Love! Valour! Compassion! (film)

Love! Valour! Compassion!

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Joe Mantello
Produced by Doug Chapin
Screenplay by Terrence McNally
Based on Love! Valour! Compassion! by Terrence McNally
Starring
Music by Harold Wheeler
Cinematography Alik Sakharov
Edited by Colleen Sharp
Distributed by Fine Line Features
Release date
 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 directed by Joe Mantello and written by Terrence McNally, adapted from McNally's play of the same name.[1] It revolves around eight gay men who gather for three summer weekends at a lakeside house in Dutchess County, New York, 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 Mantello, who was nominated for the Grand Special Prize at the Deauville Film Festival.

Synopsis

The story of eight gay male friends who spend the three major holiday weekends of one summer (Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day) together at a lakeside house in Dutchess County, 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 his longtime partner Perry are business consultants; John Jeckyll, a sour and promiscuous Englishman, is a dance accompanist; and 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 twin brother James are outside the circle of friends. Ramon is outgoing and eventually makes a place for himself in the group, while James is such a gentle soul that he is quickly welcomed. Infidelity, flirting, AIDS, skinny-dipping, truth-telling, and soul-searching mix questions about life and death with a 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. Jason Alexander stepped in for Lane and Stephen Spinella replaced Heald.

Role 1995 Broadway
Opening Night Cast		 1997 Film Cast
Gregory Mitchell Stephen Bogardus
John & James Jeckyll John Glover
Perry Sellars Anthony Heald Stephen Spinella
Buzz Hauser Nathan Lane Jason Alexander
Ramon Fornos Randy Becker
Arthur Pape John Benjamin Hickey
Bobby Brahms Justin Kirk

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ Holden, Stephen (May 16, 1997). "Love Valour Compassion (1997) Tenderness and Rage Residing in Men's Hearts". The New York Times.
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