As you can tell, this film has just been re-shown on Australian TV. I first saw this movie about 10 years ago, also on TV, and my memories of it, until I saw it again this week, were better than they are now. I have all of Kurt's novels and short stories - and the film is quite faithful to the play as published in paperback. There are two problems with the film. Firstly, Kurt Vonnegut was obviously disenchanted with the play as he states that he was continually rewriting it during the original stage rehearsals. Secondly, there is a lot of overacting. However, I am not sure that this is the fault of the director. The script is so much "larger than life" that the actors appear to be saying the words in the only way possible.
Nevertheless, the film is good for a laugh. The version just shown was uncut, and contains some language that was cut from the original TV release. Looseleaf Harper (William Hickey) has some classic lines. Susannah York seems unable to manage an American accent and Rod Steiger plays the "hero" in a completely over the top way. George Grizzard is excellent as the doctor. The scenes in heaven are great - and are obviously close to Kurt's creed. It is a shame that he rewrote the ending of the play for the movie - the end of the play is a classic.
However, the film ultimately fails as the script is essentially impossible to perform meaningfully. It is much nicer to read the play as you can imagine the characters better than they can be played. Having said that, go and see the film anyway. There are a hell of a lot worse films than this one!
Nevertheless, the film is good for a laugh. The version just shown was uncut, and contains some language that was cut from the original TV release. Looseleaf Harper (William Hickey) has some classic lines. Susannah York seems unable to manage an American accent and Rod Steiger plays the "hero" in a completely over the top way. George Grizzard is excellent as the doctor. The scenes in heaven are great - and are obviously close to Kurt's creed. It is a shame that he rewrote the ending of the play for the movie - the end of the play is a classic.
However, the film ultimately fails as the script is essentially impossible to perform meaningfully. It is much nicer to read the play as you can imagine the characters better than they can be played. Having said that, go and see the film anyway. There are a hell of a lot worse films than this one!