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| Speaking of Frank Langella movies ... | |
| Last Edit: WaymanWong 06:38 pm EST 02/20/21 | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 06:31 pm EST 02/20/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Frank Langella to appear in Susan Stroman’s “Beast In The Jungle” film. - kieran 04:51 pm EST 02/20/21 | |
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| Langella is terrific as Judge Hoffman in ''The Trial of the Chicago 7.'' He's got a good shot at the SAG Awards' Cast in a Motion Picture prize. I wonder if he has seen another Oscar contender: ''The Father,'' in which Anthony Hopkins tackled Langella's 2016 Tony-winning role. Going back much further, does anyone recall seeing Langella in ''Those Lips, Those Eyes'' (1980)? He played Harry, a visiting stage star doing stock one summer in Ohio in 1951. A pre-''Amadeus'' Tom Hulce played Artie, a stagestruck and starstruck kid who does the props. In the trailer, there's a snippet of Langella doing ''Indian Love Call'' from ''Rose-Marie.'' (Does he sing or was he dubbed?) |
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| Link | 'Those Lips, Those Eyes': 1980 trailer starring Frank Langella and Tom Hulce |
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| re: Speaking of Frank Langella movies ... | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 01:30 am EST 02/21/21 | |
| In reply to: Speaking of Frank Langella movies ... - WaymanWong 06:31 pm EST 02/20/21 | |
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| I adore THOSE LIPS, THOSE EYES! I do not know for certain if that’s Langella singing, but I rather suspect it was. He would go on to do at least one musical, the 1991 Houston Opera MY FAIR LADY. I was there. It was the most sexually charged MFL I’ve ever seen, and until the final scene, it was all done with movement, intonation, and looks (those eyes, indeed). And then we got to “Eliza, where the devil are my slippers?” and Langella leaped out of his chair, swung his Eliza (Lee Merrill) around, and it ended in a clinch. The theatre historian in me screamed, “but that’s NOT in Alan Jay Lerner’s stage directions!” The red-blooded woman in me said, “Shut up! I’m swooning!” Maybe I wouldn’t have accepted such an ending if they hadn’t clearly implied there was a physical attraction between the leads right from the start, but they did. Then again, it was Frank Langella. (swoons again at nearly 30 year old memory...) And yes, he sang quite nicely. Laura |
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| re: Speaking of Frank Langella movies ... | |
| Last Edit: Seth Christenfeld 04:51 pm EST 02/21/21 | |
| Posted by: Seth Christenfeld (tabula-rasa@verizon.net) 04:51 pm EST 02/21/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Speaking of Frank Langella movies ... - showtunetrivia 01:30 am EST 02/21/21 | |
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| Langella also did one season of the Menken/Ahrens/Ockrent Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden. Scrooge was a role that seemed to be adaptable to whoever played the role--there were both good singers (Walter Charles, Roger Daltrey, Jim Dale, Tim Curry, Terrence Mann) and less-good ones (Tony Randall, F. Murray Abraham) who did it over the years. Seth, who hope it'll come back someday |
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| re: Speaking of Frank Langella movies ... | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 05:22 pm EST 02/21/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Speaking of Frank Langella movies ... - Seth Christenfeld 04:51 pm EST 02/21/21 | |
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| I just found a clip of Langella singing ... at the Kennedy Center Honors. (Remember those?) He kicked off a terrific 2009 salute to Mel Brooks. | |
| Link | The Kennedy Center Honors: Mel Brooks (2009) |
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| re: Speaking of Frank Langella movies ... | |
| Posted by: larry13 05:31 am EST 02/21/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Speaking of Frank Langella movies ... - showtunetrivia 01:30 am EST 02/21/21 | |
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| Thank you for this fascinating recollection of a very different MFL. I can't help but wonder what you thought when you saw or even read about Bartlett Sher's take on the final scene 27 years later: "but that's NOT in Alan Jay Lerner's stage directions!" either. | |
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| re: Speaking of Frank Langella movies ... | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 10:52 am EST 02/21/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Speaking of Frank Langella movies ... - larry13 05:31 am EST 02/21/21 | |
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| Oh, believe me, I thought of my reaction in 1991 when I read about the Sher alteration! That production still hasn’t gotten to Los Angeles yet; just heard it may be this fall at the Dolby, so I am dubious if I will attend. The combination of the pandemic + I hate the Dolby + no money + I have seen MFL many times, including with Rex H = doubtful. Of course, don’t ask me how I will feel when they reschedule THE BAND’S VISIT for the Dolby, a show I want to see so much, it hurts... On the bare bones of Look What They’ve Done to My Stage Directions, Ma, the serious theatre historian in me is inclined to grumble, and maybe speculate that the Houston Variant (they’re KISSING) at least is a logical extension of AJL’s libretto (and his written comments on why he thinks GBS is wrong; but the Sher Variant (Eliza pops back in, then exits via center aisle) clearly derives from PYGMALION, and tell me again, what show are you staging here? But theatre has to be more than bare bones. It’s actors and directors bringing a story to life. That magic can’t be defined or quantified—and allows for endless interpretations. The sexual tension throughout the Houston production made that variant acceptable in my mind. (Of course, the fact that Langella has made me melt since 1970’s THE TWELVE CHAIRS likely helped.) If, as I have heard, the Sher variant is skewed to a drastically more independent Eliza, the performance may justify the ending. I cannot chime in here without seeing it. Laura |
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| re: Speaking of Frank Langella movies ... | |
| Posted by: BHandshy 08:09 pm EST 02/20/21 | |
| In reply to: Speaking of Frank Langella movies ... - WaymanWong 06:31 pm EST 02/20/21 | |
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| "Those Lips Those Eyes" is available for free for Amazon Prime Members. Thanks for mentioning it! I'll check it out. | |
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| re: Speaking of Frank Langella movies ... | |
| Posted by: Snowgrace 11:01 pm EST 02/20/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Speaking of Frank Langella movies ... - BHandshy 08:09 pm EST 02/20/21 | |
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| Thanks for the reminder re this film...haven't got Amazon Prime, but will hunt for some other way to see it. Herbert Berghof is in this as well! Langella is also so moving in STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING, & for all who watch LAW & ORDER: SVU, there is an episode in which he plays a role unlike any in which I had seen him, except for THE FATHER...wonderful work. | |
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