The Smile of a Summer Night (1977)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title The smile of a summer night
Original title A Little Night Music
Country of production USA , Federal Republic of Germany , Austria
original language English
Publishing year 1977
length 124 minutes
Rod
Director Harold Prince
script Hugh Wheeler , based on his musical and a screenplay by Ingmar Bergman
production Elliott Kastner for S&T-Film Berlin and Sascha-Film
music Stephen Sondheim
camera Arthur Ibbetson
cut John Jympson
occupation

The Smile of a Summer Night is an American-German-Austrian feature film ( musical film ) by director Harold Prince from 1977. The film is an adaptation of the 1973 musical A Little Night Music by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler and thus a musical remake by Ingmar Bergman's film comedy A Summer Night's Smile (1955).

Plot and music

The plot of the film corresponds to that of the Swedish film of the same name , but has been relocated to Austria and also contains a large part of the songs from the musical. Elizabeth Taylor, who did not have a completed vocal training and therefore rarely sang in her films, is featured with the songs You Must Meet My Wife (with Len Cariou), the famous Send in the Clowns (solo) and in the finale (with Len Cariou).

Production and reception

The film is based on Hugh Wheeler's and Stephen Sondheim's musical A Little Night Music , which was successfully performed on Broadway from February 1973 to August 1974 and won a Tony Award for best musical of the year. The main roles in the stage version played Glynis Johns and Len Cariou.

In the film version, Elizabeth Taylor took the place of Glynis Johns; some other actors from the Broadway show (Len Cariou, Hermione Gingold, Laurence Guittard) were included in the film. Director Harold Prince had little film experience but was a major Broadway director and had also directed the stage version of A Little Night Music . Filming for the film, produced in Eastmancolor and 35mm, began in September 1976.

The film premiered in September 1977 at the Deauville Film Festival in France. It was first seen in the United States in December 1977.

The song Send in the Clowns became the most popular that Sondheim has ever composed. Record versions were created afterwards and a. with Frank Sinatra , Shirley Bassey , Bing Crosby , Zarah Leander , Grace Jones , Barbra Streisand , Michael Ball and Tim Fischer .

In 1990, directed by Scott Ellis, a television adaptation was made, A Little Night Music, with Sally Ann Howes and George Lee Andrews in the lead roles.

Awards

Jonathan Tunick , who orchestrated Sondheim's music for the film, won an Oscar for best music. Costume designer Florence Klotz was nominated for an Oscar, which then went to the costume designer for the movie Star Wars .

Web links