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 true story | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lee Theodore's frenetic staging of "Hill of Dreams," arguably the best song in the score, unintentionally exposes the fact that the three principals are lip-synching to a pre-recorded vocal, as there is absolutely no way they would have been able to perform the song given the strenuous amount of running and leaping they were asked to do while sustaining notes.

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Connections

Referenced in The French Connection (1971)

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Soundtracks

Strange Music
Music by Edvard Grieg
Music Adaptation and Lyrics by Chet Forrest (as George Forrest)
and Bob Wright (as Robert Wright)
Performed by Toralv Maurstad

User Reviews

Gorgeous Norwegian scenery in search of a plot...

SONG OF NORWAY is an unbearably dull musical pastiche of clichés heard in every musical ever made that purported to be the saga of a composer's struggles to find recognition for his music. Edvard Grieg's struggles are so dull as to be non-stop in this awful compilation of Norwegian scenery by the truckload with no story to carry it.

It is notable that the man who plays Grieg, TORALV MAURSTAD, never did make another American film, so disastrous were the reviews and box-office for this dull saga. Note also that FLORENCE HENDERSON was not able to make another film in Hollywood but went directly to television and stayed there for a very successful run on "The Brady Bunch". See the film and you will judge yourself why it was an abject failure. And don't be fooled by the presence of OSKAR HOMOLKA, EDWARD G. ROBINSON and ROBERT MORLEY in the cast. They have little or nothing to do.

Music lovers may be enchanted by Grieg's works, but not the way they are presented here. Nor is there any resemblance between the zestful SOUND OF MUSIC and its picturesque way of dealing with the Von Trapp Singers and this dull as dishwater musical that would work better as a travelogue of Norway with the plot excised.

See it at your own risk.

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

Box Office

Gross USA:

$3,719,587

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