Um Pouco de Música Noturna

My one favorite part of this film has always been THE GLAMOROUS LIFE. If only the rest of the film had been as droll, dry, and on the mark as this segment. No one seems to have an opinion on Chloe Franks, the young actress playing Fredericka. I've always thought she was one of the best people in the film.

With this much talent on the table this should have been so much better. Liz was a great star, not a singer though, just the wrong actress for the role she should never have been cast. Not only does she not seem comfortable in the role she is not looking her best. It is a shame they didn't cast Glynis Johns in the stage role she created, she would have been perfection as the flighty, melancholy aging actress and she and Hermoine Gingold make sense as mother and daughter. Hermoine and Elizabeth Taylor bear no resemblance in either feature or gesture making it even harder to get into the material. Diana Rigg, Hermoine Gingold and Len Cariou do what they can with their parts and the settings are lovely but the direction is flat, in this sort of whimsy that is deadly. It has moments of pleasure but overall a miss.

The most baffling thing about this disaster of a film is the fact that it was directed by Hal Prince..the director of the original Broadway production. Unfortunately Prince,who managed to create a stage masterpiece gave us a film flop! Miscasting,poor editing and excising of songs really hurt this one. Elizabeth Taylor is terrible as the wistful Desiree Armfeldt,clodhopping through the film like a bull in a china shoppe.Her singing is pitiful(in send in the clowns she actually can be heard trying to find the note!)Christopher Guard and Leslie Anne Down are dull as Henrick and Anne,no emotion,no passion.

There are some strong performances however, Len Cariou,Laurence Giuttard and Hermione Gingold shine in the roles they created on Broadway (even with Guittard's and Gingold's big solos being cut)and Diana Rigg is outstanding as Charlotte,giving the film some much needed life. Altogether its a big miss,but with some small rewards.

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

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.