Howard_B_Eale As a viewer who had been bombarded with negative commentary on this film for almost 40 years without having actually viewed it, I suppose I'd drunk the Kool-Aid and assumed that the naysayers were right. But after viewing the Blu-ray (which is a presentation of James Blakely's "unauthorized" re-edit of the film, which he did to amuse himself while working at 20th, and then quietly placed "his" version into TV distribution), I now see how off-base these attacks were.It's difficult to know, without seeing the 1975 cut, nor the first TV re-edit done by Bogdanovich himself, where the differences in the versions lie (and complicating matters, Bogdanovich was finally able to tighten up bits and pieces and add an entire missing 90-second sequence to the Blakely cut for the Blu-ray). Indeed, seeing the Blakely cut, it's hard to imagine how the trims or changes would have happened at all, as the majority of picture is in long, unbroken shots (beautifully lensed by Laszlo Kovacs). From the occasionally dupey and ragged image quality here evident in the current Blu-ray transfer, it would appear that some numbers were simply discarded entirely in 1975, and replaced by lesser source material by Blakely. The looseness of the structure would have enabled some chess-playing with the sequence of events, but it's hard to imagine the film being truly butchered beyond recognition.In any event, it's more fruitful to view this film as a very earnest experiment, rather than a "throwback musical". The decision to shoot all the musical numbers live, with the actors not only using their own voices to sing, but doing so on-camera without overdubs, immediately places the entire enterprise in some cinematic twilight zone, out of time, floating weirdly between an era of 1930s Lubitsch and 1970s underground cinema. But, amazingly, it works, in no small part due to the uniformly appealing and earnest cast. Cringe-worthy duff notes aside, even Burt Reynolds pulls it off, and is often genuinely charming in his menage-aux-trois pairings with both Cybill Shepherd and Madeline Kahn. Duilio Del Prete clearly carries his musical numbers with ease, unlike the other three leads, but avoids upstaging them with what is obviously a better-trained singing voice.Indeed, the film works astonishingly well as an ensemble piece, perfectly suited to the double-entendre-laden Cole Porter tunes around which it is all based. The group sequences in tight quarters, such as the repeated bits in playboy Reynolds' chauffeured limos, are completely charming. The physical comedy is a gentle slapstick, not overly broad.It doesn't all hang together perfectly. The already-thin narrative feels stretched to the breaking point somewhere around the three-quarters mark, and the whole thing feels a bit long in the tooth at 121 minutes. It's easy to see how mid-1970s audiences would have found the entire enterprise utterly confounding, even after enjoying Bogdanovich's PAPER MOON two years prior. It overreaches, but is no failure.

dougdoepke Is the movie as bad as Golden Turkey Awards claims. You bet it is. I'd rather sit through two hours of test pattern than endure this slow-motion train wreck again. It does for Hollywood musicals what the Titanic did for ocean cruises. Folks who think this is a misunderstood masterpiece are probably also kind to house flies. I just wish the movie were laughably bad, like an Ed Wood misfire. But it's not. Instead, it's almost painful to witness a Cole Porter score get butchered by performers about as musical as I am. I just hope writer-producer-director Bogdanovich learned a few humbling lessons from the experience. One thing for sure— I'll bet no studio gave him six million to play with after this. My advice—watch the movie only if the alternative is two hours of a political speech.

lpwimsey I just finished watching this mess of blather for the first time. I fortunately missed it when it was released. I do remember some of the scathing reviews, and I now conclude that they were indeed correct. So much wasted talent in one place. It's hard to decide which was worse - Burt Reynolds dancing or Cybil Shepherd singing. I read all the reviews others have written, and I am astonished that anyone could actually like, let alone enjoy this film. It's hard to imagine that Cole Porter was ever subjected to more punishment than this movie offers. It's hard to imagine a worse job of casting in a movie although there have been some that tried. I seem to recall that Hollywood managed to ruin "Man of La Mancha" by casting non singers in the lead roles (Sophia Loren no less). But "At Long Last Love" is definitely on my worst musical list!

ep193577 AT LONG LAST LOVE was an unmitigated critical disaster when it premiered at Easter 1975. 20th Century Fox was so displeased with it the studio pulled it from distribution and it signaled the end of director Peter Bogdonacvich's up until then promising career which included the classic THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, the very funny Barbra Streisand screwball comedy WHAT'S UP DOC?(which foreshadowed this Cole Porter inspired film with Streisands dynamic and playful rendering of Porter's "You're the Top" over the beginning credits) and the much beloved PAPER MOON. Three years in a row, 3 blockbuster hits and 12 Oscar nominations later, Peter BOGgeddownabit with 1974s DAISY MILLER before crashing and burning with AT LONG LAST LOVE. If nothing else, AT LONG LAST LOVE is a beautifully costumed and art directed film thats a heck of a lot of fun. Very often , as a 40 something guy, I try to recapture memories of old movies I remember consuming endlessly on HBO and finding that with very few exceptions looking at films through a 12 year old eyes doesn't translate well 30 years hence. AT LONG is one of those exceptions. There is much to admire as an adult(AT LONG LAST LOVE had its biggest strike against it for a randy 12 year old-it was rated G! We loved HBO precisely for the opposite reason-to see naked girls in R rated movies.). The Cole Porter songs-however out of key they may be sung by Burt Reynolds and Cybil Sheperd-are a pleasure to "hear". Its like watching your favorite cool Aunt and Uncle at a wedding drunkenly singing some standards-yes they sound none too good but because of their dynamics you infectiously smile, grin and have a great time. Burt and Cybill get over as those favorite Aunt and Uncle did-they were young, carefree and beautiful to look at-who cares how they sounded? You are compelled to watch them. The story is as thin as the chiffon on the dresses but as a whole-it worked. Madeline Kahn , Eileen Brennan and Eileen Heckart add heft as a triumphant trio of comedic /singing talent. AT LONG LAST LOVE is like a dazzling Broadway show that has a great score, a credible book and likable stars-but the featured players steal the show. As a Broadway show it probably would have drawn raves, as an expensive studio musical in 1975-a year chock full of musicals with FUNNY LADY, TOMMY and LISZTSOMANIA among others-it flopped, and shouldn't have. Fox seems to be digging in their vaults lately, releasing movies to DVD that never even made it to video. I can only hope that they are planning a Burt Reynolds box set from 1975-including WW AND THE DIXIE DANCEKINGS , LUCKY LADY and AT LONG LAST LOVE- now that would be De-Lightful!And hopefully they'll allow Bogdonavich-with his new clout as an actor on The Soprano's-to revisit this musical classic and do it justice. While director Bogdonavich is no SAINT, he just need to remove his actors MASK and try to direct again. After all-when he did it in the 70s the audiences were grateful-THEY ALL LAUGHED.