At Long Last Love is a 1975 American jukebox musical comedy film written, produced, and directed by Peter Bogdanovich, and featuring 18 songs with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It stars Burt Reynolds, Cybill Shepherd, Madeline Kahn, and Duilio Del Prete as two couples who each switch partners during a party and attempt to make each other jealous. Bogdanovich was inspired to make a musical with Porter's songs after Shepherd gave him a book of them. All of the musical sequences were performed live by the cast, for At Long Last Love was meant by Bogdanovich to be a tribute to 1930s musical films like One Hour with You, The Love Parade, The Merry Widow and The Smiling Lieutenant in which the songs were shot in that way.
20th Century Fox rushed the film's release, only allowing for two test screenings before the final version premiered at Radio City Music Hall. Despite a few positive published opinions from critics like Roger Ebert, At Long Last Love faced mostly horrendous initial reviews that mainly targeted the lead actors' performances of the musical numbers. It was originally considered one of the worst films of all time, and received very low box office returns, only making less than half of its $5.14 million budget. The critical reception was so negative that Bogdanovich printed newspaper ads apologizing for the film.
Apart from a 1981 videocassette release, At Long Last Love did not have an official home media release for many years; until the early 2010s the only available versions of the film were through bootleg TV and VHS recordings, and 16mm prints. Bogdanovich's 121-minute 1979 default version of the film was issued to Netflix in 2012, and the "Definitive Director's Version", which is 90 seconds longer, was released on Blu-ray in 2013.
Plot
In New York, 1935, Broadway star Kitty O'Kelly is dumped by her boyfriend after drinking heavily ("Down in the Depths"). Italian gambler Johnny Spanish wins a poker game and returns to his shabby downtown apartment ("Tomorrow"). Spoiled heiress Brooke Carter returns to her hotel suite after a night out, only to be given an official notice by her maid Elizabeth, saying they will be evicted unless she settles the bill ("Which?"). Playboy millionaire Michael Oliver Pritchard III drives home with his chauffeur and valet Rodney James after being bored with partying all night long ("Poor Young Millionaire"). The hungover Kitty runs out and hails Michael's limousine, mistaking it for a taxi. Rodney manages to avoid her, but he still causes a minor accident. Michael and Kitty start chatting and take an instant liking to each other.
Brooke and Elizabeth go to the race track in order to raise money for the hotel bill. They meet Johnny, whom Brooke dislikes. Brooke bets her last $300 on the same race as Johnny. Johnny's horse wins while Brooke's finishes last. After the race, Johnny offers Brooke and Elizabeth a ride. Elizabeth declines, but nudges Brooke to accept. Kitty and Michael, increasingly smitten, drink champagne at his apartment, while Brooke and Johnny go for a car ride. Brooke finds herself warming to Johnny and confesses that she has not heard from her mother, who sends her money, in three months. Johnny offers to settle her hotel bill, which Brooke gladly accepts ("You're the Top").
Michael and Rodney attend Kitty's musical and wind up sitting next to Brooke and Johnny. As the show begins, Brooke recognizes Kitty as her former schoolmate Kathy Krumm ("Find Me a Primitive Man"). Afterwards, Michael, Brooke, and Johnny visit Kitty backstage and the two girls reunite. The four go to the nightclub and Michael invites them to his country house for the weekend. On the way, they pick up Elizabeth who finds herself attracted to Rodney, much to his annoyance. They stop at Johnny's place and Brooke is disappointed to find he is living in a poor apartment building. Kitty and Michael manage to improve their mood ("Friendship").
The next morning, Rodney and Elizabeth fix breakfast for their employers while recovering from a drinking binge. She tries to seduce him, to no avail ("But in the Morning, No"). Johnny apologizes to Brooke for lying and promises he will make a fortune soon. When she remains mad at him, he goes for a walk around the grounds. He runs into Kitty and flirts with her. Michael squirts shaving alcohol in his eye and accidentally bursts into Brooke's bedroom ("At Long Last Love").
Later, Michael's mother Mabel comes to visit and invites the foursome to a dance party at the Racquet Club; they reluctantly accept the invitation. Brooke and Michael sneak out to the backyard, but are noticed by Kitty and Johnny, who quietly leave the party ("Well, Did You Evah!"). Mabel interrupts Brooke and Michael to tell them that Kitty and Johnny returned to the city. While sharing a taxi with Kitty, Johnny seeks to make Brooke and Michael jealous by following them around and posing as a couple in their view. She agrees to do it, but eventually they spend a night at her place ("From Alpha to Omega"). Brooke and Michael return to his country house and she openly tries to seduce him, and succeeds ("Let's Misbehave"/"It's De-Lovely"). Elizabeth does the same with Rodney by barging into his bedroom and forcing herself on him ("But in the Morning, No").
Kitty and Johnny make out in front of Brooke and Michael at a baseball game and a boxing match. Michael is struck by their relationship, though Brooke is unperturbed. Finally, at a movie theatre, Michael fights with Johnny in the men's room. They make up immediately afterward. Consequently, Michael breaks up with Brooke, and Johnny breaks up with Kitty ("Just One of Those Things").
