Song of Norway (1970)

Based on the life of Norway's greatest composer Edvard Grieg, and filmed in Norway where he lived. The soundtrack is all Edvard Grieg's music with added lyrics.

Director:

Andrew L. Stone

Writers:

Homer Curran (play), Milton Lazarus (musical play)

Stars:

Florence Henderson, Toralv Maurstad, Christina Schollin

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Toralv Maurstad	...	Edvard Grieg
Florence Henderson	...	Nina Hagerup
Christina Schollin	...	Therese Berg
Frank Porretta	...	Richard Nordraak
Harry Secombe	...	Bioernstjerne Bjoernson
Robert Morley	...	Berg
Edward G. Robinson	...	Krogstad
Elizabeth Larner	...	Mrs. Bjoernson
Oskar Homolka	...	Engstrand
Frederick Jaeger	...	Henrik Ibsen
Henry Gilbert	...	Franz Liszt
Richard Wordsworth	...	Hans Christian Andersen
Bernard Archard	...	George Nordraak
John Barrie	...	Mr. Hagerup
Wenche Foss	...	Mrs. Hagerup

Storyline

Based on the life of Norway's greatest composer Edvard Grieg, and filmed in Norway where he lived. The soundtrack is all Edvard Grieg's music with added lyrics.

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Plot Keywords:

70mm film | country name in title | territory name in title | composer | based on play | 

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Taglines:

A song for the heart to sing...for the world to love!

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 November 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

Song of Norway

Filming Locations:

Den Gamle By, Århus, Jylland, Denmark

Company Credits

Production Co:

ABC Pictures, American Broadcasting Company (ABC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm prints) 70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System) (70 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

(1944). Stage Play: Song of Norway. Musical/operetta. A New Operetta based on the Life and Music of Edvard Grieg. Musical Adaptation by Bob Wright [credited as Robert Wright] and Chet Forrest [credited as George Forrest]. Lyrics by Bob Wright [credited as Robert Wright] and Chet Forrest [credited as George Forrest]. Book by Milton Lazarus. Based on the play by Homer Curran. Musical Director: Arthur Kay. Additional lyrics by Arthur Kay. Orchestral and Choral Arrangements by Arthur Kay. Choreography and Singing Ensembles Staged by George Balanchine. Production designed by: Lemuel Ayers. Book Direction by Charles Freeman. Imperial Theatre (moved to The Broadway Theatre from 15 Apr 1946- close): 21 Aug 1944- 7 Sep 1946 (860 performances). Cast: Sylvia Allen (as "Child"), Ann Andre (as "Marghareta/Chorus"), Sig Arno (as "Count Peppi Le Loup"), Robert Bailes (as "Chorus"), Robert Bernard (as "Maestro Pisoni"), Robert Bernoff (as "Ensemble"), Helena Bliss (as "Nina Hagerup"), Elizabeth Bockoven (as "Hilda/Chorus"), Lewis Bolyard (as "Innkeeper/Chorus"), Barbara Boudwin (as "Signora Eleanora/Chorus"), Mary Bradley (as "Chorus"), Patti Brady (as "Grima") [final Broadway role], Frank Brenneman (as "Chorus"), Lawrence Brooks (as "Edvard Grieg"), Betty Burge (as "Ensemble"), Grace Carroll (as "Child"), William Carroll (as "Eric"), Marjorie Castle (as "Ensemble"), John Chaloupka (as "Chorus"), Dudley Clements (as "Henrik Ibsen"), Shirley Conklin (as "Chorus"), Kaye Connor (as "Chorus"), Alexandra Danilova (as "Chorus"), Paul De Poyster (as "Member of the Faculty"), Audrey Dearden (as "Chorus"), Paul DePoyster (as "Chorus"), Kent Edwards (as "Einar"), Jean Faust (as "Ensemble"), Milton Feher (as "Ensemble"), Pauline Goddard (as "Chorus"), Cameron Grant (as "Butler/Chorus"), Audrey Guard (as "Member of the Faculty/Mother Grieg [Alternate]/Chorus"), Roland Guerard (as "The Minstrel/Ensemble"), Leone Hall (as "Chorus"), Janet Hamer (as "Sigrid"), Harold Haskin (as "Ensemble"), Larry Haynes (as "Chorus"), Hal Horton (as "Chorus"), Gwen Jones (as "Greta/Nina Hagerup [Alternate]/Chorus"), Jeanne Jones (as "Ensemble"), Raymond Keast (as "Rikard Nordraak [Alternate]/Chorus"), Francis Kiernan (as "Ensemble"), Walter Kingsford (as "Father Grieg") [final Broadway role], Eric Kristen (as "Ensemble"), Jackie Lee (as "Helga"), Dorothie Littlefield (as "Adelina/Ensemble"), Karen Lund (as "Hedwig/Chorus"), Gerald Matthews (as "Gunnar"), Hal McMurrin (as "Chorus"), Ewing Mitchell (as "Member of the Faculty"), Pat O'Rourke (as "Child"), Sonya Orlova (as "Miss Anders/Ensemble"), Irra Petina (as "Louisa Giovanni"), Adda Pourmel (as "Waitress at Tito's/Ensemble"), Yura Radine (as "Ensemble"), Carlye Ramey (as "Ensemble"), Sharon Randall (as "Elvera/Chorus"), Shannon Randolph (as "Child"), Margaret Ritter (as "Chorus"), Ivy Scott (as "Mother Grieg") [final Broadway role], Rosine Sedova (as "Waitress at Tito's/Ensemble"), Robert Shafer (as "Rikard Nordraak"), James Starbuck (as "Freddy/Tito/Ensemble"), Gloria Stone (as "Ensemble"), Nat Stoudenmire (as "Ensemble"), Toni Stuart (as "Ensemble"), Olga Suarez (as "The Maiden Norway/Ensemble"), Sviatoslav Toumine (as "Ensemble"), Mary Walker (as "Chorus"), Arthur Waters (as "Chorus"), Nora White (as "Maid"), Philip White (as "Father Nordraak"), Doreen Wilson (as "Frau Professor Norden/Chorus"), Louisa Giovanni (as "Alternate"), Anna Wiman (as "Ensemble"), Maurice Winthrop (as "Chorus"), Stanley Wolfe (as "Chorus"), Walter Young (as "Chorus"). Replacement cast: Norvel Campbell (as "Chorus"), Grace Carroll (as "Grima"), Carl Cleighton (as "Ensemble"), Barbara Cole (as "Ensemble"), Kaye Connor (as "Marghareta"), Harry Day (as "Ensemble"), Paul Elmer (as "Chorus/Edvard Grieg"). Produced by Edwin Lester. Notes: (1) On 6 Sep 1946 (one day before the stage musical ended its Broadway run), Universal announced its purchase of the screen rights for $200,000 plus 25 percent of the film's profits. The studio planned for the movie adaptation to be produced in Technicolor by Sam Spiegel (then known as S.P. Eagle) and to star Deanna Durbin, with shooting to start in January, 1948. However, because of a projected high budget and a related tax problem which was holding back Hollywood film exports to Britain, Mr. Eagle revealed on 21 Aug 1947 that the picture was being postponed indefinitely. (2) Produced on film by ABC Pictures as Song of Norway (1970).

