Blu-ray Review Song of Norway Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[Robin9]

Star! Was one bad movie. But Darling Lili was the clunker that killed her career and it had nothing to do with the editing. There was nothing to be saved. God awful on every level. It only did well at radio City because it was the kind of film at that point that would do well at radio City appealing to an older audience who thought they were getting an old fashioned Julie Andrews musical. 1776 and Mame were also big hits there and then immediately took a header after they left for general release. She was a supporting player in 10 and nobody went to see it because of her. And Victor Victoria is way overrated and was hardly a big hit and remains a cult favorite among gay audiences. And her TV show directed by her husband was another huge bomb. The Tamarind Seed is also pretty bad.
Michael Feingold of the village voice said the only answer to Julie Andrews career woes is divorce.
She is only a huge star today because of her first two movies.

It seems you don't like Julie Andrews and are eager to denigrate her work.

Darling Lili is not a clunker. It's a good musical with an excellent score from Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer - the only entire score they did together - but weakened by too many flying sequences. I'm hoping for a Blu-ray disc.

Victor/Victoria is not overrated because it never did arouse much general admiration. In fact it's underrated because the many good points are not widely acknowledged. For example, the Le Jazz Hot number is superb, one of the best things Julie Andrews ever did, but remains curiously unrecognized and uncelebrated.

The Tamarind Seed is not a bad film. It proceeds more sedately than some would like and is more a love story than a spy movie which disappoints many viewers, but the film works quite well.

A film is not a bad film merely because it does not accord with your taste,

 

[haineshisway]

First of all, Victor/Victoria was a HIT. It got great reviews and audiences loved it and it got rave reviews. At the time, its good points were absolutely acknowledged - seven Oscar nominations. I don't know how anyone who was around at the time could say otherwise. The reported box-office is absolutely incorrect if you're looking at the Wikipedia page, but then anyone can put anything they like there.

 

[haineshisway]

Sorry to bring up this old thread, but on another site I posted the following. Someone said it still lost money as you have to make four times it's production cost to make a profit. I thought it was two times.

View attachment 127299

the rule of thumb for breakeven is two-and-a-half times the cost, but I don't think that works anymore given that studios routinely spend insane amounts of money on promotion now in ways they never did before.

 

[roxy1927]

It did not accord with the audiences tastes either.
And I am a very big Andrews fan. But she wasted most of her career when she hooked with Edwards. I was at the first performance of Tamarind Seed at Radio City. I recently watched it on TV. As dull as I remember. Le Jazz Hot made no stir either when it was done on Broadway.
As I said I wished she had returned to Broadway in the 70s when she still had the energy and chops.

 

[haineshisway]

It did not accord with the audiences tastes either.
And I am a very big Andrews fan. But she wasted most of her career when she hooked with Edwards. I was at the first performance of Tamarind Seed at Radio City. I recently watched it on TV. As dull as I remember. Le Jazz Hot made no stir either when it was done on Broadway.
As I said I wished she had returned to Broadway in the 70s when she still had the energy and chops.

What are you basing this on? I saw it six times on its initial release and audiences were full and loved it. It most certainly did accord with audiences tastes and critics' tastes and the Academy's tastes.

 

[roxy1927]

Are you talking about Darling Lili?

I saw Mame at Radio City. Waited hours to get in. I thought it was terrible. And the audience loved it. Practically cheering. It did not keep it from one of the most infamous of musical bombs.

And it cannot be denied Darling Lili finished off Andrews box office stardom.
But maybe we should be talking about the glowing career of Florence Henderson.

 

[roxy1927]

And if you are talking about Darling Lili at Radio City how I envy you. One of my greatest theater going regrets is not seeing their production of Bolero. It was the last time it was done. And I literally started regularly going to the Music Hall a few days after its closing with the film Sunflower. That Bolero looks very wonderful. I just missed it.

 

[Thomas T]

Star! Was one bad movie. But Darling Lili was the clunker that killed her career and it had nothing to do with the editing. There was nothing to be saved. God awful on every level. It only did well at radio City because it was the kind of film at that point that would do well at radio City appealing to an older audience who thought they were getting an old fashioned Julie Andrews musical. 1776 and Mame were also big hits there and then immediately took a header after they left for general release. She was a supporting player in 10 and nobody went to see it because of her. And Victor Victoria is way overrated and was hardly a big hit and remains a cult favorite among gay audiences. And her TV show directed by her husband was another huge bomb. The Tamarind Seed is also pretty bad.
Michael Feingold of the village voice said the only answer to Julie Andrews career woes is divorce.
She is only a huge star today because of her first two movies.

