Cabaret (1972)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Bob Fosse

Writers:

Joe Masteroff (book)
John Van Druten (play)

Release Date:

13 February 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Music | Romance

Tagline:

The Award-Winning Smash Hit Musical [UK Video]

Plot:

A female girlie club entertainer in Weimar Republic era Berlin romances two men while the Nazi Party rises to power around them.

Plot Keywords:

Dancer | 1930s | Nazi | Singer | Political Unrest

Awards:

Won 8 Oscars. Another 24 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

Liza Minnelli	...	Sally Bowles
Michael York	...	Brian Roberts
Helmut Griem	...	Maximilian von Heune
Joel Grey	...	Master of Ceremonies
Fritz Wepper	...	Fritz Wendel
Marisa Berenson	...	Natalia Landauer
Elisabeth Neumann-Viertel	...	Fräulein Schneider
Helen Vita	...	Fräulein Kost
Sigrid von Richthofen	...	Fräulein Mayr (as Sigrid Von Richthofen)
Gerd Vespermann	...	Bobby
Ralf Wolter	...	Herr Ludwig
Georg Hartmann	...	Willi
Ricky Renée	...	Elke (as Ricky Renee)
Estrongo Nachama	...	Cantor
Kathryn Doby	...	Kit-Kat Dancer

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | Hebrew

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo | Dolby Digital (DVD version)

Certification:

Iceland:L | UK:15 (video rating) (1986) | UK:X (original rating) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:16 | Australia:M | Portugal:M/12 (DVD rating) | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Alter Bahnhof, Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Company:

ABC Pictures

Trivia:

Many of the interiors of the film were done on sound stages in Munich recently vacated by the cast and crew of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The movie is set in 1931, but Bryan and Sally stroll down the street with defaced election posters in the background from the Presidential elections of 1932.

Quotes:

Sally: Well obviously those three girls were just...
Brian, Sally: [both laughing] ... the wrong three girls.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Nanny: California, Here We Come (#6.14)" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Heirat

In here life is beautiful!

I really wanted to see this movie after I bought the soundtrack for the Broadway revival version of the Cabaret musical this summer. So I bought the DVD and at first I was a little disappointed.Not by the movie really,but by the fact that not all the songs from the Broadway show were in the film.I really love that soundtrack so it mattered to me a lot.

Well by now I have really gotten over it.It doesn't matter anymore because the film works so well without the other songs,I feel it has everything essential from the stage version,which I have never even seen btw,yet anyway.

This is not your typical musical.It is made in a very realistic way,so there is no sudden singing like normally in musicals.Almost all the songs are performed in the Kit Kat club and they add to the seedy atmosphere there.Thinking about it now this was a good choice.It allows you to really focus on the characters and their development...as a realistic drama Cabaret is wonderful.

The actors are very good.I never cared much for Liza Minelli before but in this film she gives the perfect performance.Being very believable as Sally,who goes through so many things but still,in the end,decides to continue like before. "Life is a Cabaret old chum..."

Michael Yorke and Joel Grey are also very good.I have a thing for Alan Cumming from the Broadway version as the MC,he seemed so sleazy it was amazing,but I have to admit that Joel Grey was excellent in the movie.He was all together funny and creepy and I don't wonder why he got the Oscar from this role.

Cabaret deals a lot with the Nazis coming into power in Germany in the early 1930's,even though it looks like a secondary theme in the movie.The closing shot is off a room full of Nazis shown through a mirror.It leaves no questions about the future of Germany.I haven't seen that many films dealing with pre nazi Germany before and I thought this one did it quite well.

So Cabaret is basically not "just" a musical.It has some darker themes about society,as well as showing us what the night life,and life in general,in poor Germany after the first World War just before Hitler came to power was like.And yes it also has wonderful musical scenes,good acting and is definitely worth the time to check out if these things interest you!!

9 out of 10.

"So, life is disappointing? Forget it! In here, life is beautiful. The girls are beautiful. Even the orchestra is beautiful."