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:

There is much speculation about the identity of the singer of "Tomorrow Belongs to Me". Apparently, Bob Fosse's biography states that the song was recorded for the film by Broadway actor/singer called Mark Lambert. This actor is said to have refused to dye his hair blond so a German extra (the "Nazi youth") stood in for him on camera.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The movie is set in 1931, but Bryan and Sally stroll down the street with defaced election posters in the background from the Presidential elections of 1932.

Quotes:

[describing a telegram from her father]
Sally: Ten words exactly. After ten it's extra. You see, Daddy thinks of these things. If I had leprosy, there'd be a cable: "Gee, kid, tough. Sincerely hope nose doesn't fall off. Love."

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "30 Rock: Into the Crevasse (#4.2)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Two Ladies

In here life is beautiful!

I really wanted to see this movie after I bought the soundtrack for the Broadway revival version of the Cabaret musical this summer. So I bought the DVD and at first I was a little disappointed.Not by the movie really,but by the fact that not all the songs from the Broadway show were in the film.I really love that soundtrack so it mattered to me a lot.

Well by now I have really gotten over it.It doesn't matter anymore because the film works so well without the other songs,I feel it has everything essential from the stage version,which I have never even seen btw,yet anyway.

This is not your typical musical.It is made in a very realistic way,so there is no sudden singing like normally in musicals.Almost all the songs are performed in the Kit Kat club and they add to the seedy atmosphere there.Thinking about it now this was a good choice.It allows you to really focus on the characters and their development...as a realistic drama Cabaret is wonderful.

The actors are very good.I never cared much for Liza Minelli before but in this film she gives the perfect performance.Being very believable as Sally,who goes through so many things but still,in the end,decides to continue like before. "Life is a Cabaret old chum..."

Michael Yorke and Joel Grey are also very good.I have a thing for Alan Cumming from the Broadway version as the MC,he seemed so sleazy it was amazing,but I have to admit that Joel Grey was excellent in the movie.He was all together funny and creepy and I don't wonder why he got the Oscar from this role.

Cabaret deals a lot with the Nazis coming into power in Germany in the early 1930's,even though it looks like a secondary theme in the movie.The closing shot is off a room full of Nazis shown through a mirror.It leaves no questions about the future of Germany.I haven't seen that many films dealing with pre nazi Germany before and I thought this one did it quite well.

So Cabaret is basically not "just" a musical.It has some darker themes about society,as well as showing us what the night life,and life in general,in poor Germany after the first World War just before Hitler came to power was like.And yes it also has wonderful musical scenes,good acting and is definitely worth the time to check out if these things interest you!!

9 out of 10.

"So, life is disappointing? Forget it! In here, life is beautiful. The girls are beautiful. Even the orchestra is beautiful."