Torch Song Trilogy (film)
Torch Song Trilogy is a 1988 American comedy-drama film adapted by Harvey Fierstein from his play of the same name. The film was directed by Paul Bogart and stars Fierstein as Arnold, Anne Bancroft as Ma Beckoff, Matthew Broderick as Alan, Brian Kerwin as Ed, and Eddie Castrodad as David. Executive Producer Ronald K. Fierstein is Harvey Fierstein's brother. Fierstein created the role of Bertha Venation Wanting to highlight the work of female impersonator Charles Pierce. Broderick originally refused the role of Alan because he was recuperating from an automobile accident in Ireland. Tate  Donovan was cast, but two days into the rehearsal period Broderick had a change of heart and contacted Fierstein, who fired Donovan. Although the play was over four hours, the film was restricted to a running time of two hours at the insistence of New Line Cinema, necessitating much editing and excisions. The time period the film covers is several years earlier than the time period of the original play. Soundtrack. The soundtrack for "Torch Song Trilogy" was released on the Polydor label on LP, cassette, and CD on December 8, 1988. The album charted on the jazz charts of  industry magazines "Billboard" and "Cashbox". The song "This Time the Dream's On Me" sung by Ella Fitzgerald, which is used several times throughout the film including over the closing credits, was excised from the planned soundtrack album by Norman Granz, Fitzgerald's long-time manager, when he invoked a contractual clause which gave Fitzgerald the right to refuse her material to appear on an album featuring another artist (known in the music industry as a "coupling clause"). In actuality, Granz was unhappy with the money offered by the record company, PolyGram Records (now part of Universal Music), for the  use of the song in the film and refused permission for its inclusion on the album out of spite. Original music by Peter Matz and contemporary pop tunes such as Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" were used in the film, but not contained on the soundtrack as its producers, Larry L. Lash and Matz, felt they broke the overall "torch song" theme of the album. The track listing is as follows: Home media. "Torch Song Trilogy" was released on VHS in 1989, and on DVD in May 2004. The DVD version contains an audio commentary track by actor and writer  Harvey Fierstein. Reception. "Torch Song Trilogy" was generally well received by critics, with reviews from "Variety", "Time Out", Roger Ebert and Janet Maslin all praising the film. It holds a 71% score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 17 reviews. Janet Maslin from "The New York Times" wrote “Like "La Cage aux Folles," "Torch Song Trilogy" presents a homosexual world that any mother, with the possible exception of Arnold Beckoff’s, would love. Greatly shortened from Mr. Fierstein’s long-running, Tony Award-winning play, the film version emphasizes the lovable at every turn, but the surprise is that it does  this entertainingly and well.” Roger Ebert commented “As written and performed by Harvey Fierstein as a long-running stage hit, it was seen as a sort of nostalgic visit to the problems that gays had in the years before the horror of AIDS. The movie has more or less the same focus, but because it’s a movie, it becomes more intimate and intense.” Awards and nominations. At the 1989 Deauville Film Festival, director Paul Bogart was nominated for the Critics Award and won the Audience Award. The film was also nominated for Best Feature and Fierstein was nominated for  Best Male Lead at the Independent Spirit Awards that same year.