At Long Last Love became one of the most notorious critical disasters of the 1970s. Reviewers attacked nearly every aspect of the production, but the musical performances drew the fiercest ridicule: Burt Reynolds was accused of singing in a misplaced Dean Martin style, while Cybill Shepherd's dancing and vocals became targets of unusually personal criticism. Time critic Jay Cocks called the film a “grand catastrophe,” Pauline Kael described it as a “stillborn musical comedy,” and John Simon branded it potentially the worst movie musical of its decade. The hostility was intensified by Bogdanovich's reputation as a former critic who had become a successful filmmaker and had spoken dismissively about critics on television. Reynolds later argued that the press had been waiting for an opportunity to punish Bogdanovich, with the cast caught in the blast radius.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1970s
The Cole Porter Musical So Savagely Reviewed That Its Director Printed a Public Apology
Peter Bogdanovich and At Long Last Love / 1970s
At Long Last Love became one of the most notorious critical disasters of the 1970s. Reviewers attacked nearly every aspect of the production, but the musical performances drew the fiercest ridicule: Burt Reynolds was accused of singing in a misplaced Dean Martin style, while Cybill Shepherd's dancing and vocals became targets of unusually personal criticism. Time critic Jay Cocks called the film a “grand catastrophe,” Pauline Kael described it as a “stillborn musical comedy,” and John Simon branded it potentially the worst movie musical of its decade. The hostility was intensified by Bogdanovich's reputation as a former critic who had become a successful filmmaker and had spoken dismissively about critics on television. Reynolds later argued that the press had been waiting for an opportunity to punish Bogdanovich, with the cast caught in the blast radius.
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