CABARET

Cabaret
Allied Artists / ABC Pictures, 1972, Color, 124 minutes, ****
Released February, 1972

Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome to the movie musical landmark unlike anything seen before or since its arrival three decades ago: Cabaret.

Winner of eight Academy Awards, it brings 1931 Berlin to both madcap and menacing life inside and outside the Kit Kat Klub. There a starry-eyed singer and an impish master of ceremonies sound the clarion call to decadent fun, while in the streets a certain political party grows from a laughing stock into a brutal force, shattering many lives in the process.

Cabaret caught lightning for several talents, notably Liza Minnelli as the "divinely decadent" Sally Bowles, Joel Grey in his starmaking Broadway role as the devilish emcee and director Bob Fosse, who shaped a triumph of style, showmanship and substance. All three won Oscars, as did cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth and musical supervisor Ralph Burns, who adapted the dynamic John Kander / Fred Ebb score, featuring "Mein Herr," "The Money Song" and "Maybe This Time," all newly written for the film.

Setting: Berlin, 1931

Produced by: Cy Feuer
Associate Producer: Harold Nebenzal
Directed by: Bob Fosse
Screenplay by: Jay Allen
Based on the musical play 'Cabaret' book by Joe Masteroff
Based on the play by John Van Druten ("I Am a Camera")
and stories by Christopher Isherwood
Produced on the New York stage by Harold Prince
Music by: John Kander
Lyrics by: Fred Ebb
Music Supervised, Arranged and Conducted by: Ralph Burns
Additional Songs by: John Kander and Fred Ebb
Dances and Musical Numbers Staged by: Bob Fosse
Research Consultant: Hugh Wheeler
Production Design: Rolf Zehetbauer
Art Directors: Jurgen Kiebach and Rolf Zehetbauer
Set Decoration: Herbert Strabel
Costume Designer: Charlotte Flemming
Sound: David Hildyard
Photographed by: Geoffrey Unsworth
In Technicolor
Editor: David Bretherton

Awards: Won Academy Awards for Best Actress (Liza Minnelli), Best Supporting Actor (Joel Grey), Best Director (Bob Fosse), Best Cinematography (Geoffrey Unsworth), Best Film Editing (David Bretherton), Best Song Score (Ralph Burns), Best Art Direction / Set Decoration (Rolf Zehetbauer, Jurgen Kiebach and Herbert Strabel), Best Sound (Robert Knudson and David Hildyard); Received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.

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 [Fraulein Schneider], Helen Vita [Fraulein Kost], Sigrid von Richthofen [Fraulein Maur], Gerd Vespermann [Bobby], Ralf Wolter [Herr Ludwig], Georg Hartmann [Willi], Ricky Renee [Elke], Estrongo Nachama [Cantor], Kathryn Doby, Inge Jaeger, Angelika Koch, Helen Velkovorska, Gitta Schmidt, Louise Quick [Kit-Kat Dancers]

Musical Program: [0:02] Willkommen (sung by Joel Grey and Kit-Kat Girls, played by Kit-Kat Girls Orchestra, danced by Kit-Kat Girls); [0:12] Mein Herr (performed by Liza Minnelli and Kit-Kat Girls); [0:47] Maybe This Time (sung by Liza Minnelli); [0:51] Cabaret (excerpt played by Orchestra); [0:58] Money, Money (performed by Joel Grey and Liza Minnelli); [1:06] Two Ladies (performed by Joel Grey and two Kit-Kat Girls); [1:19] Tomorrow Belongs to Me (sung by Young Nazis, joined by crowd); [1:30] Tiller Girls (performed by Joel Grey and Kit-Kat Girls); [1:35] Heiraten (Married) (sung by Greta Keller on phonograph); [1:42] If You Could See Her (performed by Joel Grey and someone in a gorilla costume); [1:57] Cabaret (performed by Liza Minnelli); [2:01] Finale (Joel Grey and Kit-Kat Girls)