At Long Last Love (1975)

This film was Peter Bogdanovich's homage to musical comedies of the 1930s. A millionaire named Michael Oliver Pritchard III and a singer named Kitty O'Kelly meet and fall in love. Meanwhile... See full summary »

Director:

Peter Bogdanovich

Writer:

Peter Bogdanovich

Stars:

Burt Reynolds, Cybill Shepherd, Madeline Kahn

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Burt Reynolds	...	Michael Oliver Pritchard III
Cybill Shepherd	...	Brooke Carter
Madeline Kahn	...	Kitty O'Kelly
Duilio Del Prete	...	Johnny Spanish
Eileen Brennan	...	Elizabeth
John Hillerman	...	Rodney James
Mildred Natwick	...	Mabel Pritchard
Quinn K. Redeker	...	Kitty's Boyfriend (as Quinn Redeker)
J. Edward McKinley	...	Billings (Poker Party)
John Stephenson	...	Abbott (Poker Party)
Peter Dane	...	Williams (Poker Party)
William Paterson	...	Murray (Poker Party)
Lester Dorr	...	Doorman
Liam Dunn	...	Harry
Elvin Moon	...	Elevator Boy

Storyline

This film was Peter Bogdanovich's homage to musical comedies of the 1930s. A millionaire named Michael Oliver Pritchard III and a singer named Kitty O'Kelly meet and fall in love. Meanwhile, an indigent woman named Brooke Carter and an Italian gambler named Johnny Spanish meet and fall in love. All four people meet each other and become friends (actually, Kitty and Brooke had been friends since high-school), and soon, Brooke's crude, fun-loving maid Elizabeth falls in love with Michael's valet Rodney James. Later on, Michael and Brooke fall in love, and Kitty and Johnny decide to follow them around. In order to make Brooke and Michael jealous, they try to look like they are falling in love as well. Eventually, Michael and Johnny get into a fight but then immediately make up. Soon, Brooke and Kitty make up. The two couples pair off successfully and they live happily ever after.

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Plot Keywords:

neo screwball comedy | love | friend | singer | italian | 

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Taglines:

A New Kind of Musical with 16 Great Songs!

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 March 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

Peter Bogdanovich's At Long Last Love

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$3,270,000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,450,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Copa del Oro, Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Burt Reynolds's first big screen musical. The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) would be the second (and last).

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Quotes

Michael Oliver Pritchard III: You know Mr. Spanish, I've been thinking. You remind me of someone I'm quite fond of.
Johnny Spanish: Oh, yes... who?
Michael Oliver Pritchard III: Me.

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Crazy Credits

The Camera begins on a silver music box on which rest bas-reliefs of the 4 principals, they dance to a song and then the camera pans around Kitty Kelly's sumptuous black-and white art deco penthouse.

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Alternate Versions

The director's re-edited television version of the movie includes, among other things, an extra musical number for actress Eileen Brennan. Immediately following the scene between Brennan and Cybill Shepherd outside of the racetrack, Brennan sings "It Ain't Etiquette" (from Dubarry Was a Lady) to Shepherd. Clues to this excised number can be found in a rather abrupt and obvious edit in the theatrical version.

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Connections

Referenced in They All Laughed 25 Years Later: Director to Director - A Conversation with Peter Bogdanovich and Wes Anderson (2006)

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Soundtracks

But In The Morning No
(uncredited)
Words and Music by Cole Porter
Performed by John Hillerman and Eileen Brennan

User Reviews

Terrible in a way that is nearly impossible to grasp

Remember the scene in the remake of "The Fly" when Gena Davis and Jeff Goldblum are tasting a steak and then tasting a steak that has been sent through the molecular transporter? The reaction is that the transported steak tastes "synthetic", like a computer's "interpretation" of what a steak is. That's the same sensation you get with "At Long Last Love". Bogdanovich, heady with success and power, decided that he could make a "live" musical, the way they had to make them in the Thirties. "Hey, I know what Musicals are made of!" you can imagine him saying. What he didn't understand was casting and historical context. His musical is plastic, inept, and grotesquely embarrassing. It is a "must-see" for your All-Time Worst Movies list, along with John Boorman's "The Heretic: Exorcist II". It's that bad.