Brooke stays in her suite and does not return Johnny's calls, who wins $500,000 in a card game. Kitty avoids Michael, who buys a horse called Kathy-O. Brooke reads about the purchase in the paper and mourns her lost relationship ("I Get a Kick out of You"). Brooke's mother sends a telegram informing Brooke that she has deposited $1,000,000 in her account. Elizabeth persuades Brooke to go shopping. Kitty and Brooke accidentally meet in the powder room of the Lord & Taylor store and tearfully forgive each other. Along with Elizabeth, they state their disenchantment with men ("Most Gentlemen Don't Like Love"). Kitty and Brooke make plans to go dancing in the evening before leaving for a walk. Elizabeth phones Rodney and hatches a plan with him.
Walking in the park, Kitty complains of her unrequited love for Johnny, and Brooke of hers for Michael ("I Loved Him, But He Didn't Love Me"). Rodney, Michael, and Johnny arrive at the club. Rodney dances with Elizabeth, finally reciprocating her affection. Michael and Johnny rekindle their relationships with Kitty and Brooke, respectively, on the dance floor ("A Picture of Me Without You"). The bandleader asks the dancers to change partners and they do. Dancing with Kitty, Johnny observes that Brooke has never been more lovely. Michael, dancing with Brooke, remarks that Kitty has never been more beautiful.
Cast Burt Reynolds as Michael Oliver Pritchard III Cybill Shepherd as Brooke Carter Madeline Kahn as Kitty O'Kelly Duilio Del Prete as Johnny Spanish Eileen Brennan as Elizabeth John Hillerman as Rodney James Mildred Natwick as Mabel Pritchard M. Emmet Walsh as Harold
Production At Long Last Love was Bogdanovich's first musical film, as well as the first motion picture he wrote by himself. He got the idea to do a musical film of Cole Porter songs when his then-girlfriend Cybill Shepherd gave him a book of songs by the composer. "His lyrics conveyed a frivolous era," said the director. "With a kind of sadness, but very subtle... Cole Porter lyrics are less sentimental than, say, Gershwin and more abrasive... Gershwin was the greater musician. But Cole was a better lyricist and I was more interested in lyrics than music." When he heard the lyrics for "I Loved Him", with its reversal of emotion and wry lyric, he decided to use that as the finale and "worked back from there". The film was originally called Quadrille and was equally weighted between the four lead characters.Bogdanovich--Will 'Nickelodeon' Be His Last Picture Show?: Bogdanovich--What Went Wrong? Peter Bogdanovich-- What Went Wrong? By DAVID DENBY. January 30, 1977: D1
In September 1973, Bogadanovich announced the cast would be Cybill Shepherd, Madeline Kahn, Ryan O'Neal, and the director himself.Bogdanovich Touch Turns Coincidence into Success: Turning Coincidence Into Success Haber, Joyce. Los Angeles Times September 16, 1973: o21. Shepherd had recorded an album of Cole Porter songs paid for by Paramount called Cybill Does It... to Cole Porter.Cybill Shepherd: 'Henry James Had Me in Mind' By Rex Reed. The Washington Post and Times-Herald October 14, 1973: L5. By March 1974, Bogdanovich had decided to not act, and replaced himself with Elliott Gould, who had experience in musical theatre.Woses Are Wed, Madeline's a Wow!: Madeline Kahn By ROBERT BERKVIST. New York Times March 24, 1974: 131. Gould and O'Neal dropped out. By March 1974, Burt Reynolds had replaced Gould. Bogdanovich says he was "talked into" using Burt Reynolds, who wanted to try a musical. "The whole joke is that he's kind of a nice fellow, good looking, not particularly good at dancing. He can't dally with the girl. He's rather ineffectual."Peter Bogdanovich hews to single theme--variety By Nora E. Taylor Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor 0 Apr 1975: 13. He gave the other male lead to Duilio Del Prete who had just been in Bogdanovich's Daisy Miller and who the director thought was going to be a big star.Bogdanovich Starring in Welles Film Haber, Joyce. Los Angeles Times March 19, 1974: c8. In March 1974, Fox agreed to finance the film.MOVIE CALL SHEET: 'Marriage' to Screen in U.S. Murphy, Mary. Los Angeles Times March 27, 1974: e14.
Filming started in August 1974. Resisting the urge to shoot another film in black and white, Bogdanovich had it art-directed as "Black and White in Color". He wanted the characters to feel like they were having a conversation using "greeting cards in the form of songs" like "they didn't know what to say to each other." The movies of Ernst Lubitsch with Jeanette MacDonald and Maurice Chevalier such as One Hour With You, The Love Parade, The Merry Widow and The Smiling Lieutenant influenced Bogdanovich to have all of the song sequences be filmed live, as it would recreate the "kind of sad, funny, melancholy, silly," and "spontaneous" vibe of the films. However, all of the lead actors, especially Reynolds "weren't accomplished singers or dancers," resulting in a lot of delays and mess-ups during the shooting process.
In addition, the cast had a tough time performing the sequences due to having to perform them in one take and deal with wonky receiver systems in order to listen to the instrumentals.'The End' is just the beginning McBride, Joseph; Riley, Brooks. Film Comment; New York Vol. 14, Iss. 3, (May/Jun 1978): 16-21. Bogdanovich later said he "was very arrogant" during the making of the film, "but that arrogance was bought out of a frantic insecurity. I knew it was so possible I was wrong that I became tough about insisting that I was right."The Lives, Loves and Hard Times of Peter Bogdanovich and Cybill Shepherd: The Heartbreak Kids The Lives, and Loves and Hard Times of the Heartbreak Kids By Sally Quinn. The Washington Post20 Dec 1976: B1.
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