Love! Valour! Compassion! (film)

Love! Valour! Compassion!
Directed by	Joe Mantello
Produced by	Doug Chapin
Written by	Terrence McNally
Starring	Jason Alexander Stephen Spinella Stephen Bogardus Randy Becker John Benjamin Hickey Justin Kirk John Glover
Music by	Harold Wheeler
Cinematography	Alik Sakharov
Edited by	Colleen Sharp
Distributed by	Fine Line Features
Release dates	January 25, 1997
Running time	108 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$2 million
Box office	$2.9 million

Love! Valour! Compassion! is a 1997 film adaptation by Terrence McNally of his play of the same name, revolving around eight gay men who gather for three summer weekends. The setting is at a lakeside house in Dutchess County, two hours north of New York City where they relax, reflect, and plan for survival in an era plagued by AIDS.

As with many screen adaptations of stage plays, the script underwent numerous changes, eliminating almost all direct addresses to the audience and the conclusion of one of the subplots. This remains the only theatrical film directed by Joe Mantello, who was nominated for the Grand Special Prize at the Deauville Film Festival.

Synopsis

The story of eight male friends who spend the three major holiday weekends of one summer - Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day - together at a house in upstate New York. The house belongs to Gregory, a successful Broadway choreographer now approaching middle age, who fears he is losing his creativity; and his twenty-something lover, Bobby, a legal assistant who is blind. Each of the guests at their house is connected to Gregory’s work in one way or another - Arthur and longtime partner Perry are business consultants; John Jeckyll, a sour and promiscuous Englishman, is a dance accompanist; die-hard musical theater fanatic Buzz Hauser is a costume designer and the most stereotypically gay man in the group. Only John's summer lover, Ramon, and John's twin brother James are outside the circle of friends. But Ramon is outgoing and eventually makes a place for himself in the group, and James is such a gentle soul that he is quickly welcomed. Infidelity, flirtations, soul-searching, AIDS, truth-telling and skinny-dipping mix monumental questions about life and death with a wacky dress rehearsal for Swan Lake performed in drag.

Cast

In this film adaptation, McNally reunited the original cast, with the exceptions of Nathan Lane and Anthony Heald. Seinfeld co-star Jason Alexander stepped in for Lane and Stephen Spinella replaced Heald.

References

Further reading

• McNally, Terrence (1995). Love! Valor! Compassion!. New York: Dramatists Play Service. pp. 104 pp. ISBN 0-8222-1467-9. 

External links

• Love! Valour! Compassion! at the Internet Movie Database
• Love! Valour! Compassion! at AllMovie
• Love! Valour! Compassion! at the Internet Broadway Database