Taxi dancer Charity continues to have Faith despite endless disappointments at its hands, and Hope that she will finally meet the man to romance her away from her sleazy life. Maybe, just maybe, handsome Oscar will be the one to do it.
Taxi dancer Charity continues to have Faith in the human race despite apparently endless disappointments at its hands, and Hope that she will finally meet the nice young man to romance her away from her sleazy life. Maybe, just maybe, handsome Oscar will be the one to do it.Written by
Jeremy Perkins {J-26}
Marie Wallace originated the part of Ursula in the original Broadway production. See more »
Goofs
At around 36:45, during the "Fickle Finger of Fate" scene, with Shirley MacLaine's back to the camera, the shadow of the boom mic is visible in the upper right portion of the scene. See more »
Quotes
Helene:
There ain't no use flappin' your wings, 'cause we are stuck in the flypaper of life!
See more »
Alternate Versions
Laserdisc version contains an alternative ending. After Oscar leaves Charity, he starts to go crazy in his apartment. He then realizes that despite Charity's faults, he really can't live without her. He finds Charity on the bridge in Central Park and, thinking she's going to jump, falls into the river. Charity jumps in after Oscar and forgives him. The two then walk off together, soaking wet, through the park. Bob Fosse thought this ending was too corny, and decided to use the depressing, yet more inspirational, ending for the film's major release. See more »
This is loaded to the brim with that dancing and just general idiosyncratic "cool" feeling that made Fosse who he was as a creator. "Big Spender" and "If My Friends Could See Me Now" are all-timer Musical numbers in film history. And yeah, a couple of the numbers have certainly dated (hearing Sammy Davis tell a bunch of Broadway Hippies to "Sock it to me" in the "Rhythm of Life" number is worth a major eye-roll), plus Fosse's attempts to do uh La Jetee type still image montages at a couple of points. However, Shirley MacLaine is often so moving in a role that others might have played a little less intensely felt (what sold me was the job interview scene, which is just about perfect, but her comic timing is impecable). She's adorable but also very serious as a person, which is hard to pull off.
It's big and flashy and a little bit silly (I like to call Ricardo Montalban Casanova Khan in this), and the director jumps off from Fellini and Neil Simon (in a Peter Stone script) for as much audacious advantage as he can. Not all of it works, but it's far from a "disaster" like Pauline Kael called it. 7.5/10
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This is loaded to the brim with that dancing and just general idiosyncratic "cool" feeling that made Fosse who he was as a creator. "Big Spender" and "If My Friends Could See Me Now" are all-timer Musical numbers in film history. And yeah, a couple of the numbers have certainly dated (hearing Sammy Davis tell a bunch of Broadway Hippies to "Sock it to me" in the "Rhythm of Life" number is worth a major eye-roll), plus Fosse's attempts to do uh La Jetee type still image montages at a couple of points. However, Shirley MacLaine is often so moving in a role that others might have played a little less intensely felt (what sold me was the job interview scene, which is just about perfect, but her comic timing is impecable). She's adorable but also very serious as a person, which is hard to pull off. It's big and flashy and a little bit silly (I like to call Ricardo Montalban Casanova Khan in this), and the director jumps off from Fellini and Neil Simon (in a Peter Stone script) for as much audacious advantage as he can. Not all of it works, but it's far from a "disaster" like Pauline Kael called it. 7.5/10