A Little Night Music (film)

A Little Night Music is a 1977 American–West German–Austrian musical comedy film directed by Harold Prince. The film is an adaptation of the 1973 musical A Little Night Music, which in turn is based on Ingmar Bergman's 1955 film, Smiles of a Summer Night. The film stars Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Rigg, and Lesley-Anne Down. It also features Len Cariou, Hermione Gingold, and Laurence Guittard who reprised their Broadway roles. The film serves as Prince's second and final feature film as director.

A Little Night Music
Theatrical release poster
Directed byHarold Prince
Screenplay byHugh Wheeler
Based onA Little Night Music
by Hugh Wheeler
Smiles of a Summer Night'
by Ingmar Bergman
Produced byElliott Kastner
StarringElizabeth Taylor
Diana Rigg
Len Cariou
Lesley-Anne Down
CinematographyArthur Ibbetson
Edited byJohn Jympson
Music byStephen Sondheim
Jonathan Tunick
Production
companies
Sascha-Verleih
S&T-Film Berlin
Distributed byNew World Pictures
Release date
  • September 30, 1977 (1977-09-30) (U.S.)
Running time
124 minutes
CountriesUnited States
West Germany
Austria
LanguageEnglish
Budget$6 million[1] or $7.2 million[2]

Plot

Fredrik Egerman is very happy in his marriage to Anne, an 18-year-old virgin. However, Anne nervously has protected her virginity for the whole 11 months of marriage, and being a bit restless, Fredrik goes to see an old flame: the famous actress Desirée Armfeldt.

Desirée, who is getting tired of her life, is thinking of settling down, and sets her sights on Fredrik, despite his marriage, and her own married lover Count Carl-Magnus Mittelheim. She gets her mother to invite the Egermans to her country estate for the weekend. But when Carl-Magnus and his wife, Charlotte, appear, too, things begin to get farcical, and the night must smile for the third time before all the lovers are united.

Cast

Production

Music

Stephen Sondheim wrote the music and lyrics for the film. He wrote the lyrics for the "Night Waltz" theme ("Love Takes Time") and wrote an entirely new version of "The Glamorous Life", which has been incorporated into several subsequent productions of the stage musical.

Location

The setting for the film was moved from Sweden to Austria and was filmed on location. This location shift changed the name of Frederich's son from Henrik to Erich.

Release and reception

The film received mostly negative reviews, with much being made of Taylor's wildly fluctuating weight from scene to scene. Some critics talked more positively of the film, with Variety calling it "an elegant looking, period romantic charade". The film has received critical praise for Diana Rigg's performance. The film holds an 20% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on ten reviews.[3]

Accolades

Home media
A Little Night Music
Soundtrack album by
Stephen Sondheim
Released1977
Recorded1974–1977
GenreSoundtrack
Length49:07
LabelMasterworks Broadway
ProducerJonathan Tunick

A soundtrack was released on LP. In 2013, Masterworks Broadway released an expanded edition on compact disc featuring one previously unreleased stereo track prepared for the LP and three mono tracks taken directly from the film's soundtrack.

The film was, for a time, available on VHS and LaserDisc. A DVD release was issued in June 2007. A newer version of "The Glamorous Life" was included on the new remastered version of the Original Broadway Cast Recording.

References
  1. Corman, Roger; Di Franco, J. Philip; Browne, Karyn G. (1979). The Movie World of Roger Corman. Chelsea House. p. 223. ISBN 978-0-8775-4050-2.
  2. Grover, Stephen (December 23, 1976). "Hard Act to Follow: Making Broadway Hit Into a Movie Involves Much Work, Big Risks 'A Little Night Music' Runs Over Budget, Into Snags; Few Musicals Strike Gold Miss Taylor in a Lunch Line Hard Act to Follow: A Hit on Stage Becomes a Movie Only at Big Risk". The Wall Street Journal. p. 1.
  3. A Little Night Music at Rotten Tomatoes
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