Main Cast: Shirley MacLaine, John McMartin, Ricardo Montalban, Sammy Davis, Jr., Chita Rivera
Release Year: 1969
Country: US
Run Time: 148 minutes
Plot
Shirley MacLaine plays Charity Hope Valentine who, despite her job at a seedy dime-a-dance joint, is an incurable optimist. Charity never stops looking for true love and never seems to look for it in the right places. We first see her in the company of Charlie (Dante DiPaolo), a slimeball who steals her purse and pushes her into the Central Park pond. Next she stumbles into a one-night stand with Vittorio Vidal (Ricardo Montalban), an egotistical movie star; this comes to nothing when Vittorio's contrite girlfriend Ursula (Barbara Bouchet) comes calling, forcing Charity to spend the night hiding in the closet. Desperate to escape the dance hall, Charity heads to an employment agency, where a bureaucratic clerk (Alan Hewitt) informs her that she has no qualifications. Unhappily, Charity heads for the elevator, where she becomes trapped with the very shy -- and very claustrophobic -- Oscar Lindquist (John McMartin). Once they've gotten out of the stalled elevator, Charity begins dating Oscar, never telling him of her checkered past or her sordid dance-hall job. Oscar eventually finds out but assures her that it doesn't matter. However, at the engagement party held at the dance hall, Oscar's puritanical streak emerges. He walks out on Charity, leaving her alone and heartbroken once more. With the help of a group of flower children (among them Bud Cort and Kristoffer Tabori), Charity is able to pick herself up and start living "Hopefully Ever After." Sweet Charity was adapted from the 1965 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was inspired by the 1957 Fellini flick Nights of Cabiria. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Most of the Cy Coleman-Dorothy Fields songs in Sweet Charity remain intact: the best of these include Big Spender, If They Could See Me Now, There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This, and the rousing I'm a Brass Band, cinematized on an epic scale courtesy of choreographer/director Bob Fosse (who staged the original Broadway production, which starred his then-wife Gwen Verdon). A few curious changes are made in the score, notably a completely new (and not altogether successful) arrangement of the title number. Also, Neil Simon's libretto has been laundered and sentimentalized for the family trade, robbing us of the play's deliciously cynical ending. Otherwise, the film is an underrated gem, wholly undeserving of its bad reputation (though admittedly, its unexpectedly poor box-office take did nearly ruin Universal Pictures). The supporting cast includes Chita Rivera and Paula Kelly as Charity's sarcastic co-workers, Stubby Kaye as dance-hall proprietor Herman (who displays an unexpected lovable streak in the song I Love to Cry at Weddings, Sammy Davis Jr. as phony guru Big Daddy Brubeck (his show-stopping production number Rhythm of Life has no bearing whatsoever on the plot, but who cares?), and a whole slew of stars-to-be among the dancers and singers, including Ben Vereen, Chelsea Brown and Toni Basil. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Paula Kelly - Helene; Stubby Kaye - Herman; Barbara Bouchet - Ursula; Leon Alton; Richard Angarola - Maitre d'; Toni Basil; Henry Beckman - Cop; Chelsea Brown; Lonnie Burr; Jeff Burton - Policeman; Ceil Cabot - Married woman; John Craig - Man in Fandango Ballroom; Alfred Dennis - Waiter at Chile Hacienda; Kathryn Doby; David Gold - Panhandler; Sharon Harvey - Young Woman on Btidge; Tom Hatten - Man on tandem; Alan Hewitt - Nicholsby; Carlton Johnson - 'Rhythm of Life' dancer; Lance Le Gault; Nolan Leary - Manfred; Diki Lerner - Man with dog on bridge; Buddy Lewis - Appliance salesman; Jerry Mann; Joseph Mell - Man on Bridge; Alma Platt - Lady with hat on bridge; Maudie Prickett - Nurse on bridge; Chet Stratton - Waiter; Phillip Terry - Doorman; Ben Vereen; John Wheeler - 'Rhythm of Life' dancer; Lorene Yarnell - Frog Dancer; Adele Yoshioka - Dancers in "Big Spender" Number; Bill Harrison - Baseball Player; Buddy Hart - Baseball player; Roger Til - Greeter at Pompeii Club; Suzanne Charney - Lead frog dancer; Roy Fitzell; Larry Billman; Dee Carroll - Woman on tandem; Herman Boden; Charles Brewer - Young Man on Bridge; Dante DiPaolo - Charlie; Jerry Trent
Sweet Charity is a 1969 musical movie directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse, written by Neil Simon, and starring Shirley MacLaine. It is based on the 1966 stage musical of the same name, which Fosse had directed and choreographed also. The movie was notable for costumes by Edith Head and its dance sequences (notably "Rich Man's Frug"). The play and the film are based on Federico Fellini's screenplay for Nights of Cabiria. However, where Fellini's black-and-white film concerns the romantic ups-and-downs of an ever-hopeful prostitute, the musical makes the central character a dancer-for-hire at a Times Square dance-hall. The film's full American title is Sweet Charity: The Adventures of a Girl Who Wanted to Be Loved.
Charity works as a taxi dancer along with her friends Nickie and Helene. She longs for love, but has bad luck with men being robbed and pushed off a bridge in Central Park by one boyfriend. She meets famous actor Vittorio Vidal and has a complicated, but pleasant evening with him. After failing to find a new job through an employment agency, Charity meets shy Oscar in a stuck elevator. They strike up a relationship, but Charity does not reveal what she does for a living. When she finally does tell Oscar, he initially seems to accept it, but finally tells Charity that he cannot marry her.
The optimistic Charity faces her future, alone for the time being, living hopefully ever after.
Alternate Ending
An alternate ending found on the laserdisc and DVD versions picks up after Oscar leaves Charity. Oscar starts to go crazy in his apartment and, feeling suffocated, goes for a walk in the park. He sees Charity on their bridge in Central Park and thinks she is going to jump. Racing to rescue her, he trips and falls in the water. Charity jumps in after him, but can't swim so Oscar rescues her. Oscar realizes Charity is the only breath of fresh air in his life, proposes again, and she accepts. Fosse thought the ending was too corny, but filmed it in apprehension that the studio would demand a happy ending. In the end, though, they agreed with Fosse and kept the original bittersweet ending from the stage version.
Cast and Crew
Having directed the Broadway version of the musical, Bob Fosse was given his first opportunity to direct a feature film with Sweet Charity. This is the first film appearance of Chita Rivera and Paula Kelly. It is also the first film appearance of Ben Vereen who plays one of the Frug dancers. John McMartin reprised his role from the Broadway version for the film.
Box office
The film cost $20 million to make, but only made $4 million at the box office. The terrible box office nearly sunk Universal Pictures.[1]
