At Long Last Love

At Long Last Love

It is impossible not to love “At Long Last Love” which is much maligned as Peter Bogdanovich’s attempt at a 30s musical. It is light and silly and perfectly stylish, too. Sure the performers aren’t Astaire and Rogers (who are?) but it’s their fault only in part: the studio system that developed and nurtured the great musical stars has long since ceased to exist; you have to make these things from scratch nowadays.

Not entirely from scratch, though: All of the music and lyrics are by Cole Porter, who was a favorite of Bogdanovich and his star, Cybill Shepherd; they recorded a Porter album last year. There are 16 Porter classics sung here an interesting idea at a time when new songs composed for movies seem to be on the level of “Love Theme from The Towering Inferno.”

So maybe we ought to go back, now and then, to “It’s De-Lovely,” “Well, Did You Evah?,” “Just One Of Those Things” and especially the title song (which was, according to legend, started by Porter while he was waiting for doctors at the scene of an accident that crippled him for life).

Bogdanovich has found a story and setting that sound right with this sort of material. His screenplay concerns itself with a sophisticated (and yet sometimes childishly innocent) dalliance among four members of the idle rich or would be rich (everybody’s idle). Burt Reynolds plays a playboy millionaire; Miss Shepherd plays a beautiful heiress; Madeline Kahn plays a Broadway star; Dullio Del Prete plays an Italian gambler who is very seductive.

They drink champagne relentlessly; they dance through night after night; they wreck one limousine after another along with several touring cars; they trade partners; they try never under any circumstances to be bored: It’s like ‘Private Lives’ rewritten by Thorne Smith.

The story, of course, is utterly inconsequential and Bogdanovich has it hover a few inches above the ground; he’s not making another one of those great musicals like “Swing Time” or “Top Hat,” this is supposed to be a different kind. He fails, mainly because his performers don’t have much gift for musical comedy, but not as completely as some of the notices might lead you to believe.

Cybill Shepherd is a marvel but she can’t sing, and no amount of voice lessons is going to change that. She did poorly on her Cole Porter album and here she does poorly again although at least we are allowed to see her while she sings and that helps a little bit. Before further trying to present Miss Shepherd as a singer, which he seems determined to do, Mr. Bogdanovich would do well to run ‘Citizen Kane’ through his Project-O-Matic once more maybe stop about two-thirds of the way in just so he can get another look at Susan Alexander’s disastrous debut with the Chicago Opera Company.

Burt Reynolds, however, is not expected to sing and dance well; we are amused by his desire to enjoy himself unobtrusively without looking ridiculous, and he usually succeeds. His moustache in the style of Clark Gable and his general attitude make us think of Gable grinning foolishly through crazy production numbers and having a great time. Miss Kahn is sharp and edgy, Del Prete is an acceptable Latin lover, and John Hillerman has done a very funny low key acting job as Rodney the butler.

This movie isn’t a classic, but I can’t explain some critics’ fury against it. It’s almost as if they’re accusing Bogdanovich of pride for making a musical comedy in the old Hollywood style. “At Long Last Love” isn’t “Swing Time,” but then it isn’t “Funny Lady” either, thank heaven. Bogdanovich has too much taste, too good an ear for the right note to hit with every line or image perhaps but he doesn’t go seriously astray here. And if he doesn’t succeed wildly well on some levels, at least he provides small scale delights and terrific music.

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