Released in 1978, one of legendary American singer Barry Manilow's most popular songs is 'Copacabana', for which he wrote the up-tempo, catchy music, with Jack Feldman and Bruce Sussman supplying its memorable, story-weaving lyrics.
In just 3 minutes, a tragic love triangle is played out, featuring young sweethearts Tony and Lola who perform together during the late 1940s as singers at a high-class Manhattan nightclub called the Copacabana, until Rico, Tony's jealous, unscrupulous rival for Lola's affections, lures her away and astray, culminating in Rico shooting Tony dead, which sends Lola half-mad with grief – so much so that 30 years later she still wears her old stage costumes and faded flowers in her hair as she sits alone drinking her sorrows and her mind away at the Copacabana, which is now a modern 1970s disco.
After having been approached by famous TV producer/star Dick Clark with the suggestion, Manilow, Feldman, and Sussman expanded the song's story into a full-scale made-for-TV film musical, entitled Copacabana The Movie, which debuted on CBS in 1985.
Not the easiest of films to track down nowadays, I recently managed to purchase it in ex-rental big box VHS video format, and thoroughly enjoyed it. A sweet, old-fashioned 'boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl back' romance (albeit one that cannot escape the original song's 'boy is shot dead by rival' doomed ending), this movie musical was directed by Waris Hussein, with Dick Clark on board as one of its executive producers, and stars Manilow in his acting debut as Tony Starr, plus Annette O'Toole as Lola Lamar, and Joseph Bologna as Rico Castelli.
As a feature-length musical, Copacabana The Movie contains a number of brand-new songs written specially for it by Manilow, Feldman, and Sussman. These include the beautiful wistful ballad 'Who Needs To Dream' and the upbeat 'Sweet Heaven (I'm In Love Again)', plus some extremely colourful, Latin American-inspired production numbers set in the Copacabana and in an even more up-market Havana-based club owned by Rico, to where he lures the ambitious but naïve Lola, promising to turn her into a star (at least until the next pretty face comes along...).
Copacabana The Movie went on to win a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Directing in a Variety or Music Program (by Hussein) at the 1986 Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony. In addition, it was also nominated for the Outstanding Achievement in Choreography Primetime Emmy in recognition of Grover Dale's superb contributions. Moreover, this film musical in turn inspired its three creators to write an even more expansive stage version, which has toured in the UK, USA, and parts of Europe (in translated form) since 1990.
Not bad for what began as a 3-minute song!
Click here to watch my favourite scene
from Copacabana The Movie, in which
an initially shy Tony gains confidence as he serenades Lola on their first date
with 'Who Needs To Dream'. Ah, bless.
Finally: Due to its title, if not its locations, Copacabana The Movie will always conjure up some treasured memories for me because one of the last foreign holidays that Mom and I shared was to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2007, where we stayed at the Copacabana Palace Hotel, directly overlooking Rio's famous Copacabana Beach:
And to view a complete listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE!
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