A Little Night Music (1978)

There are many enjoyable elements in the 1978 film version of Stephen Sondheim's exquisite chamber musical A Little Night Music, based on Ingmar Bergman's film Smiles of a Summer Night. First, Sondheim's score (all based on meters of 3) is full of riches such as "Now/Later/Soon," "Every Day a Little Death," "It Would Have Been Wonderful," and the famous "Send in the Clowns." There's even one reworking, of "The Glamorous Life," that became something of a collector's item for fans. Second, much of the cast is good, with original Broadway lead Len Cariou reprising his role as Frederik, the lawyer torn between his young wife, Anne (Lesley Anne-Down), and his former beau Desiree (Elizabeth Taylor). Others from the original Broadway company are Laurence Guittard (as pompous soldier Carl-Magnus) and Hermione Gingold (Mme. Armfeldt), and Diana Rigg adds a wonderful spice. Unfortunately Hal Prince couldn't translate his successful stage direction to this clunky film, Taylor's marquee value couldn't help her sing her big number, "Send in the Clowns," and a number of decisions--cutting songs, moving the setting from Sweden to Austria, eliminating the Greek chorus--just didn't work. It's worth seeing for the cast and for Sondheim's music, but all in all, A Little Night Music is one of the most dismal Broadway-to-movie adaptations ever made. --David Horiuchi

On the DVD
The 2007 DVD is in a barely perceptible 1.66 widescreen, not enhanced for anamorphic televisions. Years earlier, the film was scheduled to be released by Image Entertainment but the print was judged too poor to release. Hen's Tooth's DVD has visible print damage throughout; you won't use it to show off your home theater, but it is watchable, and the film's reputation makes an expensive restoration unlikely. If you want A Little Night Music, you're unlikely to get anything better than this any time soon, if ever. (Smalller quibble: only 12 chapter stops makes it hard to find the songs.) --David Horiuchi Amazon.com

A Little dull Taylor

Elizabeth Taylor is an extraordinary actor, however this time she seems a bit too breathy for the songs that she sings. The opening where she is looking out into the audience is a bit comical in the fact that Ms. Taylor is obviously not juggling.
Over all a good movie if you've never seen the original on stage. June 18, 2008

A Fairly Poisonous Package

Witty, moody, poignant, and ironic, SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT launched Ingmar Berman to international fame in 1957--and has inspired others for half a century. In the 1970s it inspired composer Stephen Sondheim, who with writer Hugh Wheeler adapted its complex tale of several misguided lovers to the musical stage. Opening on Broadway in 1973, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC was a great critical success, and although it did not have a spectacularly long run it has proven remarkably durable, enjoying many notable revivals in The United States, England, and Europe.

The 1978 film is quite a different matter. Directed by Hal Prince, who directed the original stage version, and starring several of the original stage performers, it was a critical and popular disaster of legendary proportions. This was partly due to the backers, who insisted on certain changes and cuts, and partly due to the cast, which was not always ideal; in an overall sense, however, it was due to Prince's utter inability to translate the humor of the piece to film, and what was quick and sharp and clever on stage became plodding and uninspired on the screen.

This aside, the great disaster of the film is Elizabeth Taylor in the central role of Desiree, an aging actress who determines to shed an unwanted and passing lover in favor of an old flame. Some sources state that Taylor sang her vocals; other sources state that she was dubbed. It doesn't really matter because whoever sang did so very, very badly; indeed, "Send In The Clowns" is so badly done that it is downright embarassing. And perversely for one so well known for her beauty, Taylor actually looks bad in the film. It would seem that cinematographer Arthur Ibbetson went out of his way to light and photograph her in the most unflattering ways possible, and her face often has a strangely mannish quality in close-up.

This might be forgiven if Taylor actually gave a good performance, but she doesn't. She phones it in as slightly over-ripe melodrama and without the sense of cleverness or style that the piece requires, and since the role is central to everything it essentially contaminates the entire tone of the film. There are indeed a few delightful performances here, with Diana Rigg a knock-out as the embittered Charlotte, but Taylor is so dire that it is hard to look beyond her to see them--and when combined with the overall plodding quality of the film it all adds up to a fairly poisonous package.

The DVD itself is a mediocre transfer of bad elements; I would not say that it is unwatchable, but it certainly isn't anything to write home about. There are no bonuses of any kind to leven the film itself. If you are a diehard Sondheim fan curious to see how this stage masterpeice was translated (no matter how poorly) to the screen, or if you think you can get past the directorial awkwardness and Taylor's dire performance to enjoy the work of Riggs, Guittar, and Cariou--give it a shot and good luck to you. But don't say I didn't warn you.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer June 11, 2008

A little less night music

If I saw this film when it was first released, I don't remember doing so which is not a good omen. You know your in trouble when the credits roll and the screen says; ELIZABETH TAYLO. This looks as though it was transferred from VHS. I liked the cast, especially Elizabeth. She's perfectly cast and does a nice job singing "Send in the Clowns" which is undoubtedly Sondheim's best known song. Why did Hal Prince feel that he had to play an intense key light on her face every time she had a close-up. We all know how old she is and how old she was when she made this movie. She was still beautiful here. Of all the music that was dropped, I miss Hermione Gingold's LIAISONS most of all. The sets, costumes and locations are breathtakingly beautiful but Hal Prince's direction is clumsy. What a shame the transfer is so poor. I too would prefer to have the PBS version with Sally Ann Howes but the version we have here would still be a must have collector's item for all the Sondheim fans. However, this is for die-hard Sondheim Fans only. Caveat Emptor! Three Stars for Liz, Diana and the source material. Hal Prince and the manufacturers of this inferior DVD get nothing. December 19, 2007

Sondheim is magic

This was my favorite play. The movie has enough to make it wonderful, for me. Any Sondheim material is a treasure. The language, the interplay of words, the depth of character. ahhhh September 18, 2007

Where to start?

I've been curious to see this film for a long time, being a devotee of Mr. Sondheim's, as well as a huge fan of the stage show, so when this DVD was finally released, I jumped at the opportunity to purchase it. When it came to me in the mail, I popped it straight into my player and prepared myself to be at least amused, I hoped. Unfortunately, it was not to be. First of all, this film is just as bad as you've heard. And not even in any sort of "so bad it's good" way. It's just bad. It's tedious, and plodding, and filled to the brim with boring, dull performances. The one saving grace of the film is the glorious reworking of "The Glamorous Life", which, however, gains nothing from being seen on screen, and could just as easily be enjoyed on the soundtrack recording. On the whole, I'd recommend seeing Bergman's "Smiles of a Summer Night", which, among other things, is set in the correct country, has sterling performances, and features some of the greatest dialogue recorded on film, between Fritz and Petra, characters who here (and in the stage version) have been reduced basically to extras. Secondly, the DVD itself is horrendous. The transfer is incredibly ugly- it looks like it was taped off of television in the late eighties. Not to mention, my personal copy started to skip uncontrollably during the song "You Must Meet My Wife", and continued to do so until the middle of the next scene. When I took it out to discover what was wrong with it, I discovered a large splotch of something on the playing side that ominously resembled dried blood, but which I'm going to assume was paint. And this is right out of the shrink wrapped package! Of course, I returned it, and I will say this: it was the very first time I've had to return something purchased on Amazon, and it was handled beautifully, so that system is running just fine.
Anyway, I gave the product two stars because I finally had the opportunity to see a film which I've been wanting to see since I first discovered Sondheim in my early teens. That said, I'm glad I had an excuse to return it. September 6, 2007

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