From my favorite movies..

Better Late Then Never

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Lots of talent behind and in front of the camera but it doesn't come across watching this uninvolving musical. Shirley gives her all but the director let her down. If I see another zoom, dissolve or freeze frame I 'll scream! During the Big Spender number, dancers were almost stationary throughout. Seemed like they were singing this wonderful number to an empty club. Where's the atmosphere? Thankfully, director Fosse went on to greater things, including Cabaret. Couldn't complete re-watching this movie. Rating based on seeing it at its release and on DVD a few years back.

I watched this movie for the 'umpteenth time again last night. I saw it when it first came out, and have encouraged people over the years to search it out.Checking the Oscar nominations, for 1970, it's shocking it was so neglected. I do remember a British magazine "Films & Filming" did award their Best Actress that year to Shirley Maclaine for Charity. To consider detail and depth that Shirley brings to her role, and to not even get nominated is just plain ridiculous. Particularly when you consider some of the winners for that and other years. Bob Fosse's direction is also a revelation. At the time the "freeze frame" was relatively new, and the way he uses it to reveal, Character, events and plot is wonderful Think of the images of Shirley after being dumped by Charlie an meeting Vittorio, or her dates with Oscar, and then their usage during "I love to cry at weddings' to indicate the problems that Oscar is having with Charity's past. I cannot believe Vincent Carby's New York Times review, it appears to be an attack on Shirley Maclaine( I think because he seems to think she was somehow at fault for Gwen Verdon not getting the part). To think that he was a supposedly qualified Film Critic and to come up with this ridiculous "review" which faults the performer's acting/ dancing and singing, is scandalous. My only reservation about the film is the ending, hen the words "..and she lived hopefully ever after" are flashed on the screen, it implies that Charity Hope Valentine never did find happiness, and I like to think that she did.

To transfer the Broadway musical of "Sweet Charity" to the screen is a difficult task because this strange period of American history is automatically going to date itself. A lot happened in America (especially New York City) between 1966 (when this opened on Broadway) and 1969 (when the film was released), so the result is an almost completely different feeling. The leading heroine is a cheery dance hall hostess (if there is such a thing), her friends at the dance hall are all tough broads with a typically cynical attitude (hiding hearts of gold) and the men in her life have treated her with much disrespect. At the very beginning, her current lover grabs her money-filled handbag and tosses her off the bow bridge in Central Park. She is so naive, she thinks he ran off to get help. Charity's pals quickly set her straight. Will her next lover(s) treat her better? Not if the fickle finger of fate steps in! That sparking redhead Shirley MacLaine gives one of her most identifiable performances in the role originated on the stage by Gwen Verdon, who generously coached MacLaine for the film, directed by Verdon's husband, Bob Fosse. MacLaine's sassy pals are the talented Paula Kelly and Chita Rivera (still on Broadway as I write this in "The Mystery of Edwin Drood"), while lovable Stubby Kaye originally appears not-so-lovable as the dance hall manager who barks at the girls to get their keesters on stage. MacLaine's suitors include Ricardo Montalban as an Italian movie star who subs her for his date when his highly dramatic girlfriend runs out on him, and original Broadway cast member John McMartin as the shy bookkeeper who becomes the first man ever to tell Charity that he loves her.Cy Coleman's splashy musical score is transfered almost complete with Dorothy Fields' saucy lyrics. The most famous is of course "Big Spender", a number that indicates that these dance hall girls will do more than just dance, if the offer (and $) are right. MacLaine, Rivera and Kelly brighten up the screen with their anthem of hope, "There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This", while MacLaine's big solo, "If My Friends Could See Me Now!" is as triumphant for her as Barbra Streisand's "Don't Rain on My Parade" was in "Funny Girl". And speaking of parades, there's a big fantasy moment with "I'm a Brass Band" where MacLaine is joined by (in her mind, a la "Chicago") a marching band as she parades down Wall Street. Sammy Davis Jr. takes over briefly for a spoof of street religions ("Rhythm of Life"), and Fosse's choreographic genius is never more noticeable as in the "Rich Man's Frug", a fun look at the underground nightclub scene of the late '60's. Deborah Cotton and Ben Vereen are the stand-out dancers in this camp treasure.Ultimately, this is a movie musical that depends entirely on its leading lady, and MacLaine is thrilling as the eternal optimist (there are those existing in New York, believe it or not...) who won't give up on finding love even if she does come out a bit battered.

The 1960s threw up some interesting musicals, the last of the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein/Lerner and Loewe offerings, rubbing shoulders with a new breed for the hippy generation. Perhaps no other movie musical seems more typically a product of the decade than this. Taking its plot from one of those trendy European movies (The Nights of Cabiria), it references the youth politics of the times, as well as the more explicit sexuality that was permissible with the breakdown of the production code.Appropriately enough, the Cy Coleman score successfully blends the big brassy sound of burlesque with the melodic folky sound that was then en vogue. It's a score of rather mixed quality, with such mighty numbers as "The Rhythm of Life", "Big Spender" and "If My Friends Could See Me Now" making up for filler material like "My Personal Property" and "It's a Nice Face". The arrangements here are very nice, with strong walls of sound and some wonderful harmony and counterpoint on "The Rhythm of Life".This was the feature debut of choreographer-turned-director Bob Fosse. Fosse's approach here is typical of directors with a stage background – he seems a bit overawed by the possibilities of the camera, throwing pans and zooms all over the shop. His aim is at a fully musical form, but it is massively overdone, for example going into unfocused blurs for "My Personal Property". However his capability as an arranger of people is magnificent, using advanced musical technique to create asymmetrical dances. For "Big Spender", you can see the hand movements of the various women moving each doing its own dance, some on the beat, others in double time. At the beginning of this number, there's a shot of three women turning their heads not quite in unison, like the dance equivalent of an arpeggio.Although Shirley MacLaine was an accomplished singer she did relatively few musicals. Her performance here is rather lightweight, all giggles and twee poses, rather embarrassing considering what she is capable of. As to her co-stars, John McMartin is not bad, just bland. It's nice to see Italian exploitation actor Ricardo Montalban in a Hollywood movie, but in this context he does rather have "We couldn't get Omar Shariff" written all over him. Sammy Davis Jr. is the most welcome sight here. Kudos to the old Ratpack star for putting on the psychedelic threads and grooving on down.A major problem with Sweet Charity is its lack of structure and cohesion, a problem that probably stems most of all from the stage production. Although "The Rhythm of Life" is a great set-piece, it barely relates to the rest of the picture. The device of putting the intermission during the lift scene, cliff-hanger style, doesn't really work because this is actually one of the weakest scenes in the whole piece. It doesn't have the emotional high needed to carry us through to the second half. As a series of titled dances at the actors' party more or less formalises, the picture seems at last to be not much more than a showcase for Bob Fosse's choreography. And this is by no means a bad thing, especially when it's to the music of Cy Coleman. It's just a shame that the choreographer's camera acrobatics and paltry ability at directing dramatic scenes get in the way, padding this out to a somewhat dull two-and-a-half hours.