CABARET (DVD/WS) DVD

Cabaret
Originally a 1966 Broadway musical, this groundbreaking Bob Fosse musical was in turn based on Christopher Isherwood's Goodbye to Berlin, previously dramatized for stage and screen as I Am a Camera with Julie Harris as Sally Bowles. Fosse uses the decadent and vulgar cabaret as a mirror image of German society sliding toward the Nazis, and this intertwining of entertainment with social history marked a new step forward for the movie musical. Michael York plays a British writer who comes to Berlin in the early 1930s in hopes of becoming a teacher. He makes the acquaintance of flamboyant American entertainer Sally Bowles, played by Liza Minnelli. Sally works at the Kit Kat Klub, a George Grosz-like Berlin cabaret where each night the smirking, androgynous Master of Ceremonies (Joel Grey) introduces a jazz-driven "girlie show" to his debauched audience. Virtually all the film's musical numbers are staged within the confines of the Kit Kat Klub, and each song comments on the plot and on Germany's "progression" from hedonism to Hitlerism. Most of the Broadway score by John Kander and Fred Ebb was retained, with the welcome addition of "The Money Song." Although it lost Best Picture to The Godfather, Cabaret won eight Oscars, including awards to Minnelli, Grey, and Fosse. A heavily expurgated 88-minute version of Cabaret has been prepared for commercial TV presentations, regarded by many as dramatically inferior to the full cut. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast Liza Minnelli as Sally Bowles Michael York as Brian Roberts Joel Grey as Master of Ceremonies Helmut Griem as Maximilian von Heune Marisa Berenson as Natalia Landauer Fritz Wepper as Fritz

Crew Hans Jurgen Kiebach - Art Director Rolf Zehetbauer - Art Director Bob Fosse - Choreography Charlotte Flemming - Costume Designer Douglas Green - First Assistant Director Bob Fosse - Director David Bretherton - Editor John Kander - Composer (Music Score) Ralph Burns - Musical Direction/Supervision Fred Ebb - Songwriter Geoffrey Unsworth - Cinematographer Cy Feuer - Producer Herbert Strabel - Set Designer David Hildyard - Sound/Sound Designer Jay Presson Allen - Screenwriter Hugh Wheeler - Screenwriter Christopher Isherwood - Book Author John van Druten - Play Author Joe Masteroff - Play Author Fred Ebb - Lyricist

Cabaret
Less a traditional musical than a drama featuring musical numbers, Cabaret is a beautiful, disturbing evocation of life in Germany during Hitler's rise to power. Using the Kit Kat Club's expertly choreographed routines to reflect the changes in German society, director Bob Fosse effectively shows us a glittering, illusory world, whose insular decadence starkly contrasts with the encroaching horror of reality. Sally Bowles exists at the heart of the turmoil, a conductor for the unrestrained, buoyant energy that both electrifies the club and stands to be threatened by what is going on in the world outside of it. Brash, shamelessly sexual, and bearing a self-assurance of enviable proportions, she is a perfectly flawed heroine, one of the most fully realized women incarnated on the page, stage, and screen. Liza Minnelli portrays her with the energy and blissful abandon that the character requires, turning in one of the best performances of her career. The sight of her performing in the Kit Kat Club, clad in a bowler, boots, and little else and making novel use of a chair, remains one of the screen's most iconic images. The focus on the relationships of the film's main characters, most notably that of Sally and Brian (played with gentle, almost poetic befuddlement by Michael York), perfectly juxtaposes the turbulence of private lives and public events. Sally's promiscuity, Brian's bisexuality, Maximilian's casual use of both characters, and the eventual acceptance of platonic friendship mirror the fortunes of a time and mentality whose mantra of pleasure would soon be forced to give way to one of pain. The best and most terrifying evocation of past debauchery and present "progression" towards a new, fascist ideal, is of course the Emcee. As played by an unforgettable Joel Grey, he occupies an existence somewhere between human and phantom, a cunning apparition who serves as a reminder of carnal delight and ideological oppression. Like the Emcee, Cabaret shows us both delight and oppression, providing a nuanced portrait of an era where the former was rapidly being eclipsed by the latter. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
 

