Gilda Live (1980)

Director:

Mike Nichols
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Writers:

Anne Beatts and
Lorne Michaels ...
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Genre:

Comedy | Documentary

Tagline:

Things like this only happen in the movies.

Plot:

A filmed version of the Broadway show starring comedienne Gilda Radner, complete with the characters she made famous on the TV show "Saturday Night Live." |

Plot Keywords:

Comedienne | Stage Show | Irreverence | Variety | Gymnast

Cast

Gilda Radner	...	Herself / Various Characters
Don Novello	...	Father Guido Sarducci
Paul Shaffer	...	Don Kirshner / The Candy Slice Group
Nils Nichols	...	Roadie
Bob Christianson	...	Audition scene pianist
Howard Shore	...	The Candy Slice Group (as The Candy Slice Group)
Diana Grasselli
Miriam Valle
Maria Vidal
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Johnny Caruso	...	The Candy Slice Group (as The Candy Slice Group)
G.E. Smith	...	The Candy Slice Group (as The Candy Slice Group)

Directed by
Mike Nichols
Lorne Michaels		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Anne Beatts		and
Lorne Michaels		and
Marilyn Suzanne Miller		and
Don Novello		and
Michael O'Donoghue		and
Gilda Radner		and
Paul Shaffer		and
Rosie Shuster		and
Alan Zweibel

Produced by
Barbara Burns	....	associate producer
Ron Delsener	....	producer
Burtt Harris	....	associate producer
Lorne Michaels	....	producer

Original Music by
Marvin Hamlisch
Cheryl Hardwick
Michael O'Donoghue
Paul Shaffer

Cinematography by
Ted Churchill

Film Editing by
Ellen Hovde
Lynzee Klingman
Muffie Meyer

Production Design by
Eugene Lee
Franne Lee

Costume Design by
Franne Lee
Karen Roston

Makeup Department
Lyndell Quiyou	....	hair designer (as Lyn Quiyou)

Production Management
Burtt Harris	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael Haley	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Basil Pao	....	logo designer

Sound Department
Stan Bochner	....	sound editor
Jon Christodoulou	....	sound recordist
Abe Jacob	....	sound designer
Hal Levinsohn	....	sound editor
Robert Liftin	....	sound re-recording mixer
Harry Peck Bolles	....	apprentice sound editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Richard Avedon	....	still photographer
Edie Baskin	....	still photographer
Roger Morgan	....	lighting design
Gary Muller	....	camera coordinator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Laurie Hudson	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Harry Peck Bolles	....	apprentice editor

Music Department
Bob Christianson	....	assistant conductor
Bob Christianson	....	musician
Jack Fitzstephens	....	music editor
Diana Grasselli	....	musician
Paul Shaffer	....	music consultant
Earl Shendell	....	music coordinator
G.E. Smith	....	musician: guitar
Miriam Valle	....	musician
Maria Vidal	....	musician

Other crew
Alisa Adler	....	production stage manager
Patricia Birch	....	choreographer
Ron Delsener	....	original Broadway production presented by
Rick Derby	....	production assistant
Cherie Fortis	....	production assistant
Gary Gunas	....	assistant general manager
Kenneth Hunter	....	title designer
Kenneth Kneitel	....	slide projectionist
Marvin A. Krauss	....	general manager
Lorne Michaels	....	original Broadway production produced and directed by
Sheldon Roskin	....	general press representative
Lee Solters	....	general press representative

Production Companies

• Broadway Productions

Distributors

• Warner Bros (1980) (USA) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1982) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Warner Home Video (2009) (USA) (DVD) (DVD-R)
• Warner Home Video (VHS)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R

Company:

Broadway Productions

Trivia:

This was filmed at the same time as "The Blues Brothers", which created a conflict for Paul Shaffer. At the urging of Lorne Michaels, Shaffer chose to work on "Gilda: Live". His part in "The Blues Brothers" was given to Murphy Dunne and John Belushi is said to have remarked "Paul Shaffer is not a Blues Brother".

Soundtrack:

If You Look Close/Gimme Mick

See it on video--with one finger on the fast-forward button

For years I watched this movie on a personal videotape with all the dross edited out---most of which contains Don Novello (aka Father Sarducci) filling up time while Gilda Radner changes costumes backstage. Recently seeing the film "uncut", I cannot begin to say how Novello drags this down. He is the worst kind of unfunny comedian, with smug, pothead observations about life stemming from the obviousness of the human condition and dated bits of politics which are no longer topical. Radner, on the other hand, is amazing in her sets: rarely frantic or desperate for laughs, she plows right through if a joke happens to bomb. If only Hollywood could've tapped into this bottle of unabashed energy and self-delight, we might've seen Gilda in some hot comedies. Her takes on Emily Litella and Roseanne Roseannadanna are outrageously funny, her timing so sweet when she sings "The Way We Were" as Lisa Loopner, her wit sharp but always tempered with love. She clearly was one-of-a-kind, proving that Hollywood does make mistakes--one of them being its inability to turn this crowd-pleasing woman into a star. **1/2 from ****