You are, of course, entitled to an opinion as we all are. Is Darling Lili a great movie? No, but even in its butchered form it has its charms, notably the musical numbers and the aerial sequences. You can't stand it, well and good but to say that nothing could have saved it is presumptuous (unless you've seen the Edwards cut). I'll take your word for it that you're a Julie Andrews fan but obviously not a Blake Edwards fan. I'm sure Ms. Andrews wouldn't have traded a dozen "hit" movies for the happy marriage she had with Edwards.

And The Tamarind Seed is an excellent spy romance ..... and who knew Julie Andrews could look so sensational in a bikini?

 

[uncledougie]

Song of Norway was shown locally in Dallas on the UA Cine huge D-150 screen in all its scenic and audio glory and dramatic paucity. Florence Henderson’s career certainly survived the financial and critical debacle and the film just disappeared quickly when the audiences stayed away in droves on the poor word of mouth. Darling Lili that same year wasn’t as critically drubbed but it obviously wasn’t a financial success, got at best a lukewarm reception. and apparently was a thorn in the side for Blake Edwards the rest of his life. Why he’d later only allow the butchered version to be shown is perplexing, and I wish for a decent Blu-ray release whoever controls the rights (Paramount?). I have the Region 2 DVD and it looks and sounds perfectly acceptable and is the longer version, thank heaven. The charming score by Mancini and Mercer is a delight, and “Whistling Away the Dark” is as stunningly lovely as anything Julie Andrews ever sang.

 

[haineshisway]

Are you talking about Darling Lili?

I saw Mame at Radio City. Waited hours to get in. I thought it was terrible. And the audience loved it. Practically cheering. It did not keep it from one of the most infamous of musical bombs.

And it cannot be denied Darling Lili finished off Andrews box office stardom.
But maybe we should be talking about the glowing career of Florence Henderson.

No, I'm talking about Victor/Victoria - which was said to be not in accordance with audience tastes and a flop.

 

[DarkVader]

The soundtrack to Star! is excellent. I grew up listening to the lp which I loved. The problem is the screen play which is disjointed and has no style but the production and photography are first class.
If only Julie had returned to Broadway in the 70s when she was still at the peak of her powers. Honestly I would have rather have seen her in the King and I than Yul who when I saw him had played the role too many times and this was in the 70s during his first revival at the Uris! Anna was the lead originally in any case when the musical first opened. Julie at that point singing the score would have been something. But she was under the spell of that not first class film maker who had her in a supporting role playing second fiddle to a very naked Bo Derek in a very silly coarse movie. What a waste.

I'm all for one expressing their opinion but it seems that when it comes to Blake Edwards you have an extremely sharpened axe-to-grind - - - and calling him a "not first class film-maker" is an unfortunate choice of words for the man who directed such classic films as "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "Days of Wine and Roses".

 

[Thomas T]

I'm all for one expressing their opinion but it seems that when it comes to Blake Edwards you have an extremely sharpened axe-to-grind - - - and calling him a "not first class film-maker" is an unfortunate choice of words for the man who directed such classic films as "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "Days of Wine and Roses".

And don't forget The Pink Panther!

 

[Thomas T]

She is only a huge star today because of her first two movies.

Julie Andrews is only a huge star today because of her first two movies? Mary Poppins, okay but The Americanization Of Emily? Surely you jest. Emily is a good film and showed her versatility but seriously?

No doubt you're going say you meant The Sound Of Music but how big a fan of Andrews can you be if you forgot Americanization Of Emily? Every true Julie Andrews fan knows it was her second film and released the same year as Poppins.

 

[DarkVader]

Julie Andrews is not a huge star today because of her first two movies. To relegate her star status to just 2 films is preposterous, just not true, and does her legacy a great disservice. I can't even...SMDH

 

[RolandL]

Please delete.

 

[Robin9]

And don't forget The Pink Panther!

Absolutely . . . . and don't forget Experiment In Terror either. (I re-watched the Blu-ray disc a week or so ago)

 

[haineshisway]

I'm all for one expressing their opinion but it seems that when it comes to Blake Edwards you have an extremely sharpened axe-to-grind - - - and calling him a "not first class film-maker" is an unfortunate choice of words for the man who directed such classic films as "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "Days of Wine and Roses".

