Song of Norway (film)

Last updated

Song of Norway
Song of Norway - Poster - 1970.jpg
1970 theatrical poster
Directed by Andrew L. Stone
Written byAndrew L. Stone
Starring Toralv Maurstad
Florence Henderson
CinematographyDavis Boulton
Edited byVirginia Stone
Music by Robert Wright
George Forrest,
based on the music of Edvard Grieg
Production
companies
Distributed by Cinerama Releasing Corporation
Release date
  • November 4, 1970 (1970-11-04)
Running time
142 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3,625,000 [1]
Box office$7,900,000 [1]

Song of Norway is a 1970 American biographical drama musical film adaptation of the successful operetta of the same name, directed by Andrew L. Stone.

Contents

Like the play from which it derived, the film tells of the early struggles of composer Edvard Grieg and his attempts to develop an authentic Norwegian national music. It stars Toralv Maurstad as Grieg and features an international cast including Florence Henderson, Christina Schollin, Robert Morley, Harry Secombe, Oskar Homolka, Edward G. Robinson, and Frank Porretta (as Rikard Nordraak). Filmed in Super Panavision 70 by Davis Boulton and presented in single-panel Cinerama in some countries, it was an attempt to capitalize on the success of The Sound of Music, and was the first musical in Cinerama. [2]

Plot

Song of Norway begins with the young composer Edvard Grieg struggling to get his music noticed by other musicians or music producers in either Norway or Denmark. Grieg wants to write great lyrical music that represents his country. He gradually promotes his music with the help of composer and friend Rikard Nordraak, and cousin/wife/singer Nina Willemsun Grieg. During these early years (1860's), Norway was not especially looking for a composer of nationalist music based on Norwegian lyric songs. Other composers including Smetana, Dvorak and Liszt were beginning to develop a rich tradition of romantic music using the folk tunes of their homelands. [3] In the film, Grieg complains about the lack of local interest in similar music for Norway. An old flame (the wealthy Therese Berg) helps subsidize a series of concerts for Grieg. He then applies for a travel grant, and his wife Nina befriends a local pianist (Mr. Krogstad) who then writes a letter to Polish composer and pianist Franz Liszt on Grieg's behalf. Grieg receives the grant, and leaves for Rome, while Nina remains in Norway. In Rome Grieg meets Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen and Franz Liszt. He holds numerous concerts and debuts his works. At this time Grieg also composes his famous piano concerto in A minor. Ibsen eventually asks Grieg to write the music for his play Peer Gynt. The film ends when Grieg returns home to Nina in Norway to continue his career. Of interest, the film correctly notes that Grieg's friend Rikard Nordraak, who dies while Grieg is away in Rome, composed the Norwegian national anthem. [4]

Cast

Florence Henderson and Edward G. Robinson on the set of Song of Norway (April 1969) Henderson-Robinson-Song-of-Norway.jpg
Florence Henderson and Edward G. Robinson on the set of Song of Norway (April 1969)

Production

Earl St John announced he would make the film in 1950. [5]

Release

Song of Norway had its premiere on November 4, 1970 at the Cinerama Theatre in New York and in Oslo. [6] [7]

Reception

Song of Norway was conceived in the wake of successes like My Fair Lady and The Sound of Music , two films which had suggested to studios that a revival of full-scale musical films was in demand. The operetta from which the music was derived had run for over 1,000 performances on Broadway and in the West End.

However, the film version was a critical and commercial disaster. Filmgoers' appetites for a musical revival had been completely misjudged, and it ultimately was to join other box-office failures of the same period, such as Darling Lili , Mame , Paint Your Wagon , and Lost Horizon . [8] Initially, box office prospects seemed promising with advance sales of $225,000 in New York and grossing $53,000 in its opening week from two theatres in New York and Toronto. [9] [10] In Britain, it was the most popular "reserved ticket" film of 1971. [11] But it only went on to earn rentals of $4.4 million in the United States and Canada and $3.5 million in other countries, recording an overall loss of $1,075,000. [1]

