Barnes & Noble

Cabaret, one of the last Hollywood musicals to enjoy both critical and commercial success, took the genre in an unexpected direction with its explicit subject matter and realistic feel. The decadence and turmoil of prewar Berlin is documented through the eyes of an English writer (Michael York) and his friends, among them free-spirited American nightclub performer Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli). With a powerhouse voice and a streak of self-delusion, Minnelli's Sally is a sad, vulnerable little pixie playing at sexy sophistication in a desperate quest for love. Joel Grey, in his celebrated turn as the emcee, corrupts as he entertains with enigmatic malevolence. The picture won eight Academy Awards, including best actress for Minnelli, best supporting actor for Grey, best art direction, and best director for Bob Fosse (who also nabbed Tony and Emmy awards that year). The musical numbers twitch, slither, and grind with Fosse's signature style -- from the twisted naughtiness of "Two Ladies" to the showstopping hits "Willkommen" and "Cabaret." At turns romantic, hilarious, and tragic, Cabaret is that all-too-rare commodity: an intelligent adult musical. Amy Robinson

All Movie Guide

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

Product Details

• UPC: 085392798629
• Source: WARNER HOME VIDEO
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Theatre Wide-Screen (1.85.1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital Surround
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Français, Español
• Time: 2:04:00
• Sales Rank: 24,592

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