All That Jazz (1979)

Director/choreographer Bob Fosse tells his own life story as he details the sordid life of Joe Gideon, a womanizing, drug-using dancer.

Director:

Bob Fosse

Writers:

Robert Alan Aurthur, Bob Fosse

Stars:

Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange, Leland Palmer

Won 4 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Roy Scheider	...	Joe Gideon
Jessica Lange	...	Angelique
Leland Palmer	...	Audrey Paris
Ann Reinking	...	Kate Jagger
Cliff Gorman	...	Davis Newman
Ben Vereen	...	O'Connor Flood
Erzsebet Foldi	...	Michelle
Michael Tolan	...	Dr. Ballinger
Max Wright	...	Joshua Penn
William LeMassena	...	Jonesy Hecht
Irene Kane	...	Leslie Perry (as Chris Chase)
Deborah Geffner	...	Victoria
Kathryn Doby	...	Kathryn
Anthony Holland	...	Paul Dann
Robert Hitt	...	Ted Christopher

Storyline

Joe Gideon is a Broadway director, choreographer and filmmaker, he in the process of casting the chorus and staging the dance numbers for his latest Broadway show, starring his ex-wife Audrey Paris in what is largely a vanity project for her in playing a role several years younger than her real age, and editing a film he directed on the life of stand-up comic Davis Newman. Joe's professional and personal lives are intertwined, he a chronic philanderer, having slept with and had relationships with a series of dancers in his shows, Victoria Porter, who he hired for the current show despite she not being the best dancer, in the former category, and Kate Jagger, his current girlfriend, in the latter category. That philandering has led to relationship problems, with Audrey during their marriage, and potentially now with Kate who wants a committed relationship with Joe largely in not wanting the alternative of entering the dating world again. Joe also lives a hard and fast life, he chain ...

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Plot Keywords:

national film registry | dream | narcissism | 1970s | dancer | 

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Taglines:

All that work. All that glitter. All that pain. All that love. All that crazy rhythm. All that jazz.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Music | Musical

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

20 December 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hinter dem Rampenlicht

Filming Locations:

Kaufman Astoria Studios - 3412 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$86,229, 23 December 1979, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$37,823,676

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation,Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

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Goofs

In a closeup of back of Joe's head during Bye Bye Love number, a large strip of Scotch tape is inexplicably running across back of his head.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Joe Gideon: To be on the wire is life. The rest is waiting.
Angelique: That's very theatrical, Joe
Joe Gideon: Yeah, I know.
Angelique: Did you make that up?
Joe Gideon: I wish I had. Do you like it?
Angelique: Eh, it's all right.

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Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits, only the company credits and the title, which resembles revolving Broadway lights.

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Connections

Referenced in Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)

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Soundtracks

Everything Old Is New Again
(1974)
Written by Peter Allen and Carole Bayer Sager
Performed by Peter Allen
Irving Music, Inc. / Woolnough Music, Inc. (BMI) / New York Times Music Corp. (BMI)
Courtesy of A&M Records

User Reviews

Self-congratulatory, but, without a doubt, brilliant

A brilliant movie from a brilliant artist, and you'll be reminded of that constantly as you sit through All That Jazz, both in positive and negative ways. This, Fosse's fourth and also penultimate film, is his version of 8½. But the great success of Fellini's semi-autobiographical masterpiece, easily one of the five or ten best films ever made, is that its author depicts himself with the greatest humility. And not only great humility but, most importantly, honest humility (or at least believable humility). Fellini's constant self-deprecation felt like honest self-criticism, and it felt as if he was truly exposing his inner self to his audience. In All That Jazz, Fosse tries to do the same, but the self-deprecation comes off almost as back-patting. Fosse presents his alter ego, Joe Gideon (well played by Roy Scheider), as a lovable cad. Oh, he might bang every chick in sight, but it's very much applauded.

I can complain about these more arrogant aspects of All That Jazz, but what is undeniable is how great a filmmaker Fosse really is. It may be extremely self-congratulatory, but, judging from this film itself and its three predecessors, it can be argued that Fosse deserved the adulation that he supplies himself. As a fan, I loved the way he incorporates semi-fictionalized versions of his previous films into this one. 1974's Lenny plays a major part, as Gideon is going through the process of editing his new film The Stand-Up throughout the film. He brings his daughter to its premier, and, it being her first R-rated movie, she thanks her dad and then asks him why that guy wanted to sleep with two women at the same time. The reference to Cabaret is less pronounced but clear, when, stemming off from the daughter's question about threesomes, Gideon flashes back briefly to himself recreating the "Two Ladies" number. This number, of course, was famously created for the film version of Cabaret by Fosse. I'm not 100% sure if there is a reference to Sweet Charity (which would make sense, since it bombed horribly and almost ruined Fosse's filmmaking career), but the musical number with Gideon's girlfriend and daughter begins sort of like the "If They Could See Me Now" number, with Shirley MacLaine in Ricardo Montelbahn's bedroom.

The musical numbers are something to behold. I think this is a given in a Bob Fosse film, but every single one is breathtaking. The sexy rehearsal number, which leads into the even sexier "Airplane" number, would be pilfered by singer/choreographer Paula Abdul in her video "Cold Hearted Snake." More silly trivia, John Lithgow was so goofy looking in his relative youth, that guy who was the captain of the Love Boat and also the dad in ALF has an important part, and Wallace Shawn, of Manhattan, My Dinner with André and The Princess Bride fame appears in the most poorly calculated scene in the movie (Fosse wasn't scrutinizing his film enough if he left it in), has one line, and it is the worst line in the entire film. Damn, I wish I could remember it! 9/10.