Cabaret

( 16 )

Overview

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 ...
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Blu-ray (Remastered / Bonus CD)
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Overview

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.
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Special Features

Commentary by Stephen Tropiano; Featurette Cabaret: The Musical That Changed Musicals; Vintage Featurettes Cabaret: A Legend in the Making and The Recreation of an Era
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Editorial Reviews

All Movie Guide
Less a traditional musical than a drama featuring musical numbers, Cabaret is a beautiful, disturbing evocation of life in Germany during Hitler's rise to power. Using the Kit Kat Club's expertly choreographed routines to reflect the changes in German society, director Bob Fosse effectively shows us a glittering, illusory world, whose insular decadence starkly contrasts with the encroaching horror of reality. Sally Bowles exists at the heart of the turmoil, a conductor for the unrestrained, buoyant energy that both electrifies the club and stands to be threatened by what is going on in the world outside of it. Brash, shamelessly sexual, and bearing a self-assurance of enviable proportions, she is a perfectly flawed heroine, one of the most fully realized women incarnated on the page, stage, and screen. Liza Minnelli portrays her with the energy and blissful abandon that the character requires, turning in one of the best performances of her career. The sight of her performing in the Kit Kat Club, clad in a bowler, boots, and little else and making novel use of a chair, remains one of the screen's most iconic images. The focus on the relationships of the film's main characters, most notably that of Sally and Brian (played with gentle, almost poetic befuddlement by Michael York), perfectly juxtaposes the turbulence of private lives and public events. Sally's promiscuity, Brian's bisexuality, Maximilian's casual use of both characters, and the eventual acceptance of platonic friendship mirror the fortunes of a time and mentality whose mantra of pleasure would soon be forced to give way to one of pain. The best and most terrifying evocation of past debauchery and present "progression" towards a new, fascist ideal, is of course the Emcee. As played by an unforgettable Joel Grey, he occupies an existence somewhere between human and phantom, a cunning apparition who serves as a reminder of carnal delight and ideological oppression. Like the Emcee, Cabaret shows us both delight and oppression, providing a nuanced portrait of an era where the former was rapidly being eclipsed by the latter.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 2/5/2013
  • UPC: 883929266036
  • Original Release: 1972

    • Rating:

  • Source: Warner Home Video
  • Presentation: Remastered / Bonus CD
  • Time: 2:04:00
  • Format: Blu-ray
  • Sales rank: 7,692

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Liza Minnelli Sally Bowles
Michael York Brian Roberts
Joel Grey Master of Ceremonies
Helmut Griem Maximilian von Heune
Marisa Berenson Natalia Landauer
Fritz Wepper Fritz
Kathryn Doby
George Hartmann Willi
Estrongo Nachama Cantor
Elisabeth Neumann-Viertel Fraulein Schneider
Ricky Renee Elke
Sigrid Von Richtofen Fraulein Maur
Gerd Vespermann Bobby
Helen Vita Fraulein Kost
Ralf Wolter Herr Ludwig
Technical Credits
Bob Fosse Director, Choreography
Jay Presson Allen Screenwriter
David Bretherton Editor
Ralph Burns Musical Direction/Supervision
Fred Ebb Songwriter
Cy Feuer Producer
Charlotte Flemming Costumes/Costume Designer
Douglas Green Asst. Director
David Hildyard Sound/Sound Designer
John Kander Score Composer
Hans Jurgen Kiebach Art Director
Jurgen Kiebach Art Director
Herbert Strabel Set Decoration/Design
Geoffrey Unsworth Cinematographer
Hugh Wheeler Screenwriter
Rolf Zehetbauer Art Director
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 5
( 16 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(14)

4 Star

(2)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

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1 Star

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Sort by: Showing all of 16 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    Cabaret

    Excellent score chorography,story line and lyrics....will view time and time again

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted October 1, 2010

    Excellent movie and music

    If you have never seen this movie, the story reaches people at many different levels. If anything, the music is great! Liza Minelli is at her best.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    I Also Recommend:

    Chicago

    Cabaret

    Having seen this a number of times before, I wanted to have a copy to watch whenever the mood hits. Obviously I enjoy the music, dancing, creativity and the cast is perfect.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    A must see

    I am not a fan of musicals oer se, nor am I a fan of Liza Minelli's, but this movie really shines. Liza's performance remains unmatched, but let's not leave out Joel Grey as the mischievious ringmaster of the cabaret, as well as the fine performance by Michael York. This film really digs to the heart of a slowly growing oppresive society, with a subtle buty scary undertone to the rise of Nazi Germany. Of course in the cabaret, it's just another audience

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    Fantastic

    I don't even like musicals and I think this is one of the greatest movies ever made. It never takes a false step. It has humor, pathos - you name it. The musical numbers are terrific. Minelli and Joel Grey really shine. A great period piece and a great piece of entertainment.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    my favorite movie

    in 1972, Cabaret gave even the masterpiece, The Godfather a run for its money at the Oscars. enough said. great movie

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    A Timeless Musical and Meaningful Story.

    Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey and Michael York lead this great story about life in 1930s Germany to legendary status. This film addresses sexuality, coming of age, and politics (Nazi of course) with a nice mix of acting and musical performances. If haven't seen it yet, you must!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    Life is a CABARET, old chum

    Liza's perfomance is simply GREAT !!! this is all I can say: A GREAT MOVIE!!! and a realistic one.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 19, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted February 22, 2013

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 23, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 30, 2008

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 10, 2009

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 25, 2010

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 5, 2010

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 27, 2009

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Sort by: Showing all of 16 Customer Reviews