Well, dear readers, we sent February out with a bang and as far as I’m concerned February deserved it. But now it is March. March – a time for merriment and mirth and laughter and legs. I hereby decree that March must be better than February. So it is written, so it is done. In March, we shall march to the tune of a different drummer because frankly I have had it with the same fersluganah drummer. A pox on the old drummer and some lox for the new drummer. What the hell am I talking about?
Well, dear readers, I could not wait. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I could not wait until today to own the brand spanking new DVD of Sweet Charity. No, I was impatient little me and I got in my automobile and drove quite a distance in rush hour traffic so that I could own the brand spanking new DVD of Sweet Charity. And when I got home, I watched the brand spanking new DVD of Sweet Charity and here is my full and unvarnished report. The packaging: Eh. We don’t even get the original poster art on the cover. I was disappointed to see absolutely no mention of any extras of any kind on the back of the package, although I was excited to see that it was enhanced widescreen. The disc and the film: Great. Excellent. Beautiful to look at. It’s a great transfer, stunning really. I think they’re using the same Dolby surround mix they did for the laserdisc, and I’m not that fond of it, but it does sound fine for the most part (the volume on the overture is low, so don’t crank it because once it hits the main titles it’s three or four decibels louder). Now, I’ll talk about the film itself in a moment, but I must tell you that there are indeed a handful of special features on the DVD and why they wouldn’t list these on the back of the packaging is an enigma. They’ve included the alternate “happy” ending (which really is awful), a featurette called From Stage to Screen, which stars and is narrated by Bob Fosse, and is very interesting despite its being a puff-piece. Also, a featurette on Edith Head and her costumes for the film, which I’ve never seen before. And the theatrical trailer. Best of all, the disc cost me eleven dollars and twenty-eight cents.
May I just say how fond of this film I am? May I just say that? It’s not perfect, no, but at times it’s dazzling and the performances are just wonderful, including Charity herself, Shirley MacLaine, who is perfection in the role. Mr. Fosse is clearly feeling his way as a filmmaker – he’s too precious at times (all that foreground stuff), too in love with his zoom lens at times, but he’s trying things out that will come to fruition in Cabaret. In other words, he’s taking the medium seriously, not always succeeding but always trying. The numbers are really shot well, especially Big Spender and Rich Man’s Frug. Speaking of the latter, Suzanne Charney is unbelievable – I’ve seen many people do that dance and they all do the steps and do it fine, but Miss Charney is something wholly other. Her arms and body do thing I’ve never seen before. Also, there is real thought behind the way the numbers are filmed. In other words, he has designed them for the camera. This is quite different than the way the numbers in Chicago were filmed (let’s not start a debate – I like Chicago just fine) – in Chicago they simply set up five or six cameras, filmed it from every angle they could (like a TV special) and then made the number in the editing room, with the editing doing the dancing rather than the dancers doing the dancing (I’m sure the dancers were doing the dancing but we never see enough of it know). In Sweet Charity, we always see the dancing no matter where Mr. Fosse decides to cut or how many times he decides to cut. That is because he and his cameraman, the great Robert Surtees, designed the numbers for the camera. He talks about this extensively in the featurette – no matter how many dissolves or cuts there are you never lose sight of the geography or the dancers themselves and the shape of the dance they are doing. Anyway, I love this film, can you tell? Rhythm of Life is so surrealistic and wacky, you just can’t take your eyes off it or Sammy Davis, Jr. And I’m a Brass Band is really fun and for those who are keen of eye, see if you can spot Mr. Michael Bennett as one of the dancers, and doing those brilliant Fosse steps better than anyone. The “hippie” ending is very dated (and one of the hippies is a goofy Bud Cort) but watch Miss Shirley MacLaine’s face during that scene, watch her eyes – it is screen acting of the highest order. The film is totally complete at 153 minutes and includes the mini-overture (which has no ending – it leads directly into the main titles), the intermission music, all the photo montages (which were the first things to be cut after the roadshow), and all of every number. When Universal released it wide, it was, if memory serves, cut down to about 130 minutes, and then was cut down to just under two hours for the airline version. It is the latter that seemed to be in circulation for year. Missing were the photo montages, most of I Love to Cry at Weddings, all of It’s a Nice Face, all of the telephone call in Where am I Going, and a ton of other little nips and tucks (including one section of Rich Man’s Frug cut in its entirety). It’s great to have Charity back where she belongs – full length and looking great. I can’t recommend this enough.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Let’s just click on the Unseemly Button below because we are marching to the tune of a different drummer who has lox rather than the old drummer who has a pox.
Yesterday, I also got a PAL DVD import of the only Roman Polanski film I’ve never seen – Cul de Sac, which stars Mr. Donald Pleasance and the beautiful Francoise Dorleac. It was made, if I remember correctly, right after Repulsion and just before Rosemary’s Baby, and that is Mr. Polanski’s golden age (an age he revisited with his current film, The Pianist). I’ll be watching it this evening.
Don’t forget that our Unseemly Live Chat is tomorrow night at six p.m. Pacific Mean Time and we hope to see all you Hainsies/Kimlets there for a lively and sparkling chat. Also, Donald will have a brand spanking new radio show up tomorrow as well.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must run errands and then errands must run me, I must travel about like an accidental tourist, I must do stuff and once I have done stuff I must do more stuff. Today’s topic of discussion: Taking off from a post yesterday – have you ever been unceremoniously dumped from a job – fired by idiot people and if so, how did you deal with it and did it ultimately lead to better things. Post away, my pretties, and I’ll check back in a bit to take part in the lively postings.