Reviews & Ratings for
At Long Last Love More at IMDbPro »

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21 out of 24 people found the following review useful:
I love this movie!, 19 January 2005

Author: lengel46 from Iowa, United States

This movie is one of my all-time favorites! I saw it three times in the theater and thankfully was able to record it during a rare TV broadcast. I watch it at least once a year.

The costumes and set design are beautiful. I love the basic black and white color-scheme throughout. John Hillerman and Eileen Brennan are wonderful with their witty repartee. Cybil Shepherd is the ideal spoiled,dumb blonde. And Burt Reynolds truly is the consummate rich, playboy bachelor (probably actually type casting back in 1975) It's very campy and of course the songs are phenomenal.

Forget what the critics say. WATCH THIS MOVIE

17 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
Ahead of its time, 5 January 2005

Author: mcelesia-1 from Monterey, California

This film was widely misinterpreted at the time of its release. As the other commentator on this page mentions, Bogdanovich not only used non-professional singers, but the songs were recorded live! Each actor had an earpiece through which they received a transmission of the basic melody. I was fond of the movie from the very beginning, being such a devoted fan of Madeline Kahn (just check out her Primitive Man number), but the true finds of the movie were the delicious Eileen Brennan and the deadpan John Hillerman, as the faithful servants. I do not hesitate to say that Eileen Brennan, with that incredible delivery and posture, a cigarette dangling from her lips, was the best thing to hit a Hollywood kitchen since Thelma Ritter in All About Eve! I hope this film will eventually be released in DVD. And by the way, shame on you Mr. Bodanovich for apologizing for your creation. Too bad she was not nominated for an Oscar.

18 out of 23 people found the following review useful:
Underrated, Ambitious Musical, 30 June 1999

Author: Jim Kenney (jimfk@hotmail.com) from New York

This is definitely a case of people running around saying a film is terrible they've probably never seen. Upon release, the film was trashed, probably partially because of its type of cinema being out of favor (this was Scorsese/Altman time) and because of people's annoyance with Bogdanovich and Shepard on talk shows and such. But with time as a distancer, watch this film and dare to tell me it isn't superiour to "Everyone Says I Love You" in every way! I LIKE "Everyone says..." but this film, with its cinematography, and its use of Cole Porter tunes to advance the plot, while uneven, is much more ambitious than the charming Allen film. If you didn't like the Allen film, you may well not like this -- but Reynolds, Shepard, Eileen Brennan singing, which got trashed upon release, is just as good as Roberts, Norton et al warbling in "Everyone." This is a funny, unique work that does occasionally suffer from the cutes -- but so what? Polly Platt, Bogdanovich's ex-wife, always talks about this as one of his "he's no good after he left me" examples, but at least his musical retains its music (she's one of the creators of James L. Brooks' "I'll Do Anything"). This film is a target from so many for no good reason. I recommend this and "Nickelodeon", another overlooked Bogdanovich picture, to be rediscovered as the just plain good films they are!

12 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
Exhilarating Musical, 3 November 2002

Author: drednm

An homage to 30s musicals, this vastly underrated film features tongue-in-cheek performances by Cybill Shepherd and Burt Reynolds, and terrific comedy turns by Eileen Brennan and Madeline Kahn.

Kahn does a great, obscure Cole Porter (all music in this film) called "Find Me a Primitive Man"; Brennan shines in the "Gentlemen Don't Want Love" number. Duilio del Prete, Mildred Natwick, and John Hillerman are also quite good.

Many obscure Porter songs and a few well-known ones. The costumes and sets are nice and evoke the 30s with the star blacks and whites with hints of beige. While the dancing may be a little rough, the stars more than make up for it in their zest and obvious enjoyment of the material.

The entire cast has fun with this slight story of changing partners until each finds at long last love. Reynolds might be a tad too silly but Shepherd has fun and display a great set of pipes. Ultimately, Brennan and Kahn make this one worth catching.

9 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
I liked it, 9 February 2003

Author: crose5 from Oklahoma City

When I saw it in'75 (I was 25 at the time) I walked out of the theater smiling, and sang Cole Porter tunes in my car all the way home. It was a preview, so it hadn't been panned yet and I had formed my own opinion. Eileen Brennan cracked me up in her wanton pursuit of John Hillerman. Cybill was just my age and a knockout and, no, she doesn't sing badly. I've never been a big fan of Burt, but I liked him more after the movie than before. Kahn was marvelous, Del Prete the weak link, because I couldn't understand his English. Don't expect it to be more than cotton candy, it's sweet without substance and doesn't pretend to be more. It was probably the first exposure I'd had to Cole Porter since Can-Can (1960 - I was 10 then) and I fell in love with his music again, and forever. It's not the Music Man or Top Hat or Flying Down to Rio, but just go along for the pleasant ride, enjoy the sets and costumes, and, especially, the words and music. If you want to trash it, go ahead, but I think that those who do need a glass of champagne(or two)and to just chill out. --- Carl

