Sweet Charity

Future Oscar-winning filmmaker Bob Fosse made his feature film directing debut with this big screen version of the Tony-nominated musical that he had developed, directed, and choreographed on Broadway. Shirley MacLaine stars as New York City dance hall hostess Charity Hope Valentine—a romantic in a tawdry business—who never loses her optimism even after her boyfriend steals her money and pushes her into a pond (in the opening scene). John McMartin reprises his Broadway role as a tightly-wound accountant who falls in love with Charity's quirky innocence before discovering her dime-a-dance job (a euphemism for prostitution that goes back to classic Hollywood). The original 1966 stage show was adapted by Neil Simon from Federico Fellini’s 1957 film Nights of Cabiria, and the songs by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields include "If My Friends Could See Me Now," "The Rhythm of Life" (performed by Sammy Davis Jr. as a hipster evangelist), and the dynamic opening number "Big Spender." Chita Rivera and Paula Kelly costar as Charity's roommates and fellow dancers, Ricardo Montalbán delivers a low-key comic performance as Italian movie star Vittorio, and Broadway legend Stubby Kaye is the dance hall manager. Sweet Charity was a lavish production and expensive flop, but it remains a sweet movie with superb musical numbers and it was nominated for three Academy Awards and a Golden Globe nomination for MacLaine's performance. Bowing on Blu-ray with both the original 151-minute roadshow version of the film and a second disc with a 145-minute version featuring an alternate happy ending, extras include audio commentary by film historian Kat Ellinger, and archival featurettes. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)