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 enlarge | Director: Harold Prince
Actors: Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Rigg, Len Cariou, Lesley-anne Down, Hermione Gingold
Studio: Henstooth Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $18.07
You Save: $6.88 (28%)
New (26) Used (6) from $18.07
Avg. Customer Rating:  34 reviews
Sales Rank: 32727
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 120
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: HEND4108D
UPC: 759731410823
EAN: 0759731410823
ASIN: B00003CWT3
Theatrical Release Date: March 8, 1978
Release Date: June 5, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW, Factory Sealed items direct from the Studios. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Quick International Airmail!
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| Customer Reviews:
 WARNING RE THIS FILM April 5, 2007
11 out of 15 found this review helpful
This is the American cut version .The European version ran 15 minutes longer.
 better than nothing at all March 20, 2007
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
Flipping through channels, I came upon the PBS production with Glynnis Johns just as "A Weekend in the Country" was starting. Needless to say I stopped flipping and was entranced for the rest of the play. I didn't even pull out the tv guide to learn the title until it was over. I went in search of the soundtrack the next day and discovered the music was every bit as good when listened to with headphones but I am none the less a visual person. Searching for it on dvd when several other Sondheim musicals were released, I learned about the Elizabeth Taylor movie. I rented the vhs from the video store and enjoyed it even though her performance didn't have the same feel as Ms Johns did. Now while I wait for the day the PBS version is released, I will enjoy watching the movie because it's better than nothing when I want more than just the music.
See it for Riggs March 10, 2007
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I am delighted that this is finally coming to DVD. I have watched the poor quality VHS many times. It is worth seeing just for Diana Riggs, if nothing else. However, there are other pluses. Taylor is not a singer but she is a great actress. Sondheim lyrics are wry and often poignant. True, songs were cut, but what is there is very entertaining. The costumes are great, too.
 The BEST it has ever looked in ANY home video format! December 7, 2005
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Don't be fooled by all the outcry on the quality of this wonderful DVD. Anyone who has seen A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC in its previous video releases knows that this DVD release is magnificent in almost EVERY way.
The original Embassy VHS release was fuzzy and washed out - but at least there was some hint of color. The later Nelson VHS and Laser Disc release was fuzzy, washed out and drained the color out of the film completely. In both cases it was in full screen, the picture was compressed so that the actors faces were thin and angular and the sound was merely adequate.
Now Henstooth presents this long-lost film in the best version we have ever seen since its original theatrical release. The colors are bright and warm. The picture is restored to its original size and the sound is crisp and clear. (All of this is rather remarkable considering that the word is that the original negatives for this film have all but been destoyed and is in need of a major restoration.) I didn't have much hope for this release when announced but having seen it, it took my breath away.
Now the film --
Based on Ingmar Bergman's film SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT, this musical film adapted by its Broadway creators Hugh Wheeler (screenplay), Stephen Sondheim (Music and Lyrics) and Harold Prince (director), concerns three mismatched couples.
Actress Desiree Armfeldt (Elizabeth Taylor), is seeing Count Mittelheim (Laurence Guittard) who is married to Charlotte Mittelheim (a delicious scene stealing performance from Diana Rigg). Frederick Egerman (Len Cariou), Deseiree's past lover, is married to the still-virginal Anne (Lesley-Anne Down), who is half his age. Frederick's son Erick (Christopher Guard) is hopelessly in love with his stepmother Anne (who is actually only a year younger than he.)
Petra (Lesley Dunlop); Frederick and Anne's maid, Madame Armfeldt (Hermione Gingold); Desiree's mother, and Frederika (Chloe Franks); Desiree's daughter - round out the action which occurs in town and culminates during a hectic "Weekend in the Country" at Madame Armfeldt's sprawling manor.
Forget what you've heard or read about the film. Yes, it is flawed in context to the Broadway original, but considering it was made when film musicals were all but dead in Hollywood, it is amazing that it even exists. The score is still just as witty and romantic and features a wonderful new version of THE GLAMOROUS LIFE written specifically for the film. The cast, many of them reprising their original stage roles, is uniformly superb! And despite all the nasty comments, Elizabeth Taylor is quite charming as Desiree (especially in the duet YOU MUST MEET MY WIFE with Cariou.) Sondheim even added a new verse or two for the marvelous song EVERY DAY A LITTLE DEATH.
If you get a chance - see this film in its new DVD transfer (The best it has ever looked or sounded on home video!) It just may steal your heart.
To watch it more helps you to appreciate it more October 18, 2004
33 out of 36 found this review helpful
Having seen the stage play several times I can appreciate the movie for what it is.The movie is much slower and less funny than the stage play, yet the movie has some much more tender moments and dramatic flair.I love being able to see the held close ups of Taylor and Cariou and the chemistry these two have.The movie fills in parts that cannot be done on stage.Yes,songs are cut from the stage version, but new lyrics for WEEKEND IN THE COUNTRY ,GLAMOUROUS LIFE and EVERY DAY A LITTLE DEATH make this interesting for Prince-Sondheim fans.It definitely is different than the original show, but I love it and watch it often.I always laugh when Cariou and Taylor are chortling about "her Dragooooooon!"
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