Ask anybody what Academy Award Winning song they got sick of after hearing it over and over, and they'll probably say "My Heart Will Go On" from "Titanic". But ask anybody that question for film songs written before that Celine Dion smash hit and any one over the age of 50 will say "You Light Up My Life". Ask them about the movie, and they won't remember a thing about it. Didi Conn, who has gone down in film immortality as Frenchie in "Grease", had a rare lead in this sweet but cumbersome movie, and while she's talented and charming, the dubbing for her here by Kacey Cisyk (not Debbie Boone who had the hit single and sang it on the Academy Awards) does not fit either her personality or her squeaky speaking voice.
The loveable Didi is the daughter of a vaudevillian (Joe Silver), still going even though vaudeville has allegedly been dead forever. He still gets work somehow as an Edgar Bergen like comic, not really very funny, and it's sad to see Conn sitting on his lap as if she was Charlie McCarthy or Mortimer Snerd. What Conn really wants to do is break into the music business, and when she sings (through the dubbing), she seems to have what it takes. A dashing director ("Guiding Light's" Michael Zaslow, then on a break from the soap as the villainous Roger Thorpe) takes an interest in her, but his motivations don't really seem all sincere. They are an interesting example of mismatched pairing, but thanks to the charm of Didi Conn, it appears to have a chance.
This is one of those quickly forgotten films that has pleasant but mostly forgettable songs by Joseph Brooks (who also wrote, directed and acts in the film), although one outside the legendary title song ("The Morning Of My Life") did have potential. Between the dated comedy, sappiness of the theme and the odd pairing of Conn and Zaslow and hamminess of Joe Silver (no relation to Phil Silvers even with a slight resemblance), this seems to have been out of place in a movie year that had "Annie Hall", "Goodbye Girl" and "Fun With Dick & Jane" for light romantic comedies that have stood the test of time and big blockbusters like "Rollercoaster" and especially "Star Wars". By the time of the big build up to Conn's lip-syncing the lyrics to the title song in the conclusion, you are well ready for it to end.
The loveable Didi is the daughter of a vaudevillian (Joe Silver), still going even though vaudeville has allegedly been dead forever. He still gets work somehow as an Edgar Bergen like comic, not really very funny, and it's sad to see Conn sitting on his lap as if she was Charlie McCarthy or Mortimer Snerd. What Conn really wants to do is break into the music business, and when she sings (through the dubbing), she seems to have what it takes. A dashing director ("Guiding Light's" Michael Zaslow, then on a break from the soap as the villainous Roger Thorpe) takes an interest in her, but his motivations don't really seem all sincere. They are an interesting example of mismatched pairing, but thanks to the charm of Didi Conn, it appears to have a chance.
This is one of those quickly forgotten films that has pleasant but mostly forgettable songs by Joseph Brooks (who also wrote, directed and acts in the film), although one outside the legendary title song ("The Morning Of My Life") did have potential. Between the dated comedy, sappiness of the theme and the odd pairing of Conn and Zaslow and hamminess of Joe Silver (no relation to Phil Silvers even with a slight resemblance), this seems to have been out of place in a movie year that had "Annie Hall", "Goodbye Girl" and "Fun With Dick & Jane" for light romantic comedies that have stood the test of time and big blockbusters like "Rollercoaster" and especially "Star Wars". By the time of the big build up to Conn's lip-syncing the lyrics to the title song in the conclusion, you are well ready for it to end.