A Little Night Music
Starring: Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Rigg, Len Cariou, Lesley-Anne Down, Hermione Gingold, Laurence Guittard, Christopher Guard, Lesley Dunlop, Chloe Franks, Heinz Marecek, Jonathan Tunick, Hubert Tscheppe, Rudolph Schrympf, Franz Schussler, Johanna Schussler, Jean Sincere, Dagmar Koller, Ruth Brinkman, Anna Veigl, Stephan ParylaDirector: Harold Prince
Studio: Henstooth Video
MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Widescreen, NTSC
Running Time: 120 minutes
DVD Release: June 5th 2007
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User Reviews
better than nothing at all - Rating: 4/5
Flipping through channels, I came upon the PBS production with Glynnis Johns just as "A Weekend in the Country" was starting. Needless to say I stopped flipping and was entranced for the rest of the play. I didn't even pull out the tv guide to learn the title until it was over. I went in search of the soundtrack the next day and discovered the music was every bit as good when listened to with headphones but I am none the less a visual person. Searching for it on dvd when several other Sondheim musicals were released, I learned about the Elizabeth Taylor movie. I rented the vhs from the video store and enjoyed it even though her performance didn't have the same feel as Ms Johns did. Now while I wait for the day the PBS version is released, I will enjoy watching the movie because it's better than nothing when I want more than just the music.
See it for Riggs - Rating: 4/5
I am delighted that this is finally coming to DVD. I have watched the poor quality VHS many times. It is worth seeing just for Diana Riggs, if nothing else. However, there are other pluses. Taylor is not a singer but she is a great actress. Sondheim lyrics are wry and often poignant. True, songs were cut, but what is there is very entertaining. The costumes are great, too.
Hen's Tooth Video releasing the film of A Little Night Music on DVD - Rating: 3/5
Hen's Tooth Video is to release the film of A Little Night Music on DVD on June 5th (available for pre-order from May 15th).
Hen's Tooth Video presents
A Little Night Music
Middle-aged Frederick Egerman (Len Cariou) has been patiently waiting a year for his young bride Anne (Lesley-Anne Down) to consummate their marriage. But unbeknownst to Frederick, his son Erich (Christopher Guard) is also in love with Anne. To complicate matters, Frederick's former mistress Desiree Armfeldt (Elizabeth Taylor) arrives in town, but Desiree is having a clandestine affair with the husband of the Countess Mittelheim (Diana Rigg.) The mismatched couples in this delightful bedroom farce are all invited to a country estate where their lives (and loves) are inevitably sorted out.
Based on Ingmar Bergman's film Smiles Of A Summer Night , the show A Little Night Music was a smash hit on Broadway, winning six Tony Awards and two Grammys. The film, shot in Vienna, boasts sumptuous sets and beautifully detailed period costumes. The music by Stephen Sondheim includes "Love Takes Time," "Every Day a Little Death," "A Weekend in the Country" and "Send In the Clowns."
Colour
120 minutes
Rated PG
Catalog #4108
Presented in Widescreen Format (1.66:1)
Sascha-Wein Film in association with Elliott Kastner presents
Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Rigg, Len Cariou, Lesley-Anne Down and Hermione Gingold
In a Harold Prince film A Little Night Music
With Laurence Guittard, Christopher Guard, Chloe Franks, Heinz Maracek and introducing Lesley Dunlop
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Executive Producer Heinz Lazek
Based on the musical A Little Night Music
Screenplay by Hugh Wheeler
Produced by Elliott Kastner
Directed by Harold Prince
The Oscar-winning film version of Sondheim's Send in the Clowns musical! - Rating: 4/5
Based on Ingmar Bergman's film SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT, this musical film adapted by the Broadway creator's Hugh Wheeler (screenplay), Sondheim (Music and Lyrics) and Hal Prince (director), concerns three mismatched couples.
Desiree Armfeldt (Elizabeth Taylor), an actress, is seeing Count Mittelheim (Laurence Guittard) who is married to Charlotte Mittelheim (a delicious performance from Dame 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. Erick Egerman (Christopher Guard), Frederick's son who is also a divinity student, loves his stepmother Anne, who is actually only a year younger than him. Petra (Lesley Dunlop), Frederick and Anne's maid, Madame Armfeldt (Hermione Gingold), Desiree's mother, and Frederica (Chloe Franks), Desiree's daughter round out the action which occurs in town and at "A Weekend in the Country" at Madame Armfeldt's sprawling Manor.
Forget what you've heard or read about this film. It is flawed when viewed in context to the Broadway original. But considering the time that it was made - when film musicals were all but extinct in Hollywood - it is amazing that it got made at all! Open your minds and you'll find it is a heady, civilized, sophisticated and enchanting film musical that is a mixture of Cole Porter, Gustave Mahler, Anthony Tudor and just a little of Ingmar Bergman. The score is witty and romantic and features a new version of the song THE GLAMOROUS LIFE written specifically for the movie. The cast, many of them reprising their original stage roles, is uniformly superb! As for Liz Taylor's infamous rendition of SEND IN THE CLOWNS - No actress who played the part up to that point - and until Sally Ann Howes in 1990 - was what you would call a singer. The song was written specifically for a 'non-singer'! Taylor is just fine. She is also quite delightful in the duet YOU MUST MEET MY WIFE with Cariou.
You'll also find that Diana Rigg has an extra verse or two for EVERY DAY A LITTLE DEATH inserted by Sondheim for the film version as well.
Unfortunately - It has been said that a professional DVD transfer is extremely unlikely as the film's 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 claimed that the film was not likely to sell nearly enough copies to make a restoration worthwhile.
If you get a chance - see this film anyway that you can as it may just steal your heart.
To watch it more helps you to appreciate it more - Rating: 4/5
Having seen the stage play several times I can appreciate the movie for what it is.The movie is much slower and less funny than the stage play, yet the movie has some much more tender moments and dramatic flair.I love being able to see the held close ups of Taylor and Cariou.I love the chemistry of these two.Also, the movie fills in parts that cannot be done on stage.Yes,songs are cut from the stage version, but new lyrics for WEEKEND IN THE COUNTRY ,GLAMOUROUS LIFE and EVERY DAY A LITTLE DEATH make this interesting for a Prince-Sondheim fan.It definately is different than the original show, but I love it and watch it often.I always laugh when Cariou and Taylor are chortling about "her Dragooooooon!"
