Musicals that miss the point of the movie they are based on — Page 2

Did anyone catch the reading of The Seven-Year Itch that was done at the York Theatre last October? How was that? I really love this artwork's vintage style...

muscle23ftl said: "Right, Billy Wilder himself said the show was a 85% just like his movie. I think the other 15% is even better than the movie, because the musical and the dramatic symphonies and the color of the music make it a 15% better. "



If you think some of it is better than the movie, well that's your opinion. But you misquoted and misinterpreted what Wilder said. When asked what he thought of the musical at the opening night party in London, he jokingly said to the press "It's a good musical and would make one hell of a movie" and then, in private, infamously said that it was just his film in permanent long shot. Meaning that they didn't actually DO anything, just took the script and added singing to a lot of inappropriate moments.

BakerWilliams said: "Sunset Boulevard failed because

a. The score is abysmal. Even by Lloyd Webber standards it's about as interesting as uncooked oatmeal and slick as an oil spill on an ice pond.

b They tried to humanize Norma Desmond, who is such a perfect cinematic monster, belonging in the same category as the Universal Frankenstein or Dracula.

c. The movie uses cinema, and specifically black and white 35mm photography to such effect that removing it from that context takes away a lot of its terrifying beauty. Same reason why the story-with-the-story of City of Angels sucks.

d. Billy Wilder's ethos is about as cynical and hardened as you can get. Any attempt at emotionality in Wilder films usually doesn't come off, and the musical trying to was like getting a stone to bleed.

So.....basically, they missed the point."

Your point (a) is subjective at best and many would disagree (myself included - it's one of my all-time favorites).

Your point (b) contradicts the 11/18/94 NY Times review, which said: "At the end, when Norma slithers down the stairs as Salome, posturing grotesquely in what is meant to be a sinuous dance of seduction, the transformation is complete. Ms. Close is by this point quite literally out of this world -- a supremely ridiculous, unbearably pathetic monster."

I'm not sure I understand your point (c), which seems to imply that the show somehow lacks "terrifying beauty" because it's not in black and white. I did not see City of Angels, so can't speak to the veracity of that claim.

Your point (d) is also lost on me, as the show's book and much of the dialogue/lyrics are sourced directly from the film script. Joe is a cynical cad and Norma is a sad, tragic figure in both. There is arguably no real love between them; each uses the other to prop up their respective life failures.

In truth, Sunset Boulevard failed because its weekly operating costs could not be sustained.

So...maybe it's you who missed the point.

Updated On: 3/23/17 at 11:35 AM

I wrote a bit about that for A Bronx Tale (and Diner) on my blog this week...

*points to signature*