Critics were virtually unanimously negative on its release, observing its imitation of The Sound of Music and its generally poor production despite obvious expense. In The New Yorker , Pauline Kael wrote: "The movie is of an unbelievable badness; it brings back clichés you didn’t know you knew - they’re practically from the unconscious of moviegoers." [12] Vincent Canby in The New York Times wrote that the film "is no ordinary movie kitsch, but a display to turn Guy Lombardo livid with envy," adding that "the film, conceived as a living postcard, is so full of waterfalls, blossoms, lambs, glaciers, folk dancers, mountains, children, suns, fjords and churches, that it raises kitsch to the status of a kind of art, not without its own peculiar integrity and crazy fascination." [13] [14] [15] Kathleen Carroll of the New York Daily News gave it two stars out of four, writing that "Edvard Grieg may well have had his struggles as a young composer but he'd have to sit through the movie based on his life to know real depression. For The Song of Norway, at the Cinerama, is one big sour note. What has been done to the once charming operetta (it was first performed on Broadway in 1944) is almost too terrible to describe and it is particularly infuriating to those of us who still believe in the preservation of movie musicals." [16] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film half of one star out of four writing: "The fjords aren't exactly alive with the sound of Grieg thanks to a disastrous screenplay by Andrew Stone who finds it more convenient to photograph a mountain than to write intelligent dialog." [17] Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times called the film "inoffensive but unsatisfying" and compared it unfavorably to The Sound of Music, which "had a strong narrative line and generated a good deal of suspense. It's not Grieg's fault he wasn't chased by Nazis, of course, but such trials as there were in his life seem either lacklustre or inappropriate to a family musical." [18] Critics also cited the uninspired cinematography, clumsy editing and a ham-fisted insertion of cartoon trolls (supervised by former Disney animator Jack Kinney). These flaws seemed only amplified by their presentation in Super-Panavision and Cinerama. Gary Arnold of The Washington Post wrote that the film had "next to no plot" and "beautiful scenery or not, people are going to lose interest as slowly but surely as they do when watching the neighbors' slides of their trip to Europe." [19]

Critics' views were echoed by cast members. Florence Henderson said Andrew Stone "approached scenes quite literally and without a lot of imagination". [20] Harry Secombe called it a film "you could take the kids to see... and leave them there." [21]

In the music video for David Bowie's 2013 song "Where Are We Now?", Bowie is seen wearing a shirt referencing the film, which in 1969 his then-girlfriend, Hermione Farthingale, had appeared in, leaving him in order to do so. [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edvard Grieg</span> Norwegian composer and pianist (1843–1907)

Edvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of Norwegian folk music in his own compositions brought the music of Norway to fame, as well as helping to develop a national identity, much as Jean Sibelius did in Finland and Bedřich Smetana in Bohemia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Concerto (Grieg)</span> Piano concerto by Edvard Grieg in 1868

The Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16, composed by Edvard Grieg in 1868, was the only concerto Grieg completed. It is one of his most popular works, and is among the most popular of the genre. Grieg, being only 24 years old at the time of the composition, had taken inspiration from Robert Schumann's only concerto, also being in A minor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Sinding</span> Norwegian composer (1856–1941)

Christian August Sinding was a Norwegian composer. He is best known for his lyrical work for piano Frühlingsrauschen. He was often compared to Edvard Grieg and regarded as his successor.

<i>Peer Gynt</i> Five-act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen

Peer Gynt is a 5-act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen. It is one of the most widely performed Norwegian plays.

"In the Hall of the Mountain King" is a piece of orchestral music composed by Edvard Grieg in 1875 as incidental music for the sixth scene of act 2 in Henrik Ibsen's 1867 play Peer Gynt. It was originally part of Opus 23 but was later extracted as the final piece of Peer Gynt, Suite No. 1, Op. 46. Its easily recognizable theme has helped it attain iconic status in popular culture, where it has been arranged by many artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rikard Nordraak</span> Norwegian composer (1842–1866)

Rikard Nordraak was a Norwegian composer. He is best known as the composer of the Norwegian national anthem, "Ja, vi elsker dette landet".

George Forrest was an American writer of music and lyrics for musical theatre best known for the show Kismet, adapted from the works of Alexander Borodin. He was also known professionally at times as Chet Forrest.

Robert Craig Wright was an American composer-lyricist for Hollywood and the musical theatre, best known for the Broadway musical and musical film Kismet, for which he and his professional and romantic partner George Forrest adapted themes by Alexander Borodin and added lyrics. Kismet was one of several Wright and Forrest creations that was commissioned by impresario Edwin Lester for the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera. Song of Norway, Gypsy Lady, Magdalena, and their adaptation of The Great Waltz were also commissioned by Lester for the LACLO. The LACLO passed most of these productions to Broadway.

Song of Norway is an operetta written in 1944 by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adapted from the music of Edvard Grieg and the book by Milton Lazarus and Homer Curran. A very loose film adaptation with major changes to both the book and music was released in 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nina Grieg</span> Danish–Norwegian lyric soprano

Nina Grieg, née Hagerup was a Danish–Norwegian lyric soprano.

