Frank Loesser has always been one of my favorite Broadway songwriters. Think "Guys & Dolls" and you'll probably agree. This excellent documentary interweaves the highlights of his life story with the trajectory of his artistic career (from Tin Pan Alley tune smith to Hollywood lyricist to Broadway composer). The interviews with Loesser's contemporaries from Broadway and Hollywood - including several who have now passed away - were entertaining and insightful. The performance clips of his songs from stage and screen are a lot of fun. I learned several things about Frank that I didn't know: "Baby It's Cold Outside" was written for Frank and his wife, Lynne, to perform at parties! Frank once slapped the leading lady of "Guys & Dolls" because she wasn't singing a song the way he wanted. He mentored an entire next generation of songwriters - some of whom (Richard Adler, Robert Wright, Jerry Herman) comment in the film. I highly recommend this passionate, tune-filled documentary about one of America's greatest.
2 Reviews
And Then He Wrote...
boblipton30 June 2010
It's difficult to do a documentary of a creative artist who has been dead for almost half a century. People who knew Frank Loesser professionally are getting scarce and this enormously influential songwriter had few appearances in motion pictures. There aren't even more than a couple of TV clips in this piece. When it's someone like Loesser, it becomes even more frustrating: a series of artfully edited still photographed with a series of voice-overs narrating a story that becomes almost boring in its nearly uninterrupted row of greater and greater successes.
And that's what this documentary is: almost boring. On top of that, it's frustrating in that we never hear one of the great songs all the way through, just enough to identify it, from his earliest hit in collaboration -- "Heart and Soul" on.
It's good that they got these interviews recorded while the folks are still around, but this piece is just the groundwork for a piece that has something more to say than "....And then he wrote....."
And that's what this documentary is: almost boring. On top of that, it's frustrating in that we never hear one of the great songs all the way through, just enough to identify it, from his earliest hit in collaboration -- "Heart and Soul" on.
It's good that they got these interviews recorded while the folks are still around, but this piece is just the groundwork for a piece that has something more to say than "....And then he wrote....."
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
