A Few Words About A few words about...™ Cabaret -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Brian Kidd]

If this happened it would be more likely to happen on TV. I believe they will be doing the stage version of the Sound of Music on TV later this year. If that is successful perhaps they will do other TV adaptions of Broadway musicals .

There was a televised version of the 1993 Donmar Warehouse production starring Alan Cummings and Jane Horrocks. You can find it online pretty easily. It's good but somewhat edited.

 

[Virgoan]

I'm a fan of musicals of both theater and movies, and the danger of staying "true" to theatrical musicals is that their stage books often prove labored and clunky when considered for a faithful transfer to the screen. Songs fall by the wayside as well, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. What Fosse did with "Cabaret" was sheer GENIUS. It's the most stimulating and gorgeous film adaptation of any classic story (Isherwood's "Berlin Stories" and John Van Druten's "I Am A Camera"). While I hold the stage production of "Cabaret" in no less esteem than anyone else, it simply would not have "worked" on the big screen. Yes, I thought I would miss some of the wonderful songs ("Telephone Song", "Perfectly Marvelous", "Why Should I Wake Up" and "Married"), but it only took that first magical viewing to realize that Fosse went for a natural form, isolating musical numbers to the cabaret itself and recreating 1930s Berlin and presenting the story in the context of young people swept up in a historic time that marked an end to an era that Fosse captures beautifully. It was a dazzling take on the original material. Isherwood's story and John Kander and Fred Ebb's music could not have been served better on film,IMO. No film has ever been so dazzlingly photographed as "Cabaret." Stunning image after stunning image -- not just for the sake of pretty pictures -- overload the senses as this story plays out. It's brilliant filmmaking of the highest order. It is one of the few films in Oscar history that earned every single statue it won. That it didn't win the Best Picture Oscar, as well, is a travesty.

 

[Bob Cashill]

I love it, too (sseing it tomorrow at the Ziegfeld in NY, as a matter of fact) but THE GODFATHER isn't bad, either. (Nor are DELIVERANCE, THE EMIGRANTS, and SOUNDER, either; a strong limeup.)

 

[jeffsultanof]

I distinctly remember reading an article where Fosse said that he did not want the movie released in stereo due to the subject matter and the overall look and feel of the film. Of course the soundtrack album on ABC would have had to have been in stereo because there were no mono LPs at that point. I just wish I could remember reading Fosse's statement about mono vs. stereo.

 

[Mark-P]

I distinctly remember reading an article where Fosse said that he did not want the movie released in stereo due to the subject matter and the overall look and feel of the film. Of course the soundtrack album on ABC would have had to have been in stereo because there were no mono LPs at that point. I just wish I could remember reading Fosse's statement about mono vs. stereo.

Interesting theory, except the fact that there was a premiere print that had a multi-channel stereo soundtrack. But I suppose Fosse could have requested that final release prints be monaural only. However I think it is much more likely that, like many movies in the early 1970s, optical mono was chosen simply to save the cost of magnetic sound striping.

 

[rsmithjr]

Interesting theory, except the fact that there was a premiere print that had a multi-channel stereo soundtrack. But I suppose Fosse could have requested that final release prints be monaural only. However I think it is much more likely that, like many movies in the early 1970s, optical mono was chosen simply to save the cost of magnetic sound striping.

The Fosse theory makes more sense as an ex-post-facto justification. 1972 was about the time that studios stopped making 35mm magnetic (composite) prints. Interlock was never much of a general release option. Most stereo films in those years were 70mm blowups, with the 35mm prints being mono optical. So perhaps Warners just didn't want to spend money on magnetic prints.

 

[ahollis]

So perhaps Warners just didn't want to spend money on magnetic prints.

Actually in 1972 that would have been Allied Artists and ABC Films.

