You Light Up My Life

Soap-opera style story about one girl (Didi Conn) pushed into show business (stand-up comedy) by her stand-up comic father and trying to make it into show-biz (acting, singing, anything). There is romance and the title song 'You Light Up My Life.' The song is a major plot device much like Bette Midler's 'Wings Beneath My Wings' is for BEACHES. Debbie Boone's rendition of the song was second only to Bing Crosby's White Christmas as the most popular single in history due in part to listeners attaching a spiritual tone to the lyrics (led by Christian radio stations and the fact that Debbie Boone was part of the Pat Boone family). Debbie Boone was singing the song on every talk and variety show on TV, she was very attractive, very wholesome (once again, Pat Boone's daughter) and TV loved her. This helped bring people into the theaters to see the movie, in fact, was the only reason why people went to see the movie. Debbie Boone was not in the film, nor was her voice. This was very disappointing to most people. Didi Conn (mostly known at the time for wacky characters on TV sitcoms not unlike her GREASE character) didn't sing the song in the film (though she sort of sang in GREASE). If only they had cast Debbie Boone. The song is a classic, the film, alas, is not. WHITE CHRISTMAS (song: 10, movie: 10), BEACHES (song: 10, movie: 7), GREASE (song: 8, movie: 9), YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE (song: 10, movie: 4).

Didi Conn really is wonderful in this, and her relationship with father Joe Silver is the reason to watch the film. And of course, the title song, which won an Oscar, is great the first time, good the second time, by the 5th time.... Yes, it is cliched, and at times, outright dumb, but the emotions and romantic view toward life and coming-of-age are timeless. Overall, I give it 7/10, and enjoy it every time I see it.

When you come right down to it You Light Up My Life has one silly plot premise. Young Didi Conn is the daughter of second rate comedian Joe Silver who after living with this girl into her adulthood can't get it into his head that the young woman is not a second banana comedian. But he makes her wear a clown outfit, gives her a ventriloquist dummy and says with his tutelage she'll be funny.

Now he has to have heard her sing and heard her sing the songs she herself composed. Conn decides to spread her wings and fly, but in the process she loses Stephen Nathan the guy she was going to marry and finds out that producer Michael Zaslow whom she had a fling with is a rat. What the story is about is how Conn decides to deal with all those heartaches. And you're not sure she can because she is a fragile thing.

One of those songs that she wrote is the title song which was a mega-hit for Debbie Boone in 1977 and responsible for the film getting an Oscar for Best Song. The song really makes the film even though Conn only lipsynches the part.

Try as I might I could not wrap my mind around the fact the Silver legacy in show business had to be perpetuated by Conn the Clown and that a professional couldn't recognize talent. In the same situation in Ziegfeld Girl, Judy Garland was a second banana to her father Charles Winninger, but he saw what he was holding back. You're not sure that Silver ever does.

On the plus side Didi Conn is a touching figure and gives a wonderful performance as an eager show business hopeful. For her and for the song you should see the movie.

Was just a little kid back in the 70s, but, boy, compared to the depressive and limited doldrums of this year, 2020, what a free spirited and special time it was.

Even I remember this song being played EVERYWHERE and anywhere: radios, cars, family gatherings, TV spots etc. So much so that I find it strange that we hardly hear it today unless we are playing it from our personal collection or looking for it online etc. I mean this was literally THE biggest hit of 1977, and definitely in the top ten for the entire decade. If we are constantly hearing The BeeGees or Donna Summer, why not this?

That very question is what prompted me to watch the film on YouTube. I do remember seeing it on TV in the 80s sometime. I wasn't expecting much and that's probably why I really enjoyed it! The song-and the album if the same name that exploded for Debbie Boone-is special to me as it makes me remember my late mother and aunts and the late 70s childhood I had. But...however cliche, the film is more than a movie capitalizing on a monster hit song, which I assumed it would be. It is really moving at times and Didi Conn does a fabulous job of getting us to feel her experiences which range from frustrating to hilarious. The relationship with her dad also feels very genuine. It really takes us back to a time that most took for granted how good of a life it was. It you are in the mood for some nostalgia escapism--this is a perfect fix.

Here is a coming-of-age film that embodies everything 70's. It especially appeals to me because I was born in 1960 & was a teenager in the 1970's. If a teen watches this film today it would seem hokey, the cloths especially odd & unattractive, the music sappy, & the storyline threadbare. But if you were there, it has a special nostalgic quality that is undeniable. This is an interesting story about a young woman finding herself & her way through life. Instead of padding the story out with too many unnecessary shots of Conn driving her car, they should have fleshed out the characters a little more. The storyline was also choppy. One minute she's told she has a major part in a film & the next minute a deadpan blonde is hired instead. This sudden shift in the story is too abrupt a transition. Also, when she tells her dad about the offer from Columbia Records to record her songs, it came out of left field. (Perhaps this should have been something her character struggled with. Should she stay in California & contemplate making the film & starting a new a relationship, or go to New York & record?) DiDi Conn is very likable in the lead & the music adds just the right romantic touch.