Arthur Piantadosi: British Academy of Film and Television, Best Soundtrack (winner) Bob Fosse: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Director (winner) Bob Fosse: British Academy of Film and Television, Best Director (winner) Bob Fosse: Directors Guild of America, Best Director (nominated) Bob Fosse: Golden Globe, Best Director (nominated) Bob Fosse: National Board of Review, Best Director (winner) David Bretherton: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Editing (winner) David Hildyard: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Sound (winner) David Hildyard: British Academy of Film and Television, Best Soundtrack (winner) Fred Ebb: Golden Globe, Best Original Song (nominated) Geoffrey Unsworth: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Cinematography (winner) Geoffrey Unsworth: British Academy of Film and Television, Best Cinematography (winner) Hans Jurgen Kiebach: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Art Direction (winner) Herbert Strabel: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Art Direction (winner) Jay Presson Allen: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Adapted Screenplay (nominated) Jay Presson Allen: Golden Globe, Best Screenplay (nominated) Joel Grey: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Pic (winner) Joel Grey: British Academy of Film and Television, Most Promising Newcomer (winner) Joel Grey: Golden Globe, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Pic (winner) Joel Grey: National Board of Review, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Pic (winner) John Kander: Golden Globe, Best Original Song (nominated) Liza Minnelli: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Actress (winner) Liza Minnelli: Golden Globe, Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or C (winner) Marisa Berenson: Golden Globe, Best Supporting Actress (nominated) Marisa Berenson: Golden Globe, New Star of the Year - Female (nominated) Marisa Berenson: National Board of Review, Best Supporting Actress (winner) Ralph Burns: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Adaptation and Original Song Score (winner) Robert Knudson: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Sound (winner) Robert Knudson: British Academy of Film and Television, Best Soundtrack (winner) Rolf Zehetbauer: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Art Direction (winner) Rolf Zehetbauer: British Academy of Film and Television, Best Art Direction (winner)

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Picture (nominated) British Academy of Film and Television, Best Picture (winner) Golden Globe, Best Picture - Musical or Comedy (winner) Library of Congress, U.S. National Film Registry (winner) National Board of Review, Best Picture (winner) Venice International Film Festival, Film Presented (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: English Subtitle Options: English, French, Spanish Sound Processing: DDS: Dolby Digital Surround Additional Features: cc 25th-anniversary documentary Cabaret: A Legend in the Making Original featurette The Recreation of an Era Kit Kat Klub Memory Gallery: the film's stars and creators reminisce about making movie musical history Extensive production notes Interactive menus Theatrical trailer Scene access Subtitles: English, Français & Español DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1: Theatre Wide-Screen MPAA Rating: PG DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 124 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- 1. Mirror Credits [2:04] 2. "Willkommen" [5:18] 3. His New Lodgings [3:32] 4. "Mein Herr" [4:24] 5. First Pupil [3:55] 6. "Do I Shock You?" [4:12] 7. Slaphappy [1:12] 8. Don't Sleep/Girls [5:57] 9. Party for English [8:00] 10. Gigolo Capaign [2:01] 11. Lovesick Fool [1:58] 12. 10 Words of Regret [3:03] 13. "Maybe This Time" [5:43] 14. Advice From Sally [4:19] 15. Max; "Money Money" [4:26] 16. Duty to Corrupt [5:18] 17. "Two Ladies" [2:50] 18. Country Weekend [8:40] 19. "Tomorrow Belongs" [4:15] 20. See... Happening? [1:51] 21. "So Do I" [3:53] 22. Take On the Nazis [2:31] 23. "Tiller Girls" [2:24] 24. Sally's News [5:03] 25. Conspiracies [4:01] 26. "Could See Her" [3:58] 27. A Wedding [1:29] 28. Where's Fur Coat? [8:42] 29. Catching a Train [1:12] 30. "Cabaret" [3:53] 31. "Willkommen" Finale [2:03] 32. End Credits [1:06]