The All That Jazz [Criterion Collection]

Director: Bob Fosse Bob Fosse

Overview

"It's showtime!" In this part film à clef, part musical phantasmagoria, director/choreographer Bob Fosse takes a Felliniesque look at the life of a driven entertainer. Joe Gideon (Roy Scheider, channeling Fosse) is the ultimate work (and pleasure)-aholic, as he knocks back a daily dose of amphetamines to juggle a new Broadway production while editing his new movie, not to mention ex-wife Audrey (Leland Palmer), steady girlfriend Kate (Ann Reinking), a young daughter, and various conquests. Joe cannot, however, avoid intimations of mortality from white-clad vision Angelique (Jessica Lange) that lead him to look back at his life as he heads for a near-inevitable coronary and his departure from this mortal coil with the appropriate razzle-dazzle. Taking his cue from Federico Fellini's 8 1/2 (1963), Fosse moves from realistic dance numbers to extravagant flights of cinematic fancy, as Joe meditates on his life, his women, and his death. Following a similarly dark revisionist vein as Martin Scorsese's New York, New York (1977), Fosse shows the stiff price that entertaining exacts on entertainers (among other things, he intercuts graphic footage of open-heart surgery with a song and dance), mercilessly reversing the feel-good mood of classical movie musicals. Critics praised Fosse's daring even as they damned his self-indulgence, while Scheider was lauded for giving the best performance of his career. Though not a disastrous failure, All That Jazz came nowhere near the popularity of 1978's Grease, as late '70s audiences increasingly turned away from "difficult" movies. For all its excesses, Fosse's fiercely personal approach turned All That Jazz into another striking work from one of the few directors able to make, and experiment with, movie musicals after the 1960s.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/30/2014
UPC:	0715515124614
Original Release:	1979
Rating:	R
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	2:03:00

Special Features

Audio commentary featuring editor Alan Heim Selected-scene audio commentary by actor Roy Scheider New interviews with Heim and Fosse biographer Sam Wasson New conversation between actors Ann Reinking and Erzsebet Foldi Episode of the talk show Tomorrow from 1980, featuring director Bob Fosse and choreographer Agnes de Mille Interviews with Fosse from 1981 and 1986 On-Set footage Portrait of a Choreographer, a 2007 documentary on Fosse The Soundtrack: Perverting the Standards, a 2007 documentary about the film's music Interview with George Benson from 2007, about his song "On Broadway," which opens the film

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Roy Scheider	Joe Gideon
Jessica Lange	Angelique
Ann Reinking	Kate
Leland Palmer	Audrey
Erzsebet Foldi	Michelle
Cliff Gorman	Davis Newman
Ben Vereen	O'Connor Flood
Deborah Geffner	Victoria
Keith Gordon	Joe (as a boy)
Michael Tolan	Dr. Ballinger
Chris Chase	Leslie
John Lithgow	Lucas Sergeant
Max Wright	Joshua
William LeMassena	Jonesy
Kathryn Doby	Kathryn
Anthony Holland	Paul
William La Messena	Jonesy Hecht
Robert Hitt	Ted Christopher
David Margulies	Larry Goldie
Sue Paul	Stacy
Frankie Man	Comic
Alan Heim	Eddie
Irene Kane	Actor
Nicole Fosse	Actor
Sandahl Bergman	Sandahl
Ben Masters	Doctor Garry
Theresa Merritt	Cast of NY/LA
CCH Pounder	Nurse Blake
Wallace Shawn	Assistant Insurance Man
Sloane Shelton	Mother
Ralph Burns	Conductor,Composer

Technical Credits

Robert Alan Aurthur

Bob Fosse

Robert Alan Aurthur	Producer,Screenwriter
Bob Fosse	Director,Screenwriter
Daniel Melnick	Executive Producer,Producer
Chris Newman	Sound Mixer
Wolfgang Glattes	Producer

