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Peter Bogdanovich's Cole Porter

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Peter Bogdanovich's Cole Porter ORIGINAL PETER MOTION PICTURE BOGDANOVICH’S SOUNDTRACK MUSIC AND LYRICS BY COLE PORTER BURT CYBILL REYNOLDS SHEPHERD PETER BOGDANOVICH’S MUSIC AND LYRICS BY COLE PORTER MADELINE KAHN • DUILIO DEL PRETE EILEEN BRENNAN • JOHN HILLERMAN AND MILDRED NATWICK Associate Producer FRANK MARSHALL • Music Supervision ARTIE BUTLER Production Design GENE ALLEN • Director Of Photography LASZLO KOVACS Written, Produced and Directed by PETER BOGDANOVICH Technicolor® • Prints by DeLuxe IT’S DE-LOVELY Nearly 40 years before Les Misérables made feel it differently? You’re frozen into something you did headlines with its cast singing live onscreen, director in an atmosphere that is not particularly conducive to Peter Bogdanovich had the same idea in At Long Last creativity. You’re in a little room with a bunch of Love . Bogdanovich found inspiration for this musicians sitting out there or you’re in a little room with affectionate spoof of 1930s musicals from a volume of the musicians already having done their work and gone Cole Porter lyrics girlfriend Cybill Shepherd gave him home. … The best moments in any film are the ones for Christmas. One song in particular, “I Loved Him that happen by happy accident. If I’d prerecorded the (But He Didn’t Love Me)” — which was ironically later whole score I’d have lost all chance of spontaneity.” cut from the film — inspired him to construct a story Making the task even more challenging, Bogdanovich about “the difficulties of maintaining relationships, and opted to film most of the musical numbers in a how you like one person for sex and another person for continuous take, one that required absolute silence and something else,” Bogdanovich said in Bogdanovich’s no visitors on the set. Picture Shows . The actors had an earwig placed in their ears while Bogdanovich had already used Porter’s songs as the on-set pianist tried to follow wherever their vocal subtle, witty commentary in What’s Up, Doc? But the lines took them. The orchestra tracks were later laid on director cast Shepherd and superstar Burt Reynolds, top of the vocals in post-production, a technique that neither of whom was known for their musical prowess, had not been used since the early days of movie alongside Madeline Kahn and Duilio Del Prete, both of musicals. “I wanted it to be loose,” Bogdanovich whom had musical backgrounds. Shepherd at least explained. “If Cybill missed a note, or if Burt got a little paved the way for her onscreen singing debut, releasing off-tempo, that was fine, precisely what I wanted .” a 1974 album, Cybill Does It...To Cole Porter . “We all begged [Peter] to do it differently,” arranger Standard operating procedure for movie musicals and conductor Artie Butler said in our interview, “but he was to have the actors lip-sync to the onset playback of wouldn’t do it. He wanted the actors to have freedom pre-recorded vocal and orchestra tracks. But “it struck to express themselves. In theory, it was a good me as a terribly difficult thing to ask an actor to sing idea. … [But] we were all nuts from this. I wrote two or something two or three weeks before you shoot it and three sets of orchestrations. Finally I got replaced when then not worry about anything when they’re doing the they brought on another orchestrator, then he got scene except getting their lips in sync with what they did replaced. Then I brought on two more orchestrators. I three weeks ago,” Bogdanovich explained in finally had to share my credit with Lionel Newman. … Bogdanovich’s Picture Shows . “What happens if they Peter’s intentions were wonderful. They were creative in spirit. … [But] Peter, God bless him, didn’t know a orchestra, as well as a new dance piece called Hare , best — “The movie turned out to be lots of people’s clarinet from a tuna fish sandwich. He had musical choreographed by Peter Gennaro, featuring puppets, the favorite. I don’t give a shit what the critics say! Does taste but no musical knowledge.” Rockettes, and The Radio City Music Hall Bunnies. anybody ?” “The studio loved the dailies and rushed to get a great And, in keeping with the spirit of Bogdanovich’s The film did find a few champions like Roger Ebert New York booking at the glorious Radio City Music homage to ’30s musicals, a 1934 Fox Movietone and the London critics. After the London opening, nine Hall,” Bogdanovich explained in a 2013 piece he wrote newsreel accompanied the film, showing 51,000 people minutes’ running time was cut from the film, including on Indiewire. “Unlike all original Broadway musicals, enjoying the Roosevelts’ Easter Egg-rolling festivities at two complete