Like every filmmaker in history, Blake had his ups and downs, but when he was on there was no better, especially filming comedy in scope - an absolute master. 10 isn't coarse, it's hilarious and ultimately touching and about a specific character's mid-life crisis. Victor/Victoria is terrific. Going back to the start, I'd seen Operation Petticoat and maybe one other but even as a kid they didn't register with me. No, my first major Blake was a sneak preview of High Time, which I loved and which got huge laughs. It doesn't hold up well but I don't care, I still love it. Breakfast at Tiffany's was fantastic, of course, and its ending is one of the greatest in all of cinema. I also saw Experiment in Terror at a sneak preview (all these sneak previews, in the days when major studio previews meant something and no one knew what they were going to see is the subject of my new novel, Preview Harvey, and Blake plays a role in the book) - and it was very much in the Peter Gunn creepy vein and I loved it, too. Days of Wine and Roses was a great movie, as was The Pink Panther. A Shot in the Dark had some truly hilarious bits but ultimately overstayed its welcome, at least for me. The Great Race was a mystery to me - I just thought it way too long and it was the first time I didn't like Jack Lemmon - I know most love it, but it was a flop, and especially its second half really did not work for me - my first Blake disappointment. Then came two more lesser films before he rebounded with The Party, which I also saw at a sneak preview, which had one huge laugh after another right up to the end. Then came his rough period. I heard so many terrible things about Darling Lili that I stayed away and didn't see it until it came out on Blu-ray and other than a few highlights, it wasn't for me. Nor was Wild Rovers, although that film was taken away from him so it might have been better. For me, all his next films didn't work and I began to worry that I'd never ever like another Blake film. The Carey Treatment wasn't good, nor was The Tamarind Seed, and I saw Return of the Pink Panther at a sneak preview and other than a nice reaction when Sellers first came on, it got no laughs at all, one of the most disastrous previews ever - they ended up doing quite a few reshoots before it was finally released but I couldn't bring myself to see it again, same with Revenge of the Pink Panther.

But then came 10 and what a rebound that was - there was Blake in all his glory - incredible big laughs, Dudley Moore giving a great performance, Brian Dennehey making so much out of a really nothing role, Bo, who I didn't find attractive at all but she got the job done, Dee Wallace, absolutely wonderful and heartbreaking, and Darling Julie, back in form. And if that wasn't comeback enough, we got S.O.B. a nasty little movie that somehow really worked well and then came Victor/Victoria and that was a real and total audience pleaser and beautifully shot and directed.

After that, it was mostly downhill - I hated all the Panther movies and wished he'd just put a stop to them. The only other Blake's that worked for me at all, in spurts, were Mickey and Maude and Switch. All the others fell flat, even Sunset, which I really wanted to like.

But as an overall career, Blake was an absolute master.

 

[OliverK]

To each his own. I do not think Star! is a bad movie. It wasn't popular here, that's for sure, but it wasn't Julie's fault. She gives a virtuoso performance in a movie tailored to display her gifts. People just weren't interested in seeing Julie as a sophisticate. Julie wasn't interested in playing an innocent any longer: that's why her movie career tanked.

Star! in 70mm is one of the sharpest musicals I have seen - it looks quite stunning despite not having that many daylight or outdoor scenes.

It is also a pretty good movie especially if one is going in with lowered expectations after reading this thread

 

[JC Riesenbeck]

It did not accord with the audiences tastes either.
And I am a very big Andrews fan. But she wasted most of her career when she hooked with Edwards. I was at the first performance of Tamarind Seed at Radio City. I recently watched it on TV. As dull as I remember. Le Jazz Hot made no stir either when it was done on Broadway.
As I said I wished she had returned to Broadway in the 70s when she still had the energy and chops.

I'm not much for anecdotal stories, but I'm giving you one anyway. Back in the 80's, I worked at one of the first video rental stores before the big chains moved in and took over. The owner and his wife absolutely loved The Tamarind Seed and took it home on VHS to watch many, many, many times. I own it on Bluray. You don't like it. Fair enough. But that doesn't make it a bad movie.

 

[roxy1927]

Both Edwards and Andrews were best in the 60s. Afterwards it was all very very spotty. I love BAT and the original Pink Panther and even parts of the Party. Emily is good. But yes Andrews has her career today for the cast album of MFL and MP and SOM. I also love TMM. But by the 70s they did nothing but disappoint me. And the ending of VV when Robert Preston is going all camp and the audience is laughing hysterically is agony. How in the world does Garner ever think Andrews is a man? I guess it's just one of those things where you're just supposed to go along with it though it doesn't make much sense.
As Vincent Canby said about Andrews taking off her clothes, 'When a girl guide takes off her clothes you've got a very naked girl guide.' But yes she looks terrific in her bikini in Tamirind Seed.