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- The CRITERION COLLECTION: ALL THAT JAZZ
1. "It's Showtime, Folks!" [1:56]
2. Cattle Call [8:25]
3. The Stages Of Death [4:20]
4. Late-Night Visitors [4:16]
5. The Silver Cloud [3:48]
6. "You Know I Love You, Katie" [4:51]
7. A New Song [4:32]
8. In The Studio With Michelle [3:44]
9. "Do It Again, Victoria" [2:46]
10. Rehearsal [2:13]
11. "What Guilt?" [4:20]
12. "Take Off With Us" [3:32]
13. Airotica [6:56]
14. "It's A Bomb" [2:05]
15. "Everything Old Is New Again" [5:19]
16. Read-Through [3:39]
17. "What Do Doctors Know?" [4:40]
18. Lucas Sergeant [2:24]
19. In The Hospital [4:55]
20. A Bad Review [6:58]
21. Heart Surgery [3:28]
22. "Hospital Hallucination, Take 1" [1:57]
23. Heart Attack [7:06]
24. Voyage Through The Hospital [3:43]
25. "Bye Bye Life" [6:55]
26. End Credits [11:18]
1. Color Bars [:20]
1. The Title Sequence [1:56]
2. A Spectacular Set Piece [8:25]
3. Playing Himself [4:20]
4. Bob's Song Choices [4:16]
5. Bob's Youth In Chicago [3:48]
6. Structuring The Film [4:51]
7. Editing Close To The Beat [4:32]
8. Low Angles And Mirrors [3:44]
9. Amazed By The Fluidity [2:46]
10. Slapstick And Vaudeville [2:13]
11. Bob And Gwen [4:20]
12. Sandahl Bergman [3:32]
13. A Whole Life In A Year [6:56]
14. Lange's Costume [2:05]
15. Screenings [5:19]
16. Bob's Mantra [3:39]
17. Bob's Heart Attack [4:40]
18. An Ear For Fakery [2:24]
19. The Oscars [4:55]
20. Reviews [6:58]
21. An Actual Operation [3:28]
22. An Homage To Busby Berkeley [1:57]
23. Shooting Ratio [7:06]
24. A Little Over-The-Top [3:43]
25. The Finale [6:55]
26. Saving The Movie [11:18]
27. Color Bars [2:48]
1. The Cattle Call [2:13]
2. Fosse's Condition [8:14]
3. The Discipline Of Dancing [12:14]
4. Autobiographical? [6:52]
5. "Zero Hour" [5:02]
1. Chapter 1 [33:35]
2. Chapter 2 [:22]
Disc #2 -- The CRITERION COLLECTION: ALL THAT JAZZ
1. Chapter 1 [31:49]
1. Chapter 1 [14:50]
2. Chapter 2 [:27]
1. Chapter 1 [20:15]
2. Chapter 2 [:26]
1. Chapter 1 [26:59]
1. Chapter 1 [26:12]
1. Chapter 1 [7:57]
1. Chapter 1 [3:53]
1. Chapter 1 [22:44]
1. Chapter 1 [7:49]
1. Chapter 1 [3:35]

Menu

Disc #1 -- The CRITERION COLLECTION: ALL THAT JAZZ
   Play The Movie
   Chapters
   Commentary: Recorded In 2007, This Audio Commentary Features All That Jazz's Oscar-winning Editor, Alan Heim.
      Index
         Commentary: On
         Commentary: Off
   Selected-Scene Commentary: Recorded In 2001, This Selected-Scene Commentary Features All That Jazz Star Roy Scheider.
      Index
         Play
   Reinking And Foldi: One Of The Indelible Moments In All That Jazz Is Ann Reinking And Erzsebet Foldi's Charming Pas De Deux To The Tune Of "Everything Old Is New Again." In This Conversation, Recorded By The Criterion Collection In June 2014, Reinking And Foldi Discuss That Scene, The Film, And The Driving Force Behind It All, Director Bob Fosse.
      Chapters
         Play
   Trailer
Disc #2 -- The CRITERION COLLECTION: ALL THAT JAZZ
   Tomorrow: Bob Fosse And Agnes De Mille, Two Giants Of Broadway Choreography, Appear On This Episode Of Tom Snyder's Late-Night New York Talk Show Tomorrow, Which Originally Aired At 1:00 a.m. On January, 31, 1980.
      Chapters
         Play
   Alan Heim: All That Jazz Won The 1979 Academy Award For Film Editing. In This Interview, Conducted By The Criterion Collection In April 2014, Editor Alan Heim Discussed The Process By Which He And Director Bob Fosse Came Up With The Film's Signature Editing Style.
      Chapters
         Play
   Sam Wasson: In This Interview, Conducted By The Criterion Collection In 2014, Sam Wasson, Author Of The Biography Fosse, Discusses The Motivations, Self-Doubts, And Compulsions That Drove Bob Fosse To Create.
      Chapters
         Play
   The South Bank Show: The Episode Of The South Bank Show, Hosted By Melvyn Bragg, Features An Extensive Interview With Director Bob Fosse. It Originally Aired On March 8, 1981.
      Chapters
         Play
   Gene Shalit Interview With Bob Fosse: In This Interview With Bob Fosse, Conducted For NBC In 1986, The Year Before He Died, Film And Television Critic Gene Shalit Questions The Director And Choreographer About His Need To Create, His Style In The Rehearsal Studio, What He Looks For In A Dancer, And Many Other Topics.
      Chapters
         Play
   On The Set: The Following Footage From The Set Of All That Jazz Features Clips Of Bob Fosse Directing The Cattle Call Sequence And A Brief Interview With Actor Roy Scheider.
      Fosse Directing
         Chapters
            Play
      Scheider Interview
         Chapters
            Play
   Portrait Of A Choreographer: This 2007 Documentary On Bob Fosse's Choreography Style Features Interviews With Various Collaborators And Admirers, Including Liza Minnelli, Dancer Sandahl Bergman, Choreographer And Filmmaker Rob Marshall, Editor Alan Heim, And Others.
      Chapters
         Play
   The Soundtrack: Perverting The Standards - This 2007 Piece Explores The Soundtrack For All That Jazz And Features Interviews With Composers Glen Ballard, Jerry Casale, Mark Mothersbaugh, And Diane Warren, As Well As The Bob Fosse Collaborators Liza Minnelli And Editor Alan Heim.
      Chapters
         Play
   The Making Of The Song "On Broadway" - In This 2007 Interview, Singer-Songwriter George Benson Talks About The Creation Of His Hit 1963 Song "On Broadway," Which Would Later Open All That Jazz.
      Chapters
         Play

