Five years before Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman created the 1971 Broadway landmark Follies, the pair collaborated on Evening Primrose, a small made-for-television musical based on a short story by John Collier, and broadcast only once on the ambitious ABC Stage 67 anthology series. Stressed-out poet Charles Snell (Anthony Perkins) takes up secret residence in a Manhattan department store only to discover a small community of squatters doing the same. Here, he falls in love with 19-year-old Ella Harkins (Charmian Carr, Liesl from The Sound of Music) who's been held captive by this group since her childhood, but the couple's plans to escape are challenged by a mysterious quasi-militia known as the Dark Men. Sadly, Evening Primrose comes across like a third-rate Twilight Zone rip-off, with clumsy subpar Sondheim tunes shoehorned in at odd moments. Perkins lacks the vocal range to carry the score, and he keeps falling back on inappropriate Norman Bates–style tics and grimaces. Carr is better at interpreting the songs, but her acting is of the wind-up mechanical school. Evening Primrose has gained a small cult status among Sondheim addicts, primarily due to its longtime lack of availability (the original color video master is considered lost, and bootlegs of a black-and-white kinescope quietly circulated for years). But given the talent involved, it's a misfire that even director Paul Bogart (in a bonus interview) ruefully acknowledges could have been much better. Other DVD extras include an interview with Carr, test footage with Perkins, and a 28-page booklet. A strong optional purchase. (P. Hall)
Evening Primrose
eOne, 52 min., not rated, DVD: $29.98 March 14, 2011
Evening Primrose
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