Por fin, el gran amor

To make up for the sound trashing this film has received in many quarters since its release, some cult fans go to the opposite extreme. This is neither a neglected gem nor a piece of crap, but an interesting experiment. Using actors who aren't singers must have been a conscious choice (although we can't help wondering what Cybill Shepard thinks of a strategy that nearly finished her career) in the manner of Woody Allen's "Everyone Says I Love You" (but Allen's film DOES achieve true glories, such as Hawn's dance along the Seine, that Bogdanovich does not). Most worthwhile element: extensive use of alternate Cole Porter lyrics that one rarely hears. It's greatest sin upon its release was probably in being itself: an off-kilter experiment with "tradition" during a time that didn't care for musicals much in the first place. I'm becoming increasingly interested in 70s musical "disasters" b/c they're worth seeing.