 

[signa joy]

I was luck enough to see the presentation at the Zigfield Theatre in New york city. I'm a Director and choreographer by trade. This was the first time i'd seen CABARET since it's original release. I was only 13 years old and it prompted lots of frank talk with our family! Seeing the film a few nights ago confirmed for me that it is the gold standard of stage to film musical adaptations. I love the original stage show but this is a different animal that could only exist on film just as the play could only exist in that form on a stage. Moreover this is till the most adult, complex and disturbing film musical ever released with only PENNIES FROM HEAVEN, ALL THAT JAZZ and CHICAGO... approaching it's depth, complexity of character and subject matter, mastery of cinema and overall greatness. Love parts of WEST SIDE but there are casting troubles andI do love and enjoy, OLIVER!, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, CARMEN JONES, MY FAIR LADY and MUSIC MAN too but for sheer diamond hard brilliance and multifaceted, complex, adult characters, satisfaction and lasting greatness, CABARET is the one for me. The restoration is glorious. The film practically explodes off of the screen.

 

[Bob Cashill]

Agreed, signa joy. I was at the Ziegfeld screening as well and it was a revelation; so good to have this classic in proper shape once more.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Welcome to HTF, Kent!

 

[jseabough]

Count me in as someone who loved the original production and the Joe Masterhoff stage script. When I was 16, I saw the original production of CABARET and it remains one of my favorite musicals. A few years before she died, I got to know Jill Haworth who was the original Sally Bowles. I absolutely adored 'this perfectly marvelous girl.' on stage and off. A bio on Ms. Haworth is in the works. Although the movie version of CABARET is a masterpiece and extremely well done, I miss the Schneider/ Schulz story and the cut numbers.

 

[jseabough]

There were talks a few years ago to do a cable taping using the stage book and songs, most likely a combination of the revised script from the 1987 revival and the Roundabout production. Nothing came of it.

 

[jseabough]

Going along with Mr. Kimmel's comment about the availability of CABARET's number @ TONY AWARDS on youtube, there is a clip of the London company and Judi Dench performing "Don't Tell Mama." Ms. Dench sent Jill Haworth a handwritten note telling her how excited she was to follow her lead by playing Sally in the London company. Jill kept that note and had it framed.

 

[performing arts]

Thank you Mr Harris .. I was waiting for a long long time to watch "Cabaret" restored , A real fine peace of art and Liza at her best. I still wait for "Oliver" the musical and "Tom Jones" Richardson's work. I wonder why the English are not that interested in their own masterpieces .

 

[Virgoan]

Thank you Mr Harris .. I was waiting for a long long time to watch "Cabaret" restored , A real fine peace of art and Liza at her best. I still wait for "Oliver" the musical and "Tom Jones" Richardson's work. I wonder why the English are not that interested in their own masterpieces .

I don't think it's a nationality issue. It's more about who owns the rights to the film at this point in time.

 

[Mikey1969]

Tom Jones would be difficult, if not impossible to restore at this point as the negative is badly faded and no backup seps were made.

 

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by Mikey1969
Tom Jones would be difficult, if not impossible to restore at this point as the negative is badly faded and no backup seps were made.

Not impossible.
MGM merely needs to decide that they wish to save the film. At this point, it appears that they do not.
RAH

 

[Mark-W]

I finally got a chance to watch this blu-ray from beginning to end and then with the commentary track on. Count me as one who found the commentary nicely sprinkled with the kinds of facts that keep them engaging. From controversies about some songs (e.g. "The Gorilla Song") to the commentator also mentioning Christopher & His Kind as the true story version of this film. And the blu-ray does look fantastic.

 

[Ethan Riley]

No.  I'm saying that the music was nicely mixed to the sides in mono, with the dx where it should be. The thought reminds me of the early stereo Beatles recordings.

The mix sounded very realistic to me; like you're sitting right there in the Kit Kat Club listening to those songs. The whole blu ray was the best representation I've ever seen of this film--

 

[Matt Hough]

I agree. I watched it a couple of nights ago after not seeing it for a decade because I couldn't stand that droopy non-anamorphic DVD, and it was such an improvement in my memory from the old to the new that I was ecstatic. I thought the Kit Kat Club scenes were especially vibrant.