musical numbers (“From Alpha to which preview out-of-town for weeks sometimes, we the White House, water babies having their hair sprayed Omega,” sung by Del Prete and Kahn, and Shepherd had exactly two previews and consequently were never with cellophane, Uncle Sam burning $8 million in and Kahn’s “I Loved Him” duet) as well as parts of three able to get the picture into the right balance between counterfeit money, and George Bernard Shaw telling others, though they were included on the two-LP songs and dialog scenes — which is the toughest and America, “Get rid of your Constitution because it’s soundtrack. Variety called the album “tasteful and well most important thing to perfect in a musical — and so keeping you from getting anything done.” Shepherd played throughout.” But even with a double LP, the we were rushed into opening a show that really wasn’t worked hard plugging the film, co-hosting The Mike album jettisoned Kahn’s “Down in the Depths (On the ready at all.” Douglas Show , and joining Bogdanovich and Reynolds 90th Floor)” opening number and Del Prete’s delightful At Long Last Love opened during Easter Week in the on The Dinah Shore Show . But, as Billy Wilder was “Tomorrow”. type of lavish program that harkened back to the glory famously quoted, “Hollywood is united in one thing — The film was shown on HBO within three months of days of showing films at Radio City. The program its universal hatred of Peter Bogdanovich and Cybill the film’s premiere. And though Bogdanovich recut the featured “Glory of Easter,” an arrangement of Anton Shepherd.” film three times at his own expense, it was never the film they had seen,” said Bogdanovich, “they were Rubinstein’s Kamennoi Ostrow for soloist, chorus, and The New York Post called the film “boldly released on videotape or DVD. He finally caught up not referring to any cut of mine, but to Jim Blakely’s!” innovative” and The New York Times conceded it was with the film 35 years later when it showed up on Though Bogdanovich contractually had final cut on beautifully and wittily set, costumed, decorated and Netflix. “Watching the movie as it streamed by,” he said the film, he liked Blakely’s version and it was this scored,” but there was little love on display from the on Indiewire, “I quickly began to realize that it was version that was finally released on Blu-ray in 2013 East Coast contingent. “What was reviewed was Peter quite a different version than either the theatrical or the (with an isolated score track), adding one more 90- and Cybill’s relationship,” Reynolds said later in Picture TV editions. … It was an edit that, if anything, was second sequence that was in need of major restoration. Shows . “Peter had done something that all critics will much closer to the very first preview cut which we had “The result is an absolute joy for those of us who toiled never forgive him for doing. That is, stop being a critic, discarded in dismay. But it was sharper, better. In fact, so hard on it, lo those many moons ago,” said go make a film, and have that film, The Last Picture it was the best version of the movie I had ever seen. Bogdanovich on Indiewire. “It’s the movie we had Show , become enormously successful. Well, what he And I loved it!” wanted to make, in all its intended glory, resurrected by did then was go on talk shows and be rather arrogant This particular edit came from James Blakely, who a man none of us had ever met, but to whom we will be and talk about how bad critics are. That was the final had been in charge of the 20th Century Fox editorial eternally grateful.” straw. So they were all waiting with their hatchets and department for decades. Blakely took the dailies and With the Blu-ray and now the premiere of the original knives. And along came Peter, and gave them restructured the film following the original script, and it soundtrack on CD, the film has finally been given the something they could kill him with.” Never one to was his version that had been shown on TV and cable. proper love . at long last. mince words, Eileen Brennan perhaps summed it up “So, all those times people came over to me and praised — Jim Lochner The sixteen songs featured in At Long Last Love and the stars who originally introduced them on Broadway. 1. LET’S MISBEHAVE (cut prior to opening) 9. IT’S DE-LOVELY Ethel Merman, Bob Hope • Irene Bordoni • Paris , October 8, 1928, Red, Hot and Blue! , October 29, 1936, Alvin, Music Box Theater, 195 performances. 183 performances. 2. I LOVED HIM Jessie Matthews • 10. AT LONG LAST LOVE Clifton Webb • Wake Up and Dream , March 27, 1929, London You Never Know , September 21 , 1938, Pavilion, 263 performances; December 30, 1929, Winter Garden, 78 performances.
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