Main Cast: Toralv Maurstad, Florence Henderson, Christina Schollin, Frank Porretta, Robert Morley, Harry Secombe
Release Year: 1970
Country: US
Run Time: 143 minutes
Plot
This musical biography of Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (Torval Maurstad) is based on the play of the same name. Living in poverty after graduating from a music conservatory, Grieg scandalizes his family by marrying his cousin Nina (Florence Henderson). Grieg has an affair with a former schoolmate, Therese Berg (Christina Schollin), a wealthy woman who makes a deal with her influential father to end the romance if he'll arrange a concert for Grieg in Stockholm. Grieg eventually travels to Rome, where his significance as an artist begins to find appreciation. His association with Therese is not really finished and Grieg's humble piano, a gift from the self-sacrificing Nina, is overshadowed by Therese's gift of a grand piano. Back to back with the subsequent and equally unsuccessful The Great Waltz (1972), the last two films of writer, producer, and director Andrew Stone ended his nearly 50 year career. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Review
Song of Norway is one of those films that inspires a "what were they thinking?!" reaction in most viewers. Part of the cycle of cinematic musical disasters that followed in the wake of The Sound of Music's incredible success, Song of Norway is a laughably old-fashioned operetta/biography that revels in piling cliché upon cliché. It also features dialogue that ranges from trite to obvious, cardboard characters (that bear no relation to the real-life figures upon which they are supposedly based) and lyrics that traffic in overblown poesy. Edvard Grieg's music, of course, is beautiful, but it is not properly adapted for musical theatre purposes; even worse, most of the songs are not properly led into -- they simply pop up and then disappear. Much of Lee Theodore's choreography is overly stagy; she also seems to have decided, "when in doubt, have the characters run." As Greig, Toralv Maurstad is bland and inconsequential, with a singing voice that borders on dismal. Florence Henderson and Frank Poretta sound better (although Poretta pushes too hard vocally), but they can do little dramatically with their by-the-numbers characters. The direction is sloppy, the editing bizarre and choppy and the sound quality is among the worst in a major studio production. The film's only saving grace is the gorgeous scenery, but there's too much of it; almost every number cuts away inopportunely for shot after shot after shot after shot of frozen fjords, flower-strewn meadows or mountains framed by a midnight sun. One's initial reaction to Norway is probably to be one of incredulous laughter, but the amusement factor fades long before the films 143 minutes are over. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Edward G. Robinson - Krogstad; Elizabeth Larner - Mrs. Bjornson; Oscar Homolka - Engstrand; Frederick Jaeger - Henrik Ibsen; Bernard Archard - George Nordraak; Richard Wordsworth - Hans Christian Andersen; Henry Gilbert - Franz Liszt; Susan Richard Chitty - Aunt Aline; John Barrie - Hagerup; Wenke Foss - Mrs. Hagerup; Ronald Adam - Gade; Aline Towne - Mrs. Thoresen; Nan Munro - Irate Woman; James Hayter - Berg's Butler; Erik Chitty - Helsted; Manoug Parikian - Violinist; Richard Vernon - 1st Councilman; Ernest Clark - 2nd Councilman; Eli Lindtner - Bjornson's Secretary; Tracey Crisp - Receptionist; Jane Darling; Elvind Harum - Freddie; Elizabeth Lamers - Mrs. Bjomson; Charles Lloyd Pack - Chevalier; Robert Rietty - Winding; Carl Rigg - Capt. Hansen; Susan Richards - Aunt Aline; Jeffrey Taylor; Hermione Farthingale; Roy Jones; Jane Kells - Dancer; Cyril Renison - Rome Butler
Credit
William Albert Havemeyer - Art Director, Jack Kinney - Animator, Lee Theodore - Choreography, David Walker - Costume Designer, Fiorella Mariani - Costume Designer, John O'Connor - First Assistant Director, Virginia Stone - Director, Virginia Stone - Editor, London Symphony Orchestra - Composer (Music Score), George Forrest - Composer (Music Score), Robert Wright - Composer (Music Score), Lee Theodore - Composer (Music Score), Roland Shaw - Composer (Music Score), Roland Shaw - Musical Direction/Supervision, Davis Boulton - Cinematographer, Virginia Stone - Producer, Virginia Stone - Screenwriter, Milton Lazarus - Screenwriter, Homer Curran - Play Author
