A Little Night Music

Harold Prince's 1978 film of Steven Sondheim's 1973 “waltz musical” (based on Ingmar Bergman's romantic roundelay Smiles of a Summer Night) was excoriated by critics, bombed at the boxoffice, and has been described ever since as the perfect example of how not to adapt a Broadway hit for the screen. What's surprising is that scripter Hugh Wheeler wrote the show's book, Prince directed the 1973 stage production, and the cast includes some of the original stars (Len Cariou, Laurence Guittard, and Hermione Gingold). But the negative assessment is fair, given that the setting has been inappropriately moved to Vienna, the score is truncated (with some of the best songs—“Liaisons” and “The Miller's Son”—omitted), the action is played in a stilted manner, and the cinematography is too plain to suggest any sense of dreamy magic. The movie is also hobbled by the presence of Elizabeth Taylor as the aging diva whose machinations set the domino-effect of newly minted romantic liaisons in motion. Taylor would seem to be a perfect choice for the role, but here her acting is poor, her dancing worse, and her singing simply wretched—“Send in the Clowns” is painful (there's some dispute about whether she's dubbed—if so, it's still awful). What's left of Sondheim's score is lovely, but it's a pity that the far superior 1990 PBS broadcast of the musical from the New York City Opera remains unavailable. Presented on an extra-less disc in a less than pristine transfer, this is not a necessary purchase. (F. Swietek)