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Sweet Charity (1969)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
1 April 1969 (USA)
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Tagline:
Hey Big Spender ! more
Plot:
Taxi dancer Charity continues to have Faith in the human race despite apparently endless disappointments at its hands...
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Plot Keywords:
Charity
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Hope
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Dancer
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Taxi Dancer
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Wish Better Life
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Awards:
Nominated for 3 Oscars.
Another 2 wins
&
1 nomination
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NewsDesk:
(6 articles)
Chita Rivera Performs at Birdland, 10/14 - 10/17
(From BroadwayWorld.com. 14 October 2009, 2:30 AM, PDT)
Chita Rivera Performs at Birdland, 10/14 - 10/17
(From BroadwayWorld.com. 5 October 2009, 9:05 AM, PDT)
(From BroadwayWorld.com. 14 October 2009, 2:30 AM, PDT)
Chita Rivera Performs at Birdland, 10/14 - 10/17
(From BroadwayWorld.com. 5 October 2009, 9:05 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
A largely overlooked Musical Gem...
more (50 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Shirley MacLaine | ... | Charity Hope Valentine | |
| John McMartin | ... | Oscar Lindquist | |
| Chita Rivera | ... | Nickie | |
| Paula Kelly | ... | Helene | |
| Stubby Kaye | ... | Herman | |
| Barbara Bouchet | ... | Ursula | |
| Ricardo Montalban | ... | Vittorio Vidal | |
| Sammy Davis Jr. | ... | Big Daddy Brubeck | |
| Suzanne Charney | ... | Lead frug dancer (as Suzanne Charny) | |
| Alan Hewitt | ... | Nicholsby | |
| Dante DiPaolo | ... | Charlie (as Dante D'Paulo) | |
| Bud Vest | ... | Frug dancer | |
| Ben Vereen | ... | Frug dancer | |
| Lee Roy Reams | ... | Frug dancer | |
| Al Lanti | ... | Dancer in 'Big Spender' number |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Sweet Charity: The Adventures of a Girl Who Wanted to Be Loved (USA) (complete title)
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Parents Guide:
Runtime:
149 min | 154 min (TCM print)
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.20 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) |
Mono (Westrex Recording System) (35 mm prints)
Certification:
Argentina:Atp |
Australia:G |
Finland:S |
Sweden:11 |
UK:A (original rating) |
UK:PG (video rating) (1996) |
USA:G |
Singapore:PG
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Chelsea Brown's movie debut.
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Goofs:
Continuity: In the "Aloof" movement of "The Rich Man's Frug," two of the male principal dancers walk down the stairs to light a woman's cigarette, while the others dance behind them. The background choreography in this shot leads directly to the triangle formation of the next shot, and the two men are now in the middle of the group, although there was no time for them to reach that position.
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Quotes:
Oscar Lindquist:
The odds against us are at least a hundred to one.
Charity Hope Valentine: Those are the best odds I ever had.
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Charity Hope Valentine: Those are the best odds I ever had.
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Just Shoot Me!: Sweet Charity (#2.8)" (1997)
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Soundtrack:
The Rhythm of Life
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (50 total)
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Bob Fosse's first opportunity to direct a movie was the 1969 film version of his own Broadway musical SWEET CHARITY, a musical based on the film NIGHTS OF CABERIA, with a book by Neil Simon and music by Cy Coleman and Doothy Fields. The story is best described by the film's subtitle: "The Adventures of a Girl Who Wants to be Loved". Shirley MacLaine, taking over the title role from Fosse's wife and muse, Gwen Verdon, plays Charity Hope Valentine, a pathetic thing who has worked as a taxi dancer in the Fandango Ballroom for eight years and has basically been a doormat to men all her life. As her friend Nickie (Chita Rivera) explains, "You run you heart like a hotel...you got men checking in and checking out all the time." The story is told in a series of amusing and touching vignettes which lead to Charity meeting the possible man of her dreams, a milquetoast named Oscar Lindquist (John McMartin, reprising his Broadway role). This film died at the box office in 1969 and I'm not sure why except for the fact that this was a period when musicals just weren't being made anymore and that's a shame because the movie is extremely entertaining, thanks to the bravura performance by MacLaine as Charity and the extraordinary choreography by Bob Fosse. I can watch this movie over and over again just to watch the dance numbers. The raw sensuality of "Hey Big Spender"...the angular, disjointed and pointed moves of "Rich Man's Frug"...the Broadway exuberance of "There's Gotte be Something Better Than This", exuberantly danced by MacLaine, Rivera, and Paula Kelly...the brilliant jazzy classic Fosse moves of "Rhythm of Life"..and the pure joy of "I'm a Brass Band." All of Fosse's choreographic signatures are present here...the hats, the gloves, the turned in feet, the disjointed body parts, the expressionless dancer faces, it's all here to be watched and studied and marveled over. For dance purists and Fosse devotees, SWEET CHARITY is a must.