544. CABARET (1972)

Running Time: 124 minutes
Directed By: Bob Fosse
Written By: Jay Presson Allen, from the book Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood, from the play I Am a Camera by John Van Druten and musical by Joe Masteroff
Main Cast: Liza Minnelli, Michael York, Joel Grey, Helmut Griem, Fritz Wepper
Click here to view the trailer

Note: This spot was originally intended to go to "Z", however, a few complications arose. First of all, I intend to be done with this 100, this weekend. When I realized that I wouldn't receive another Netflix movie until Monday (what was supposed to be "Z"), I decided to just give that spot away. Since my wife had "Cabaret" from Netflix, I figured, "why not".

"LIFE IS A CABARET, OLD CHUM"

It's funny how things happen, isn't it? I wasn't even planning to watch "Cabaret" this afternoon, but now that I have, the layout of my upcoming TOP 20 COULD BE drastically effected.

Liza Minnelli is Sally Bowles, an American living in Berlin circa 1931. Sally works at the Kit Kat Klub as a singer/dancer and has aspirations of being an actress. She lives in a decent looking apartment building, but she's rarely home, because she's either at the club or entertaining men. When the film begins, Brian Roberts' (York) train is arriving from England and it just so happens he comes looking for a spare room in Sally's building. Brian shares with Sally that he attends Cambridge and plans to complete his German studies, while giving English lessons to make the rent. It doesn't take long for Sally to make a move on Brian, but she soon finds out that he's "doesn't sleep with girls". Sally and Brian vow to be friends and friends they are, with Sally pouring her heart out to Brian at every chance and Brian offering his shoulder for Sally to cry on whenever she needs it. Eventually, the two DO end up making love and consequently, fall in love. Later, Sally meets Maximilian von Heune (Griem), whom she loves flirting with and he rewards her batting eyelashes with gift upon gift. Brian is obviously jealous, as Sally leads on Maximilian, possibly only for the sake of being a gold digger. I'll leave the rest for you guys to uncover, but I forgot the best part: It's a musical, and in between the story of Sally, Brian and Max, we keep popping back into the Kit Kat Klub to hear (and see) some very well choreographed musical numbers.

As I watched "Cabaret", this afternoon, I realized that I have a keen interest on movies that highlight women performing in trashy nightclubs. As I watched, I couldn't help but be reminded of Marlene Dietrich and her performance as Lola in "Der blaue Engel", one of my early viewings from THE BOOK and one that still holds up as a fond favorite. I also really like musicals, as long as the numbers are entertaining. Sometimes, it doesn't even matter if the songs are good, as long as you can entertain me in the process of singing it, I'm all good. I'll never forget watching "Gold Diggers of 1933" or "42nd Street" and being absolutely dazzled. "Cabaret" had musical numbers full of pizzazz and glitz and I loved every second of it. I especially liked how we went back and forth between the story and the glitz, between the menage-a-trois, of sorts and the wonderful Joel Grey as The Emcee of the Kit Kat. It gave you a break from the story from time to time and also tied everything together in a neat, little package. Let me just say, before I forget, that Joel Grey was FANTASTIC and this film is almost worth a look for him alone.

Liza Minnelli was also great and I can't believe I've just seen my first Minnelli film tonight. For the record, "New York, New York" has been sitting on my DVD shelf (as part of a Martin Scorsese box set) since Christmas 2008 and I've yet to watch it - now, I'm dying to. I thought she was great, full of spunk, feisty, frisky and sexy as hell, despite the fact that the picture features no nudity, whatsoever. Everything is implied and it makes it that much more sexy - less is more.

The entire execution was nearly flawless. I loved the basic plot between the characters, the musical aspect of it was spectacular and I liked where everything went and how everything ended. I liked that the Nazi's never really became a factor (did everyone catch the reflection of Hitler at the final shot of the film?), yet they lingered in the background the entire time, possibly to allow us to reflect to a more precise time period. I kept thinking that Fritz and Natalia were going to get killed by the Nazi's, yet it never happened. I like that - let me think I'm predicting the story, but then guide me to a more sensible route.

RATING: 8.5/10 Now I can't wait to see "All That Jazz" and now I'm definitely going to have to watch "New York, New York"....but first - 4 to go!

MOVIES WATCHED: 397
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 604

January 13, 2012 11:07pm