About the movie:
Arguably Bob Fosse's masterwork and winner of eight Academy Awards including Best Actress and Best Director,
Cabaret celebrates underlife in the big city while simultaneously arguing that the
underbelly of society is not the decadent artistes who patronize it, but those who
seek to control it. Taking place during the rise of Nazi power in Berlin, the songs address the
anti-semitism of the time and locale, while glamorizing glamour itself in the form of American
cabaret singer Sally Bowles (Liza Minelli) as she dallies with handsome Englishman Brian Roberts
(Michael York) and rich aristocrat Maximilian. Breaking their hearts and the audience's alike, Liza Minelli's bravura performance
is only matched by Joel Grey's sinister but compelling Master of Ceremonies.
Personal:
The WriterGroupie first saw Cabaret in play form with Joel Grey
reprising his famed role as the M.C.. The play dealt less explicitly with the bisexual overtones
that the film embraces, and more with the politics of the story, but was fascinating enough to lead
the WriterGroupie to rent the movie.
After seeing this movie for the first time, the WriterGroupie desperately wanted to cut her hair
like Liza Minelli's and wore green nail polish for a month. "Divine decadence, darling."
became a staple of her vocabulary. But when she had the opportunity to meet Liza with a Z several
years later, she was too shy to do much more than ask for an autograph and tell her she was wonderful.
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Release Date: 1972
Credits:
Written by Jay Presson Allen
Directed by Bob Fosse
Music and Lyrics by John Kander & Fred Ebb
Starring:
Liza Minelli as Sally Bowles
Michael York as Brian Roberts
Helmut Griem as Maximilian von Heune
Joel Grey as the Master of Ceremonies
Related Links:
The official website of the recent Cabaret musical revival
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