Cabaret (1972)

Director:

Bob Fosse

Writers:

Joe Masteroff (book)
John Van Druten (play)
(more)

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:

1930s | Dancer | Nazi | Cabaret | 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
Inge Jaeger	...	Kit-Kat Dancer
Angelika Koch	...	Kit-Kat Dancer
Helen Velkovorska	...	Kit-Kat Dancer
Gitta Schmidt	...	Kit-Kat Dancer
Louise Quick	...	Kit-Kat Dancer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Oliver Collignon	...	Hitler youth singer (uncredited)

Directed by
Bob Fosse

Writing credits
Joe Masteroff		(book of the musical play "Cabaret")
John Van Druten		(play "I Am a Camera")
Christopher Isherwood		(stories)
Jay Presson Allen		(screenplay) (as Jay Allen)

Produced by
Cy Feuer	....	producer
Harold Nebenzal	....	associate producer

Original Music by
John Kander

Cinematography by
Geoffrey Unsworth

Film Editing by
David Bretherton

Casting by
Renate Neuchl

Production Design by
Rolf Zehetbauer

Art Direction by
Hans Jürgen Kiebach		(as Jurgen Kiebach)

Costume Design by
Charlotte Flemming

Makeup Department
Susi Krause	....	hair stylist
Susi Krause	....	makeup artist
Gus Le Pre	....	hair stylist: Miss Minnelli
Raimund Stangl	....	hair stylist
Raimund Stangl	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Pia Arnold	....	production manager
Wolfram Kohtz	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Wolfgang Glattes	....	assistant director
Douglas Green	....	assistant director

Art Department
Richard Eglseder	....	property master
Herbert Strabel	....	set dresser (as Herbert Strabl)

Sound Department
David Hildyard	....	sound
Robert Knudson	....	dubbing
Arthur Piantadosi	....	dubbing

Camera and Electrical Department
Herbert Fischer	....	gaffer
Lars Looschen	....	still photographer
Peter MacDonald	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ille Sievers	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
David Ramirez	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Ralph Burns	....	conductor
Ralph Burns	....	music arranger
Ralph Burns	....	music supervisor
Fred Ebb	....	composer: additional songs
Illo Endrulat	....	music editor
Bob Fosse	....	stager: musical numbers
John Kander	....	composer: additional songs
Raoul Kraushaar	....	music coordinator
Karola Storr	....	music editor
Robert Tracy	....	music editor (as Robert N. Tracy)
Fred Werner	....	choreographic music associate

Other crew
Jutta Beil	....	dance coordinator
Bob Fosse	....	dance stager
Vic Heutschy	....	unit publicist
Jane Meagher	....	auditor
Harold Prince	....	stage producer: New York
Osman Ragheb	....	dialogue coach
John Sharpe	....	choreographic assistant
Trudy von Trotha	....	script supervisor (as Trudi Von Trotha)
Hugh Wheeler	....	research consultant

Production Companies

• ABC Pictures

Distributors

• Allied Artists Pictures (1972) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1975) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• F.J. Lucas (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1998) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Edit-Rite  sound effects
• Modern Film Effects  titles

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:

Continuity: During the song "Cabaret", Sally's "cross your heart" halter dress changes from crossing left-over-right to right-over-left and back between shots.

Quotes:

Sally: Of course, I may bring a boyfriend home occasionally, but only occasionally, because I do think that one ought to go to the man's room if one can. I mean, it doesn't look so much as if one expected it, does it?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Dancing with the Stars: (#6.6)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Money, Money

The Center Jewel in Bob Fosse's Triple Crown

1973 was a very good year for legendary director/choreographer Bob Fosse. He won an Emmy for directing and choreographing the television special LIZA WITH A Z, he won a Tony for directing the Broadway musical PIPPIN, and blindsided Francis Ford Copolla by winning an Oscar for Best Director for CABARET, the dazzling 1972 film version, which is Fosse's re-thinking of the 1966 Broadway musical. The stage and screen versions are quite different and as independent works, they stand on their own as outstanding achievements and it is not necessary to have seen the play to appreciate the movie. The main focal point of Fosse's re-thinking of the musical is that he wanted it to be a more "realistic" musical and therefore made sure that all of the musical numbers (with the exception of "Tomorrow Belongs to Me")all took place within the walls of the Kit Kat Club. He cut several numbers from the original score, but if you listen, some of them can be heard as background music in several scenes. He also shifted the focus of the way the story is told...the play tells the story from the leading man's point of view, but Fosse switches the focus to the character of Sally Bowles, the brassy, sassy party girl who believes in "divine decadence' and wears bright green fingernail polish. Fosse also takes two secondary characters from the play, who are older, and makes them young and attractive in order to make their story more youth-friendly, I imagine. Liza Minnelli turns in a dazzling Oscar-winning performance as Sally, a gutsy, self-absorbed party girl who shows signs of vulnerability and a desperate need to be loved. Minnelli makes the most of her musical and non-musical moments in the film...her climactic confrontation with Brian (Michael York)is brilliantly performed. York is charming and sexy as Brian and Joel Grey's Oscar winning turn as the Master of Ceremonies is a delight. The musical numbers are all brilliantly staged and performed, from the opening number "Willkomenn" to the new "Money" song performed by Minnelli and Grey, to "Maybe this Time", the ballad belted out by Minnelli onstage in the empty club. Fosse cleverly counterparts the musical numbers with the realities of what is going on in Nazi Occupied 1931 Berlin with sometimes startling effect. "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" still gives me goosebumps every time I watch the film. This film ruled at the '73 Oscars, winning eight awards in all (it lost Best Picture to THE GODFATHER)and deserved every accolade it received. A sparkling, eye-popping, thought-provoking, haunting film experience that should be savored over and over again.