Once More, with Feeling!

This article is about the 1960 film. For other topics of the same name, seeOnce More with Feeling (disambiguation).

Once More, with Feeling!
Original film poster
Directed by	Stanley Donen
Written by	Harry Kurnitz(play and screenplay)
Produced by	Stanley Donen
Starring	Yul Brynner Kay Kendall Gregory Ratoff
Cinematography	Georges Périnal
Edited by	Jack Harris
Music by	Franz Liszt Ludwig van Beethoven Richard Wagner arranged byMuir Mathieson
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	11 February 1960(1960-02-11)(U.S.)
Running time	92 min
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	$1,500,000 (US/ Canada)

Once More, with Feeling!is a 1960 British comedy film starringYul BrynnerandKay Kendallin her final film appearance and directed and produced byStanley Donenfrom ascreenplaybyHarry Kurnitz,based on his play.

The film was released byColumbia Picturesand has music byFranz Liszt,Ludwig van Beethoven,andRichard Wagner,arranged byMuir Mathieson.The cinematography was byGeorges Périnaland the costume design byGivenchy.

Plot

Egomaniacal and temperamental Victor Fabian is the London Festival Orchestra's conductor. His wife, Dolly, is a harpist who acts on her husband's behalf, presenting his impossible demands to the symphony's backers, only to then find him dallying with a considerably younger musician. Dolly decides to leave him, whereupon he destroys her harp.

Victor's conducting suffers in Dolly's absence and the orchestra needs her back. His agent, Max Archer, tries to get him a new contract, but young Wilbur, son of the orchestra's patron saint, insists to Victor's horror that any agreement must include a performance of his mother's favorite piece of music, John Philip Sousa'sStars and Stripes Forever.

Rather than return, Dolly wants a divorce so she can marry Dr. Richard Hilliard, a physicist. An angry Victor blurts out that to be divorced, two people must first be married. It turns out colleagues only assumed Victor and Dolly were husband and wife, and they had never actually tied the knot.

Victor won't grant a quick marriage and equally quick divorce unless she agrees to live with him for three more weeks. He wears down her resolve, and Hilliard catches her in a frilly nightgown. A frustrated Dolly tells both she just wants to live alone. She applauds from the audience as Victor, with great reluctance, launches the orchestra into a rousingStars and Stripes Forever.

Cast

• Yul Brynneras Dr. Victor Fabian
• Kay Kendallas Dolly Fabian
• Gregory Ratoffas Maxwell Archer
• Geoffrey Tooneas Dr. Richard Hilliard
• Maxwell Shawas Jascha Gendel / Grisha Gendel
• Mervyn Johnsas Mr. Wilbur Jr.
• Martin Bensonas Luigi Bardini
• Harry Lockart as Chester
• Shirley Anne Fieldas Angela Hopper

Background

The playOnce More, With Feeling,which was adapted for this film, opened inNew Havenin September 1958 and then onBroadwayon 21 October 1958 at theNational Theatre,in a production directed byGeorge Axelrodand designed by George Jenkins, and starringJoseph Cotten,Arlene Francis,andWalter Matthau,who was nominated for aTony Awardas Best Featured Actor. The play ran for 263 performances.

The film was Kay Kendall's last. She died ofleukemiaon 6 September 1959 before the film's release.

Novelization

In January, 1960,Pyramid Booksissued a paperback novelization "based on the stage and screen plays"; the author was celebrated American potboiler novelist and showbiz biographerAnn Pinchot(1905–1998). The cover price was 35¢. It was concurrently published in the UK, also as a paperback, by WDL; the cover price was 2'6. The nearly identical front panel designs feature a painting by prolific paperback cover artist Tom Miller, intimately depicting Kay Kendall, reclining on a couch with a martini, and Yul Brynner, behind the couch, leaning in.

External links

• Once More, with Feeling!atIMDb
• Once More, with Feeling!atRotten Tomatoes