Rent Sweet Charity (1969)

Musical Pessimism. - Sweet Charity review by Steve

This is an adaptation of the stage musical version of Federico Fellini's 1957 Italian drama Nights of Cabiria. Fellini's film is better, but this being a musical there are compensations. Which are three great songs and a couple of dance spectaculars; these coincide for the stunning staging of Big Spender, performed by the cast.

It's a perfect star vehicle for Shirley MacLaine, who back then was was the queen of kook. She plays Charity Valentine, a taxi dancer/prostitute who passes through contemporary New York looking for love and a future but only finds heartache. It's astonishing how often she played sex workers in the sixties! There is plenty of interesting guerrilla style shooting on the streets of Manhattan.

MacLaine is funny, and touching and appealing enough and squeezes all the laughs out of Neil Simon's Broadway script. But legendary choreographer Bob Fosse's debut job as director is uneven and the film falters badly in places. Even the choreography is variable. Rich Man's Frug is stunning, but the staging of Shirley's signature song, If My Friends Could See Me Now, is a drag.

The star's performance eventually gets crowded out in a narrative told without skill or insight. MacLaine was a cinch to play the dumb optimist with a big heart, yet it was fumbled. There are moments that make it worthwhile, but Fosse wasn't yet a film director. And the 150 minute running time for such a frothy confection is crazy.