Handel's Last Chance

Handel's Last Chance
Created byDavid Devine
Richard Mozer
Screenplay byMarlene Matthews
Story byDavid Devine
Richard Mozer
Directed byMilan Cheylov
StarringLeon Pownall
Tod Fennell
Gerard Parkes
Seana McKenna
Country of originCanada
Slovakia
Original languageEnglish
Production
CinematographyDavid Perrault
EditorMichael Pacek
Running time51 minutes
Production companyDevine Entertainment
Original release
NetworkHBO
Release9 December 1996 (1996-12-09)[1]
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Handel's Last Chance is a 1996 television film created by David Devine and Richard Mozer for HBO Original Films of New York and directed by Milan Cheylov. A Canadian-Slovakian co-production, it stars Leon Pownall, Tod Fennell, Gerard Parkes, and Seana McKenna. It follows the fictional background of the premiere performance of George Frideric Handel's Messiah in 1742, where a Dublin street boy aids the composer with his singing talent, and the composer in turn changes the boy's life by bringing out his conscience and self-confidence.[2]

The film is the last instalment in Devine Entertainment's six-film series The Composers' Specials, after Bizet's Dream, Bach's Fight for Freedom, Strauss: The King of 3/4 Time, Liszt's Rhapsody, and Rossini's Ghost.

  1. ^ "Reviews & Previews - Home Video" (PDF). Billboard. 1996-11-30. p. 81.
  2. ^ Jennifer Mangan (1996-12-12). "LIFE'S LESSONS". Chicago Tribune.