Search - You Light Up My Life on DVD

An excellent movie to keep for a long time

Allan Lee | 10/14/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Believe it or not, I watched this DVD yesterday and it was my first time watching it ever. Obviously, what had drawn me to the movie was the title track "you light up my life". The movie itself was an inspiration as well. I must agree with the write up from the viewer below that the primary audience for this DVD is for the young adults who try to make it through life. Let's just say that if you are 25 year old and have the talent of Laurie Robinson to write a song, and sing it with the finest musicians in L.A in their rehearsal room in the first take and then received a big applause from them, you are somebody. I am a musician myself, and I have played with some of the big orchestras at the age of 19 - 25, so I can really relate to this movie. The scene with the conductor and Laurie discussing the ¾ times and the violins up an octave are as real as it can be.

The tune itself is fairly simple, so it was conceivable that someone like Laurie can actually came up with it. As far as the acting is concern, not all the casts were bad. I thought Didi Conn did a great job, so is her pop, the conductor, and Laurie's lover Michael Zaslow.

By the way, I always had the album by Debby Boone, and always thought that Debby Boone sang in the movie. Then one day, I found the original vinyl LP soundtrack in my local Goodwill store for 50 cents, and I was totally shock! The title track in the record was 100% better then the Debby Boone version, and it was not sang by Debby Boone. It was sung by Kasey Cysik, One of New York's top session singers at the time. Here is what Debby Boone had to say about Kacey: "Joe Brooks wrote a screenplay and hired Kacey Cisyk to sing five songs for the soundtrack, including the title theme. Later, Kacey claimed she was never paid for that recording session, and her name did not appear in the movie credits. When the soundtrack album came out, her name was misspelled and she was listed as a "background singer."

Kacey Cisyk is the reason I purchased the DVD. She actually had a small part in the movie. She played the 1st Bridesmaid, and you can actually see her recording with Didi Conn in Chapter 3 of your DVD. She said to Didi Conn after the song Do you have a Piano: that was a really good song, and Didi Conn replies: Thanks Casey. Then you also will see Kacey sat in the studio while Didi Conn talks to Si (your pop in the movie) on the phone.

Anyhow, after watching the DVD, I noticed that my original vinyl LP soundtrack is still the best of the best, Kacey's voice dominates through out the record. They must have recorded the long version in the soundtrack in a latter session just for the record. By the way, Kacey was married to Jack Cortner (Song writter) and later married to Ed Rakowicz (sound man). Sadly, Kacey died of breast cancer in 1998 (5 days before her 45th birthday). Kacey's sister, Maria Cisyk (a concert pianist) also died recently of breast cancer in 2003. Enjoy the DVD and the vinyl LP if you can get it.
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Leaves us in the dark

Allan Lee | 10/30/1999

(2 out of 5 stars)

"The song "You Light Up My Life" was a mega hit back in 1977 for Debby Boone, the daughter of Pat Boone. This song, and several others included in the film are the only redeeming quality this film has to offer. A lousy screenplay with sub-par acting by the key players would make most of us want to see what's on the other channels. Don't watch the video late at night while in bed; you may fall asleep leaving the VCR and TV on."

It's not THAT bad...

starspangledgirl | Arlington, MA | 09/05/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I saw this movie when I was about 11 or 12 and I LOVED it--it was a very sensitive, sentimental story of a woman becoming independent, and it had my favorite song at the time in it--the kind of movie that was made for a sensitive girl like me--what more could I ask for? I recently saw it again (very surprised to see it on DVD!), expecting it to be really bad, but it was pretty good! Sure it has aged a bit, but it's certainly no worse than a lot of other 1970s melodramas. Didi Conn is a good actress! I think it's amazing that Joseph Brooks wrote, directed, produced, acts in (small part) this movie PLUS wrote, arranged and conducted all the music! He should get props for that. A very nice memento of the small character films of the 70s."