unwanted child/part three

One of the built-in problems with criticism is that when reviewers like a film, they go back and see it again and again, studying it and elevating it even further in their minds.



This doesn't happen with a film that they revile or receive negatively. They move on and the awfulness of the film in question remains burned in their minds.



And, frankly, when the buzz is bad, watching a film with an open mind can be difficult – akin to trying to see the screen at the end of a lo-n-ng corridor where there are all kinds of wires and other paraphrenalia obstructing the view.



I can say this with some authority and certainty, having been a critic way longer than it's healthy to be.



Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo" is that rare exception of a film that was hastily dismissed by the critics in its day but that has been reevaluated, its standing adjusted upward. This James Stewart-Kim Novak fever dream has managed to survive its critically beatings in 1958 to become a "masterpiece." Richard Quine's "Bell, Book and Candle," another Stewart/Novak film from the same year, has also grown in stature after being initially written off.

In the case of "At Long Last Love," the critics saw it, disliked it and moved on, putting it out of their minds. I recall the critics complaining about the film but without ever really verbalizing exactly what it was they didn't like about it. (Not surprisingly, most of the negativity that continues to surround the film seems to come from people who haven't even seen it. This is not uncommon. Still, opinions based on hearsay or assumptions are ... worthless.)



Incidentally, one of the easier, more common slams against the film by its critics was that its cast couldn't sing, which is just not true. Everyone in the film can carry a tune; no one hits a sour note. And I admire their definace in the aftermath: Cybill Shepherd, for one, went on to do a well-regarded jazz album with Stan Getz, titled "mad about the boy." (Prior to the film, she had recorded an album of Porter songs titled "Cybill Shepherd Does It ... to Cole Porter.")



And Reynolds, unfazed, went on to sing in Colin Higgins' "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas." (Reynolds - whose singing voice, to my untrained ears, goes down easy in the style of Dean Martin's - also recorded an album, "Ask Me What I Am.")



Prior to doing "At Long Last Love," Mildred Natwick headlined the 1971 Kander-Ebb stage musical, "70, Girls, 70," about larcenous old-timers, which was based on the 1959 British play by Peter Coke, "Breath of Spring," which also became Robert Asher's 1960 film, "Make Mine Mink."



And Kahn and Del Prete both had musical backgrounds.



Note in Passing: If my memory serves me correctly, when Peter was planning ALLL, he had a different cast in mind, with the exception of Cybill Shepherd, who was always part of the plan; actually, Peter has credited her with initiating the film. However, the roles eventually played by Burt Reynolds, Madeline Kahn and Duilio Del Prete, were once envisioned with Ryan O'Neal, Barbra Streisand and Elliott Gould, respectively. I remember those names having been bandied about during pre-production, although I can't vouch for the veracity of the reports where I read them.



Next Up- The songs



Comments can be posted at the end of Part Seven.