This American version of the British play by John Osborne and the 1960 film version starring Laurence Olivier deals with the vaudeville style performer of Archie Rice (Jack Lemmon) and his family problems. There's his more famous father Ray Bolger, overly chatty wife Sada Thompson and children Tyne Daly and Michael Christopher, both in the military during war time. Lemmon performs in the theater where his father was famous, but the audience just stares at his antics that get no laughs, let alone applause.
Everyone has a chance to tell their story, and as bombastic as Lemmon is, his character is lying to himself more than anybody else who can see right through him. Bolger, who would have been somewhat younger than Lemmon's when this takes place, is obviously disappointed by his son's failure, and gets a few appropriate numbers originally written for this that sound like they were written back in the early 40's for one of the many musical revues he starred in.
As for Thompson, her well meaning character, feeling taken for granted by her husband, is overly cheery on the surface in efforts to put on a good front, something that wives and mothers during this time were expected to do. It's obvious that she's not happy with her lot, so watching her journey is the most interesting. She even gets to sing. Bolger is reunited with his "Where's Charley?" co-star for a touching moment. Definitely a part of the 70's nostalgia craze, and a good musical drama with an overture that distinctly has the Marvin Hamlish sound popular thanks to the recent hit Broadway musical "A Chorus Line".
Everyone has a chance to tell their story, and as bombastic as Lemmon is, his character is lying to himself more than anybody else who can see right through him. Bolger, who would have been somewhat younger than Lemmon's when this takes place, is obviously disappointed by his son's failure, and gets a few appropriate numbers originally written for this that sound like they were written back in the early 40's for one of the many musical revues he starred in.
As for Thompson, her well meaning character, feeling taken for granted by her husband, is overly cheery on the surface in efforts to put on a good front, something that wives and mothers during this time were expected to do. It's obvious that she's not happy with her lot, so watching her journey is the most interesting. She even gets to sing. Bolger is reunited with his "Where's Charley?" co-star for a touching moment. Definitely a part of the 70's nostalgia craze, and a good musical drama with an overture that distinctly has the Marvin Hamlish sound popular thanks to the recent hit Broadway musical "A Chorus Line".