If you're not a Liza Minnelli fan, don't even bother because despite the other talent involved, this is her show (and not a very good one -- father Vincente Minnelli, the director, very wisely disowned the edited picture). This isn't one to watch for Minnelli's acting (like "The Sterile Cuckoo" or "Cabaret") or even her charm ("Arthur," "Stepping Out"), but her voice is incredible. While the songs (except for Gershwin's "Do It Again") are middling, Minnelli's delivery makes you forget how silly the story and her character are. Mother Judy had better songs to sing, but Liza's instrument was phenomenal at its peak.
On the plus side is Ingrid Bergman as the aging contessa. She's so at ease and has so much fun as the grande dame that it's impossible not to love her -- again. Reunited briefly with Charles Boyer more than 30 years after their first pairing (in "Gaslight"), she has on-screen history working for her in her playful scene with him. (Watch the melodramatic "Arch of Triumph" if you really want to see Bergman and Boyer connect.)
Another reason to watch is for the film debut of Bergman's daughter, Isabella Rossellini. She's barely in "A Matter of Time" -- and you can barely tell it's her under her nun's habit -- but seeing her luminous face next to her mother's has the feeling of the passing of a torch, or at the very least a blessing. To give you an idea of the kind of cornball humor at work here, Rossellini's character is called Sister Pia; the actress's real-life sister, of course, is Bergman's daughter Pia Lindstrom.