19 out of 31 people found the following review useful:
A Misunderstood Film Masterpiece, 5 February 2005

Author: Kit Wilson from Washington, DC

I love "At Long Last Love"! I really think the enmity displayed by critics at the time was most probably personal given Mr. Bogdonovich and Ms. Shepherd's public relationship. People wanted them to fail. I think the main problem people had with this film is that they didn't know how to categorize it. Not too long ago, I saw Mr. Bogdanovich speak at a preview of "The Cat's Meow" (another great evocative film) and asked him if we might ever see All on DVD, he said "probably not". This is a shame, because I think so many aspects of this film are brilliantly executed. I only hope, in time, that Mr. Bogdanovich will relent. While no film is perfect, it's a truism to state that many great films were panned when released but are seen as great today. As well, many great works of art have been reviled, only to be revered as masterpieces later on. At Long Last Love is one of them. The sets, costumes, cinematography, songs and story are wonderfully true to the period of the 30's (as Mr. Bogdanovich, an accomplished film historian would know) and I think Ms. Shepherd, Ms. Kahn, et al. were simply super given the difficulty of the tasks set before them. That they come across as breezily indolent as they do is a true testament to their acting chops. Consider they had to sing on cue, while swimming and meeting camera marks. A great experiment in Cinema Verite meets the Artifice of the Golden Age. Too bad it was so misunderstood. Then again, if you don't get it, you don't get it. Why some complain about Ms. Shepherds singing, I cannot understand. Ms. Shepherd's voice is better than many a modern singer. I hope we will someday see a full length version with all songs restored (like "Which", sung with aplomb by Ms. Shepherd) on DVD. Mr. Bogdanovich, please relent!! I think you would be very surprised at how many people would happily snap this up.

10 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
Completely underrated musical comedy and tribute to Cole Porter, 27 October 1999
Author: Richard Stephens (richard@stephens.net) from Madrid, Spain

I saw this film years ago in Radio City Music Hall in NYC and have never been so delighted with a Hollywood treatment of musicals in my life. The sophistication of Bogdanovich's direction I felt caught the real essence of Cole Porter and his wonderful music and lyrics. All of that slightly off-key singing and crazy phrasing was the perfect touch to a truly atmospheric musical.... a refreshing bit of tongue-in-cheek that I have never forgotten. I have been trying for years to get my hands on a video of this movie, but, alas, most people have never heard of it..... It deserved a better fate....

6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Hugely underrated, 25 February 2007

Author: Craig McClintock from London, United Kingdom

This is a wonderful, fun musical featuring a superb cast. It was made before I was born, so I know nothing apart from what I've read about the critical panning it received on release but it surprises me that there was no real love for it at the time. I'm amazed this has never made it to a VHS / DVD release, and it's a real shame that it won't be seen by a wider audience.

The cast singing live definitely sets this apart from other musicals of the time but I think that's what sets this movie out from other musicals of the era. Bogdannovich should be commended for trying something different and the cast are all great singers

A true cult classic with a career defining performance from the fabulous Madeline Kahn. Eileen Brennan is also superb as the coarse, sex-starved, man-eating maid! This is well worth the effort seeking it out if you're a fan of any of the cast, and if you enjoy light-hearted, good natured musicals.

5 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Can't agree with the universal panning of this movie., 16 February 2004
Author: kroberteaton from San Diego, California, USA

Bogdonovich & company made this with endless tongue in cheek, and as an homage to the stage musicals of the 20s and stage AND film musicals of the 30s - glib, off-handed, seemingly "UN-artful" if you will. Also, the actors all sang - or spoke - their songs IN REAL TIME, in what was a brave attempt to duplicate the reality and presence of a live production.

Obviously, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I clearly saw this film much more in the spirit on Bogdonovich's vision than those who wemt in looking for something else. I feel a lot of baggage was brought to this film by the audience, and the movie was never really "seem" or "heard" by them. Too bad, because technically this is how musicals SHOULD be made.

I enjoyed the movie very much, and lament that it isn't available to allow everyone to make up their own mind about how well the vision of the director, cast, Musical Director and all concerned was carried out.

5 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Madeline Kahn musical comedy., 20 May 2005

Author: Dominick Mazza from United States

At Long Last Love may be far from a great musical, but it stars the great Madeline Kahn and that is the reason to give this film a chance. It was a big flop in 1975. It is clumsily filmed in some ways. Burt Reynolds and Cybil Shepherd are no singers, but are not all that bad either. Dulio Del Prete is annoying though. JOhn Hillerman, Eileen Brennan and Mildred Natwick are all fun to watch. Peter Bogdanvich directed this homage to the musicals of the 1930's. 16 Cole Porter songs are used in it. I do enjoy the whole cast singing Friendship in the limo. The art deco set is beautiful looking and the technicolor is as well. The cast sang these songs live on film and that was the big mistake. 120 minutes of singing and dancing. The comedy is funny at times but a little dated. But as I said its great to see a movie with Madeline Kahn singing and dancing.

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