great theatrical director but does not have a lot of movie experience and does not take full advantage of the medium.
The film won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design (Florence Klotz who also won the Tony for the same.)
This film is a nice bit of nostalgia and is a must for true muscial comedy fans.
Movie Review: Disappointing film of Broadway great
Summary: 4 Stars
This film version of one of the great Broadway musicals is all the more disappointing because the creators were involved in the filming. Harold Prince has some interesting ideas for the film but the changes to Sondheim's score are not an improvement. The cast are fine enough (Diana Rigg in particular) however the studio recording of the songs is obviously that - a studio recording that is at odds with the sound levels that should apply to the locales where the songs are supposedly being performed. Setting the story in Austria (a condition of the funding?) is also odd. The DVD transfer is acceptable quality but obviously not from a mint print - the ratio is also incorrect, with information missing from either sides of the frame. The DVD menu is also not well-designed (more chapter breaks would have been helpful). Nevertheless, it's a chance to view a version of one of the great Broadway musicals and Sondheim/Prince collaborations.