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Connections

Referenced in Strauss and Vienna: On Location: The Great Waltz (1972)

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Soundtracks

John Heggerstrom
Music by Edvard Grieg
Music Adaptation and Lyrics by Chet Forrest (as George Forrest) and Bob Wright (as Robert Wright)
Performed by Christina Schollin and Toralv Maurstad

User Reviews

Well, compared to what? ;-)

I saw this as a little kid taking piano lessons and loving Grieg's music. (That was in San Francisco - maybe I saw it at the same theater, the Paramount, as one of our earlier commenters?) All of 10 years old, I enjoyed it thoroughly. I suppose I wasn't a great judge of acting at that point, or of cinema in general (it was probably the third or fourth theatrical film I'd seen in my life at that point). So it was basically the music, voices, and scenery I was chewing on. I hadn't even heard the name "Carol Brady" then.

Haven't seen the film since, but I just wonder ... terrible compared to what? The soundtrack (a few cuts I have on a Grieg compilation) is miles better than the nursery-rhymes in Sound of Music, and for the most part the transliterated lyrics aren't a travesty. Florence Henderson doesn't make me gag any more than Julie Andrews or any other too-clean-and-scrubbed actor in the business. And what's wrong with casting an actual Norwegian as Grieg instead of ... I dunno, from the same era ... George Peppard? The movie even had a nice animated sequence for the kids.

Song of Norway was unlucky enough to arrive at the absolute tail end of the road-show-spectacular era of movie musicals, and I'm sure a lot of critics just had indigestion by that point, following Paint Your Wagon (with a singing, dancing Clint Eastwood!), Camelot (a singing, non-dancing Richard Harris!), The Happiest Millionaire (a singing, dancing Fred MacMurray!), and Darling Lili (Dame Julie's nadir). So what's so much worse about Song of Norway?

Got something against Scandinavian composers?!