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Cabaret

  • 1972
  • PG
  • 2h 4m
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
57K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,103
131
Cabaret (1972)
lbx
Play trailer2:59
4 Videos
99+ Photos
DramaMusicMusical

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

  • Director
    • Bob Fosse
  • Writers
    • Joe Masteroff
    • John Van Druten
    • Christopher Isherwood
  • Stars
    • Liza Minnelli
    • Michael York
    • Helmut Griem
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.8/10
    57K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    4,103
    131
    • Director
      • Bob Fosse
    • Writers
      • Joe Masteroff
      • John Van Druten
      • Christopher Isherwood
    • Stars
      • Liza Minnelli
      • Michael York
      • Helmut Griem
    • 233User reviews
    • 83Critic reviews
    • 80Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 8 Oscars
      • 39 wins & 18 nominations total

    Videos4

    Cabaret
    Trailer 2:59
    Watch Cabaret
    Cabaret
    Trailer 2:51
    Watch Cabaret
    'Cabaret' | Anniversary Mashup
    Clip 1:42
    Watch 'Cabaret' | Anniversary Mashup
    Cabaret
    Clip 0:31
    Watch Cabaret

    Photos153

    Liza Minnelli in Cabaret (1972)
    Michael York, Helmut Griem, and Liza Minnelli in Cabaret (1972)
    Liza Minnelli in Cabaret (1972)
    Liza Minnelli in Cabaret (1972)
    Joel Grey and Liza Minnelli in Cabaret (1972)
    Joel Grey and Liza Minnelli in Cabaret (1972)
    Joel Grey and Liza Minnelli in Cabaret (1972)
    Michael York, Helmut Griem, and Liza Minnelli in Cabaret (1972)
    Liza Minnelli in Cabaret (1972)
    Liza Minnelli in Cabaret (1972)
    Joel Grey in Cabaret (1972)
    Liza Minnelli in Cabaret (1972)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Liza Minnelli
    Liza Minnelli
    • Sally Bowles
    Michael York
    Michael York
    • Brian Roberts
    Helmut Griem
    Helmut Griem
    • Maximilian von Heune
    Joel Grey
    Joel Grey
    • Master of Ceremonies
    Fritz Wepper
    Fritz Wepper
    • Fritz Wendel
    Marisa Berenson
    Marisa Berenson
    • Natalia Landauer
    Elisabeth Neumann-Viertel
    Elisabeth Neumann-Viertel
    • Fraulein Schneider
    Helen Vita
    Helen Vita
    • Fraulein Kost
    Sigrid von Richthofen
    • Fraulein 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
    Inge Jaeger
    • Kit-Kat Dancer
    Angelika Koch
    • Kit-Kat Dancer
    Helen Velkovorska
    • Kit-Kat Dancer
    • Director
      • Bob Fosse
    • Writers
      • Joe Masteroff
      • John Van Druten
      • Christopher Isherwood
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      English author Christopher Isherwood, who created the character of Sally Bowles for a 1937 novella, enjoyed the attention the movie brought to his career, but he felt Liza Minnelli was far too talented for the role. According to him, Sally Bowles was based upon Jean Ross, a 19-year-old amateur singer and aspiring actress who lived under the delusion that she had star quality, the antithesis of Judy Garland's daughter.
    • Goofs
      When Brian thrusts the plate of cake at Sally, the cake slides off the plate and slips down to her lap. In the next shot the cake is up on her chest.
    • Quotes

      Brian: Screw Maximilian!

      Sally: I do.

      Brian: So do I.

      Sally: You two bastards!

      Brian: Two? Two? Shouldn't that be three?

    • Crazy credits
      Opening credits prologue: Berlin 1931
    • Alternate versions
      In the film's first telecast, on ABC-TV, all reference to Max's bisexuality was edited out, changing the motivation one of the other characters completely.
    • Connections
      Featured in Aquarius: Old Times/Liza Minelli/Henri Laurens Sculptures/Country and Northern (1971)
    • Soundtracks
      Willkommen
      Music by John Kander

      Lyrics by Fred Ebb

      Performed by Joel Grey

    User reviews233

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    10/10
    Divine decadence
    Director Bob Fosse hasn't achieved an immense degree of recognition, but his movies have a distinctive flavour. He seems to have an obsession with the world of music-hall, which is felt in other movies like "Sweet Charity" and "All that Jazz". In his other movies though, musical performances tend to steal the show almost entirely. "Cabaret" is an exception because it has an interesting background and storyline, and the music-hall performances are cleverly used here to illustrate and emphasize the plot. They play about the same role as the Chorus in ancient Greek play.

