At Long Last Love (1975)

[Danny]

Being very fond of good bad movies, I have always been curious about Peter Bogdanovich's At Long Last Love (1975). Some of the reviews on imdb were actually good, but I need to see for myself.

Did anyone see a good DVD release of this film? Is in still intact, or was it butchered?

At long last, I'd love to give it a try

Danny

[busby1959]

The film was commercially released on DVD and Blu-ray in 2013. It was advertised as the "director's preferred cut" but there was still footage missing, which I remembered having seen in a bootleg print owned by a friend of mine in the early 1980s. It may be out of print but I'm sure you'd be able to find used copies on amazon.
That being said, I could never fathom all the vitriol directed at this movie. It's far from perfect, but it has an idiosyncratic charm about it nevertheless. The performers vary from miscast (Burt Reynolds, Duilio Del Prete) to effective (Cybill Shepherd) to excellent (Madeline Kahn, Eileen Brennan, Mildred Natwick) but they work well together despite their unevenness. The art direction is lavish and faithful to the period and it's impossible to find fault with the Cole Porter songs (even if some fault is to be found with the interpretations of some of them).
My suggestion is to forget everything you've ever heard about the movie and approach it with a fresh, open mined, non-judgmental approach and no preconceived notions - you may find quite surprised at what you find within.

[drednm]

It's an oddly charming movie where the chemistry is better than the individual actors, and the music is good. Madeline Kahn's "Primitive Man" and Eileen Brennan's "Most Gentlemen Don't Want Love" are highlights.

[rudyfan]

to excellent (Madeline Kahn, Eileen Brennan, Mildred Natwick) but they work well together despite their unevenness. The art direction is lavish and faithful to the period and it's impossible to find fault with the Cole Porter songs (even if some fault is to be found with the interpretations of some of them).
My suggestion is to forget everything you've ever heard about the movie and approach it with a fresh, open mined, non-judgmental approach and no preconceived notions - you may find quite surprised at what you find within.

I would have to agree wholeheartedly about Kahn, Brennan and Natwick and add my 2 cents for the delightful "In the Morning No. with Brennan and John Hillerman. I have an absurd fondness for this film, it was on very heavy rotation in the pre-paleolithic era of cable television. I saw this more times than I'd care to count. It is, far from perfect, but not nearly as bad as history has painted it. An homage much like What's Up Doc was to screwball comedies.

[Bob Birchard]

Whatever its minor charms, the picture was an unmitigated box-office disaster. It opened on a Wednesday in Westwood. I could not make opening night, but did get there Thursday. There were fewer than 50 people in a 1000 seat theater. Wednesday it was advertised as "A new musical with 18 great songs." By Friday, it was "A new musical with 14 great songs."

[Christopher Jacobs]

AT LONG LAST LOVE may not be the nostalgic classic it hoped to be, but in whatever cut you may happen to encounter it, it's still a mostly delightful homage to Hollywood musicals and screwball comedy. The Fox Blu-ray looks and sounds very good, and is still available exclusively through Amazon, although originally intended to become a Twilight Time release. Unfortunately there are very few bonus features (a pamphlet, an isolated score, and a trailer in SD). Deleted scenes and an audio commentary would have been most welcome.

[Frederica]

Whatever its minor charms, the picture was an unmitigated box-office disaster. It opened on a Wednesday in Westwood. I could not make opening night, but did get there Thursday. There were fewer than 50 people in a 1000 seat theater. Wednesday it was advertised as "A new musical with 18 great songs." By Friday, it was "A new musical with 14 great songs."

I saw it in a preview and thought it was gawdawful. So did everyone else in the theater. Different strokes, I guess.

[Bob Birchard]

Whatever its minor charms, the picture was an unmitigated box-office disaster. It opened on a Wednesday in Westwood. I could not make opening night, but did get there Thursday. There were fewer than 50 people in a 1000 seat theater. Wednesday it was advertised as "A new musical with 18 great songs." By Friday, it was "A new musical with 14 great songs."

I saw it in a preview and thought it was gawdawful. So did everyone else in the theater. Different strokes, I guess.

I happen to agree with you. Don't tell anyone, but I was just humoring the rubes in the balcony who seem to have a misplaced nostalgia. ALLL, IMHO is all Asbury Park an no Granada.

[Dave Pitts]

I find Bogdanovich utterly perplexing -- he's out of the gate with two insightful, supremely confident films early on -- Last Picture Show and Paper Moon -- two of my favorite films and films which both evoke a past decade with stunning detail and conviction. After that -- a ton of unsatisfactory pictures, some of them just horrible. The one with Audrey Hepburn (can't be bothered to look up the title; I think it also has Peter Falk) is so boring and inconsequential that I can't figure out what PB saw in the material. The Last Picture Show sequel, Texasville, I think, is one of the worst sequels in Hollywood history -- I saw it in the theater when it was just out & haven't seen it since, so that I can get it out of my memory and enjoy the original film again. What a strange career.