Themes: Bohemian Life, Political Unrest, Americans Abroad
Main Cast: Julie Harris, Laurence Harvey, Shelley Winters, Ron Randell, Lea Seidl
Release Year: 1955
Country: US/UK
Run Time: 99 minutes
Plot
Julie Harris repeats her stage portrayal of the irrepressible Sally Bowles in John Van Druten's I Am a Camera. Set in pre-Hitler Berlin, the film details the curious, chaste relationship between Sally, an entertainer at a bawdy nightclub, and fledgling writer Christopher Isherwood (Lawrence Harvey). Shelley Winters co-stars as Natalia Landauer, whose impending marriage to a wealthy young Jewish man is imperiled by the anti-Semitism which envelops Berlin as the Nazis gain political power. If all this sounds familiar to you, it is because I Am a Camera is the non-musical precursor to the Broadway musical hit Cabaret. Both properties were based on Christopher Isherwood's Berlin Stories. Those familiar with the film version of Cabaret will notice that certain plot elements have been watered down in Camera. Examples: Isherwood's homosexuality is left unmentioned, save for Lawrence Harvey's opaque opening comment that he is "a confirmed bachelor;" and Sally Bowles' third-act abortion is changed into a false-alarm pregnancy. Also, Julie Harris' dynamic but rather overbaked interpretation of Sally is not nearly as memorable as Liza Minelli's Oscar-winning interpretation of the character in Cabaret. Still, I Am a Camera is well directed and deftly adapted for the screen (by John Collier); and even taking into consideration Ms. Harris' hamminess, she remains one of the most fascinating stage personalities of the mid-20th century. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
I Am a Camera has lost a considerable amount of punch through the years, partially because the musical film version (Cabaret) is on the whole a better realized version of the basic story. Too, the film is somewhat bowdlerized from the stage play, although not as much as might have been supposed. More problematic is the fact that the leading male character is essentially a cipher -- and an annoying one at that. Things happen TO rather than WITH Christopher, and the amount to which this character allows himself to be victimized becomes actively annoying. Fortunately, Lawrence Harvey has sufficient charm to help mitigate this effect. Even more fortunately, the film is really all about Julie Harris and her marvelously mannered performance. Sally Bowles is an over-the-top character, and Harris plays her full out -- but with enough skill to keep her from being a simple caricature. Occasionally Harris plays a little too much for the audience instead of for the camera, but this is very rare; most of the time she does a splendid job of making a theatrical character work on celluloid. Aside from the leads (and from some very nice supporting work by Anton Diffring), there's also some nice camerawork and a number of witty lines and situation. But there's also a ridiculous framing sequence, an inability to deal with Christopher's sexuality and an avoidance of deeper issues that are troubling. Still, if Camera is less than perfect, it's still valuable for capturing one of Harris' brightest performances. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Anton Diffring - Fritz Wendel; Ina DeLa Haye - Herr Landauer; Jean Gargoet - Pierre; Stanley Maxted - American Editor; Alexis Bobrinskoy - Proprietor; Andre Mikhelson - Head Waiter; Julia Arnall - Model; Geoffrey Dunn; David Kossoff; Zoe Newton - Cigarette Girl; Clifford A. Pellow - Turk; Sid Raymond - First Man; Harold Siddons; Stan Bernard Trio; Frederick [Fritz] Valk - Doctor; Vince Edwards; Tutte Lemkow - Electro-Therapist; Patrick McGoohan - Swede; Peter Prowse; Don Koll - Ticket Clerk; Charles McDaniel - Reservation Clerk; William Adams - Old Doctor; Charles Saynor