    Of course, the depiction of Cabaret's "Kit Kat Club" deserves attention all by itself. It is not surprising that a cabaret buff such as Bob Fosse took interest in the Weimar Republic period in Germany, when "divine decadence " was the name of the game. Only Bob Fosse could recreate with such consumed application the grotesque sleaze of Berlin's lowlife during the rise of Nazism, a context which served as inspiration for expressionist painters, and for Brecht's "Threepenny Opera". During the credits, check out a woman in the public with short hair and glasses smoking a cigarette (something quite dodgy in 1931!). It is the exact reproduction of a famous painting by Otto Dix.

    An outrageously grinning clown (Joel Grey) introduces every cabaret number. The girls appear in all possible contorted postures keeping deadpan faces. The Kit Kat club reminds of a roman arena, where the public is out for anything insane (even women fights in the mud...). To give an idea of what sort of den the club is, Michael York finds himself at one point standing next to a transvestite in a men's urinal...The cabaret performances get all the more provocative as the plot gets tense. The club is an essentially immoral place where anything is for sale, and it adapts shamelessly to the radical political changes coming up.

    Liza Minelli's character is totally at home in such surroundings. Her persona is perfectly sketched in her song "Bye Bye Mein Herr". She is the incarnation of the vamp, both heartless and ingenuous, the sort of lethal woman who drives men crazy and then gives them up like toys. Indeed, a very typical stereotype of the interwar period, think of Marlene Dietrich in "the Blue Angel"...Minelli's performance onstage with garter belts and a bowler hat still looks elegantly naughty today.

    Though, the real nature of her character is well studied as soon as she gets offstage. While Minelli can't help being extravagant all the time, she turns out to be a fragile woman neglected by her father, and in demand of constant and renewed attention. As predicted in her song, she proves basically unable to engage in any serious relationship, despite her involvement with Michael York ( "And though I used to care, I need the open air, you'd every cause to doubt me Mein Herr").

    The script was based a story by British writer Christopher Isherwood, called "A Goodbye to Berlin", based on his own personal memories. He is allegedly the character played by Michael York. A serious upper class young man, he meets Liza Minelli out of blind chance, while looking for an apartment to share. She introduces him to all sorts of people, from riff-raff to aristocracy, including a gigolo, a Jewish heiress, and an ambiguous baron who dismisses them both after having "played" with the two of them.

    Michael York's sober performance looks a bit pale as opposed to histrionic Liza Minelli, but of course, that was necessary in order to stress the essential difference between those two strangers. The movie ends as they part on a railway platform, but one can guess their experience together will have changed them both, as as far as he is concerned, was a definite coming of age.

    One of the scenes, in the middle of the movie, is quite disturbing. At a countryside inn, a young S.A man sings a song called "Tomorrow belongs to me", which starts out nostalgic but gradually turns into an infectious Nazi march as the whole crowd joins him. This unexpected number seems to have embarrassed many viewers. If Nazism had presented itself as pure evil, would it have met any success? This daring scene makes evident that it was for many Germans of the time the symbol of positive values : beauty, tradition, order, pride, future. If you didn't know how things turned out, would you not have been tempted to sing along this powerful hymn to the fatherland as you watch this? Good question to ask oneself even, or especially, nowadays...
    helpful•195
    29
    • francheval
    • Feb 15, 2006

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    FAQ4

    • What is the meaning behind the angry looks that Max gives to Brian as Brian gets out of the car?
    • Where was the movie shot?
    • In the 'Tomorrrow Belongs to Me' scene, why does the old man look annoyed?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 13, 1972 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • German
      • Hebrew
      • French
    • Also known as
      • Кабаре
    • Filming locations
      • Berlin, Germany(filmed on location in West Berlin)
    • Production companies
      • Allied Artists Pictures
      • ABC Pictures
      • A Feuer and Martin Production
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $4,600,000 (estimated)
    • Gross worldwide
      • $108,405
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 4 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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