Edvard Grieg composed his Funeral March in Memory of Rikard Nordraak in 1866, in honour of his friend and fellow Norwegian composer Rikard Nordraak, who had died in March of that year at the age of 23. Grieg deeply respected his fellow musician and took no delay in producing the work. The march was originally written as a piano piece in A minor; Grieg also produced transcriptions of it for brass choir and wind band, in B♭ minor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmund Neupert</span> Norwegian musician (1842–1888)

(Carl Fredrik) Edmund Neupert was a Norwegian music teacher, pianist and composer. Among Neupert's compositions, the 24 Concert-Etüden and the 24 Octav-Etüden are especially highly regarded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toralv Maurstad</span> Norwegian actor (1926–2022)

Toralv Maurstad was a Norwegian stage, film, and television actor. He was the son of actor Alfred Maurstad and actress Tordis Maurstad, and half-brother of actress Mari Maurstad. His screen debut came in the 1937 film Fant, which starred his father Alfred.

<i>Peer Gynt</i> (Grieg) Incidental music by Edvard Grieg to Ibsens play

Peer Gynt, Op. 23, is the incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's 1867 play Peer Gynt, written by the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg in 1875. It premiered along with the play on 24 February 1876 in Christiania.

The music of the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg has been used extensively in media, music education, and popular music.

Edvard Grieg composed the Cello Sonata in A minor, Op. 36 for cello and piano, and his only work for this combination, in 1882–83, marking a return to composition following a period when he had been preoccupied with his conducting duties at the Bergen Symphony Orchestra as well as illness.

Storm Bull was an American musician, composer and educator. He was Professor Emeritus at the College of Music, University of Colorado at Boulder and Head of the Division of Piano.

Alfred Janson was a Norwegian pianist and composer. He was born in Oslo as the son of sculptor Gunnar Janson and pianist Margrethe Gleditsch, and was brother of journalist Mette Janson. He was first married to actress and singer Grynet Molvig and later to Berit Gustavsen. He made his piano debut in 1962. Among his early compositions is the piano piece November from 1962 and the orchestral Vuggesang from 1963. He composed the ballet Mot solen for the Bergen International Festival in 1969, and in 1991 he was the festival's principal composer.

Eyvind Stauri Solås was a Norwegian musician, composer, actor and program host in NRK, both the Norwegian television and radio.

Rikard Nordraak is a Norwegian drama film from 1945 directed by Alf Scott-Hansen Jr. The subject of the film is the Norwegian composer Rikard Nordraak, known among other things for having composed the Norwegian national anthem, "Ja, vi elsker dette landet".

References

  1. 1 2 3 "ABC's 5 Years of Film Production Profits & Losses". Variety . May 31, 1973. p. 3.
  2. ↑ "Cinerama Holiday". Daily Variety . February 6, 1970. p. 2.
  3. ↑ Stewart, James (June 20, 2016). "Timeline: Musical Nationalism". Vermont Public Radio. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Rikard Nordraak". Encyclopedia Britannica. June 8, 2022. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  5. ↑ "SONG OF NORWAY" TO BE ALL BRITISH". The Mirror . Perth, WA: National Library of Australia. October 14, 1950. p. 15. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Set 'Norway' Preem". Variety . June 3, 1970. p. 4.
  7. ↑ "New York Sound Track". Variety . June 17, 1970. p. 4.
  8. ↑ Gray, Timothy M. (February 25, 2003). "Hollywood heavies facing the music". Variety . Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Broadway's Sound Of Sex And Music; 'Pussycat' $100,206; 'Norway' $41,000; 'Holmes' 145G, 2d; 'Cromwell' 49G, 2d". Variety . November 11, 1970. p. 9.
  10. ↑ "50 Top-Grossing Films". Variety . November 18, 1970. p. 11.
  11. ↑ Waymark, Peter (December 30, 1971). "Richard Burton top draw in British cinemas". The Times . p. 2.
  12. ↑ Kael, Pauline (1971) Deeper into Movies, Calder Boyars
  13. ↑ Canby, Vincent (November 15, 1970). "The New Movies". The New York Times. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  14. ↑ Canby, Vincent (November 5, 1970). "'Song of Norway' Opens at the Cinerama". The New York Times. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  15. ↑ Quoted in Beck, R. (2002) The Edward G. Robinson Encyclopedia, McFarland. p. 293
  16. ↑ Carroll, Kathleen (November 5, 1970). "Flat Note Hit By 'Song of Norway' Film". New York Daily News . p. 85 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ Siskel, Gene (January 1, 1971). "Song of Norway". Chicago Tribune . p. 21 (Section 2) – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ Champlin, Charles (November 11, 1970). "Grieg's Life in 'Norway'". Los Angeles Times . p. 17, Part IV – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ Arnold, Gary (January 1, 1971). "Song of Norway". The Washington Post . p. B10.
  20. ↑ Kennedy, M. (2015) Roadshow!: The Fall of Film Musicals in the 1960s, OUP. p. 215
  21. ↑ TV-am interview, 1987
  22. ↑ Heawood, Sophie (January 8, 2013). "David Bowie has gone from new to old – and what a beautiful thing it is". The Independent. Archived from the original on September 26, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.