''Gilda Live'' is a 1980 American

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

starring

Gilda Radner Gilda Susan Radner (June 28, 1946 – May 20, 1989) was an American actress and comedian, and one of the seven original cast members of the "Not Ready For Prime Time Players" on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). In he ...

, directed by

Mike Nichols Mike Nichols (born Michael Igor Peschkowsky; November 6, 1931 – November 19, 2014) was an American film and theater director, producer, actor, and comedian. He was noted for his ability to work across a range of genres and for his aptitude fo ...

and produced by

Lorne Michaels Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian-American producer, screenwriter, and comedian. He is best known for creating and producing ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and producing the '' La ...

. Radner and Michaels and all of the writers involved with the production were alumni from the television program ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

''.

Summary

''Gilda Live'' is a filmed version of the comedic one-woman show performance of ''Gilda Radner Live on Broadway''. Originally titled ''Gilda Radner: Live from New York'' (renamed ''Gilda Live'' for the film debut), it had a steady success as a play but the movie itself and the record as well, both released in March 1980, were complete flops with critics and the public. The ''Gilda Live'' movie was shot in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

a few weeks before the start of ''

s 5th season (late summer/early autumn of 1979). (It was decided not to film it in New York because of union problems.) More footage for the film was shot at The

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...

in December 1979. The film itself was basically a rehash of Radner's most popular ''Saturday Night Live'' characters and sketches. It included

Roseanne Roseannadanna Roseanne Roseannadanna is a character created and portrayed by Gilda Radner on ''Weekend Update'' in the early seasons of ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). She was the segment's consumer affairs reporter who, like an earlier Radner character Emi ...

Emily Litella Emily Litella is a fictional character created and performed by comedian Gilda Radner in a series of appearances on ''Saturday Night Live''. Based on a person in her early life, Emily Litella was a popular character in Radner's comedy repertoire ...

, Candy Slice, Judy Miller, Lisa Loopner,

Nadia Comăneci Nadia Elena Comăneci Conner (born November 12, 1961) is a Romanian retired gymnast and a five-time Olympic gold medalist, all in individual events. In 1976, at the age of 14, Comăneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10. ...

, and Rhonda Weiss, and many other skits and performances such as "Let's Talk Dirty to the Animals" (which was a little more risque than the original TV version, as this version was the only scene that got the film an R rating), "I Love to Be Unhappy", "Goodbye Saccharine" and "Honey (Touch Me with My Clothes On)". Skits were also performed by

Don Novello Donald Andrew Novello (born January 1, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, singer, writer, film director and producer. He is best known for his work on NBC's ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1978 to 1980, and again from 1985 to 1986, often as the ...

as Father Guido Sarducci. The

tagline In entertainment, a tagline (alternatively spelled tag line) is a short text which serves to clarify a thought for, or is designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, so ...

to the film was: "Things like this only happen in the movies."

VHS and DVD information

''Gilda Live'' has been released on VHS and was digitally remastered in 2000, and released on DVD through Warner Brothers' on-demand Warner Archive label on November 3, 2009.

References

External links

* 1980 films American documentary films American comedy films Stand-up comedy concert films Saturday Night Live films Saturday Night Live in the 1980s Films directed by Mike Nichols Warner Bros. films Films produced by Lorne Michaels 1980s English-language films 1980s American films {{arts-documentary-film-stub