De-Lovely (2004)

Inspecting a magical biographical stage musical, composer Cole Porter reviews his life and career with his wife, Linda.

Director:

Irwin Winkler

Writer:

Jay Cocks

Stars:

Kevin Kline, Ashley Judd, Jonathan Pryce

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 2 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kevin Kline	...	Cole Porter
Ashley Judd	...	Linda Porter
Jonathan Pryce	...	Gabe
Kevin McNally	...	Gerald Murphy
Sandra Nelson	...	Sara Murphy
Allan Corduner	...	Monty Woolley
Peter Polycarpou	...	L.B. Mayer
Keith Allen	...	Irving Berlin
James Wilby	...	Edward Thomas
Kevin McKidd	...	Bobby Reed
Richard Dillane	...	Bill Wrather
Edward Baker-Duly	...	Boris Kochno
Angie Hill	...	Ellin Berlin
Harry Ditson	...	Dr. Moorhead
Tayler Hamilton	...	Honoria Murphy

Storyline

De-Lovely is an original musical portrait of American composer Cole Porter, filled with his unforgettable songs. In the film, Porter is looking back on his life as if it was one of his spectacular stage shows, with the people and events of his life becoming the actors and action onstage. Through elaborate production numbers and popular hits like "Anything Goes," "It's De-Lovely," and "Night and Day," Porter's elegant, excessive past comes to light - including his deeply complicated relationship with his wife and muse, Linda Lee Porter.

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Plot Keywords:

jukebox musical | horseback riding | love | cole porter | composer | 

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Taglines:

A love that would never die and music that would live forever.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Music | Musical

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English French Italian

Release Date:

6 August 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Just One of Those Things

Filming Locations:

Café de Paris, Coventry Street, Soho, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$400,001, 4 July 2004, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$13,337,299, 17 October 2004

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Potboiler Productions, Winkler Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A lot of singing in the movie, especially that done by Kline, was recorded on set.

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Goofs

The order of the chorus girls auditioning for the solo in "Let's Fall in Love" changes between shots. The two women that Kline listens to before he hears Alanis Morissette switch places.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Gabe: Hello, Cole. I let myself in.
Cole Porter: We're not late, are we? I hate to be late.
Gabe: No, no. We're fine. That sounded lovely.
Cole Porter: I hate funeral music. Though, under the circumstances, I suppose I should say my prayers.
Gabe: Why start now?
Cole Porter: Exactly.

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Connections

References Rosalie (1937)

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Soundtracks

Blow, Gabriel, Blow
(1934)
Performed by Jonathan Pryce, Kevin Kline, Cast and Chorus
Music and Lyrics written by Cole Porter
Music Published by Warner Bros. Inc./Chappell & Co, Inc. (ASCAP)
Produced by Stephen Endelman and Peter Asher

User Reviews

Cole Porter would approve of this movie!

I am 50 years old, and have been a professional musician most of my life. Cole porter's heyday was long before I was around, but I was instantly attracted to his music in my youth, and that love for his compositions has never ceased.

I know many here are bad mouthing the movie "De-Lovely", and they shouldn't be. There are so many unwatchable, ridiculously bad movies being released nowadays, that De-lovely looks like Gone with the Wind compared to many of them. We have several generations of young people that do not have the benefit of the diverse media many of us older people had when we were young. Back when radio and television use to thrived on diversity. They are now totally market driven toward youth, and offer little diversity. The re-birth of the musical these past few years, is introducing youth to a quality of art that most were not even aware existed. The influence movies like De-Lovely could have on young artist should not be under-estimated. I remember many musicals in my youth that greatly influenced my future career as a musician.

I found De-Lovely to be a delightful movie. I found both Kline and Judd to be excellent in their roles. While the story has taken some lead way with the facts, they got the majority of important points across, and with a lot of style in my opinion. The makers of this movie had to do a balancing act between biography and entertainment. Between telling the story of Porter's life, and paying tribute to his incredible talent as a song writer. I left the movie theater feeling upbeat and inspired. That told me they balanced the two very well.

While I might of chosen a few different singers to sing Porter's songs in the movie, I realize that using known, modern singers helps get youth into the theater, and that's important. The artist they choose to sing Porter's music in the movie, did a wonderful job. While some renditions are a little too modernized, any influence his music has on today's youth is a good thing. Our young people need to know that real works of art take skill, training, talent, and time. Much of todays music is aimed toward an audience with a very short attention span, wanting instant gratification, and to counter that with the music of Cole Porter is a wonderful gift to an entire generation.

This movie works on so many levels. The music, the period, the love affair, and the pain. The story is about Porter looking back at his life during his last moments on earth, he sees it as a theatrical production. Because of this, the songs are not all in chronological order. A few of the songs were placed out of sequence to fit the story line. This idea works splendidly, and it is beyond me why some reviewers seemed to miss this concept completely, and thought the writers messed up. The truth is we really don't know that much about Cole porter. He was not fond of the press, and the relationship between his wife Linda and him was very private. We do know Cole was gay, but loved Linda deeply his entire life. The movie raises more questions than it answers, as it should. Cole was a complicated person, and lived a complicated life. This is movie making at it's best, folks. I recommend this movie highly. I hope Hollywood keeps the musicals coming. It's about time.