Sweet Charity [Blu-ray]

Overview

In this musical, Charity Hope Valentine is an incurable optimist, despite her job at a seedy dance joint. Charity never stops looking for true love and never seems to look for it in the right places. Desperate to escape the dance hall, Charity heads to an employment agency.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/20/2019
UPC:	0738329238278
Original Release:	1969
Rating:	G
Source:	Kl Studio Classics
Region Code:	A
Language:	English

Special Features

Audio Commentary by Film Historian Kat Ellinger; A Girl Who Wanted to be Loved: A booklet essay from film historian Julie Kirgo; Edith Head's Costume Design: The Art of Exaggeration - Featurette; Sweet Charity: From the Stage to the Screen - Featurette; Sweet Charity: 145-Minute Alternate Version - Newly restored in 4K; Theatrical Trailer

Editorial Reviews

Most of the Cy Coleman-Dorothy Fields songs in Sweet Charity remain intact: the best of these include "Big Spender," "If They Could See Me Now," "There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This," and the rousing "I'm a Brass Band," cinematized on an epic scale courtesy of choreographer/director Bob Fosse (who staged the original Broadway production, which starred his then-wife Gwen Verdon). A few curious changes are made in the score, notably a completely new (and not altogether successful) arrangement of the title number. Also, Neil Simon's libretto has been laundered and sentimentalized for the family trade, robbing us of the play's deliciously cynical ending. Otherwise, the film is an underrated gem, wholly undeserving of its bad reputation (though admittedly, its unexpectedly poor box-office take did nearly ruin Universal Pictures). The supporting cast includes Chita Rivera and Paula Kelly as Charity's sarcastic co-workers, Stubby Kaye as dance-hall proprietor Herman (who displays an unexpected lovable streak in the song "I Love to Cry at Weddings," Sammy Davis Jr. as phony guru Big Daddy Brubeck (his show-stopping production number "Rhythm of Life" has no bearing whatsoever on the plot, but who cares?), and a whole slew of stars-to-be among the dancers and singers, including Ben Vereen, Chelsea Brown and Toni Basil.