Editorial Reviews

All That Jazz is Bob Fosse’s answer to Federico Fellini’s 8 ½ -- an autobiographical portrait of the artist as a womanizing, pill-popping, chain-smoking Broadway director whose self-destructive habits land him in the hospital with a heart attack. The film is as messy and self-indulgent as its hero, yet compelling even today in its inventiveness, daring, and sheer chutzpah. Roy Scheider portrays Fosse stand-in Joe Gideon, a workaholic who struggles to finish a film and stage a new Broadway show while juggling an ex-wife (Leland Palmer), a girlfriend (Fosse's real-life paramour, Ann Reinking), a daughter (Erzebet Foldi), and innumerable one-night stands. The only real happiness he derives is from his work, which he pursues with maniacal devotion. He cheats on, lies to, and genuinely disappoints all the women in his life, yet they remain by his side -- not only because he is a true creative genius but also because, as played by Scheider, Gideon has enough self-awareness, and self-loathing, to make him sympathetic. This notion of the tortured artist is hardly a new one; what makes All That Jazz original and fascinating is the way Fosse, the ultimate showman, deconstructs the musical, digging for the dirt beneath the showbiz glitter and brandishing his trademark razzle-dazzle in the service of something darker. He takes us inside Gideon’s tormented psyche as he is wooed by an ethereal and seductive Angel of Death (Jessica Lange, another Fosse girlfriend) and then onto the operating table, intercutting gruesomely realistic shots of Gideon’s open-heart surgery with glitzy song-and-dance routines addressing the failures of his life and his inevitable slide toward death. It’s hard to imagine a film with such a genuinely experimental approach and downbeat ending receiving recognition from the Academy today, but All That Jazz won seven Oscars. Like Martin Scorsese’s criminally underrated New York, New York, this flawed but ambitious work attempts to reimagine the feel-good musical for a more cynical and knowing era.

Barnes & Noble - Kryssa Schemmerling

Bob Fosse's not-so-thinly veiled autobiographical film is a viciously honest portrayal of the central character, Joe Gideon, a brilliant but deeply troubled and self-absorbed director/choreographer who has ongoing problems with drugs, alcohol, and fidelity. All That Jazz is a speed freak of a movie, flying by at breakneck pace, then screeching to a halt so the protagonist can indulge in some serious ruminations on death. The film takes regular detours into the surreal, as Jessica Lange's appearance as the stunningly beautiful personification of death hints at Gideon's self-destructive impulses. As his name suggests, Gideon has a bit of a God complex, and he views his work as a struggle to create something as beautiful as one of God's creations. It is difficult to tell if Fosse is apologizing for his boorish behavior or explaining it. Perhaps the film's most revealing line of dialogue is delivered by Gideon as he faces death "If I die, I'm sorry for all the bad things I did to you. And if I live, I'm sorry for all the bad things I'm gonna do to you." The film is a dazzling piece of eye (and ear) candy, full of brilliant dance sequences (the AirRotica sequence stands out), great music, and bizarre flights into the fantasy world in Gideon's head. The fanciful near-death experiences at the climax are an adrenaline-soaked showstopper, and Roy Scheider does the best work of his career. The film was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won four of them.

All Movie Guide - Dan Jardine