Cabaret (1972)

Winner of eight Academy Awards, including Best Director (Bob Fosse), Best Actress (Liza Minnelli), and Best Supporting Actor (Joel Grey), Cabaret would also have taken Best Picture if it hadn't been competing against The Godfather as the most acclaimed film of 1972. (Francis Ford Coppola would have to wait two years before winning Best Director, for The Godfather, Part II.) Brilliantly adapted from the acclaimed stage production, which was in turn inspired by Christopher Isherwood's Berlin Stories and the play and movie I Am a Camera, this remarkable musical turns the pre-war Berlin of 1931 into a sexually charged haven of decadence. Minnelli commands the screen as nightclub entertainer Sally Bowles, who radiantly goes on with the show as the Nazis rise to power, holding her many male admirers (including Michael York and Helmut Griem) at a distance that keeps her from having to bother with genuinely deep emotions. Joel Grey is the master of ceremonies at the Kit Kat Klub who will guarantee a great show night after night as a way of staving off the inevitable effects of war and dictatorship. They're all living in a morally ambiguous vacuum of desperate anxiety, determined to keep up appearances as the real world--the world outside the comfortable sanctuary of the cabaret--prepares for the nightmarish chaos of war. Director-choreographer Fosse achieves a finely tuned combination of devastating drama and ebullient entertainment, and the result is one of the most substantial screen musicals ever made. The dual-layered Special Edition widescreen DVD includes an exclusive 25th-anniversary documentary, Cabaret: A Legend in the Making, a 1972 promotional featurette, a photo gallery, production notes, the theatrical trailer, and more. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com essential video

Cabaret

The play 'Cabaret' seems to evoke the atmosphere of 1930s Berlin and the tawdry desperation of that time. The movie version is very good with vivid costumes, color and music, though I've seen a version by a local small-town theater group that I thought had a better story line. November 23, 2008

great

cabaret, great old movie!! Liza and Joel at their best. Lots of music, laughs and intrigue. A plus to anyones collection. November 16, 2008

TIRED OF WAITING, BUT I'LL WAIT NONETHELESS

I'll make it short: one of the top films of the 70s; one of the most disappointing DVDs of the 2000s. But I can't bring myself to rant; WB came to the rescue on ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN, DELIVERANCE, NETWORK, and DOG DAY AFTERNOON, to mention a few. Until they rescue CABARET from a similarly shoddy series of editions, I'll wait before giving them my money for this one. But I have faith. C'mon, 'Bros.! October 30, 2008

Classic

Liza at her absolute best. Fantastic entertainment. Joey Grey is phenomenal. I can, and now will, watch this one over and over and over. October 24, 2008

Reviewing Cabaret

The quality of the DVD was fine. I didn't care much for the movie though. October 21, 2008

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