Sweet Charity

After several years as the hottest musical director on Broadway, Bob Fosse made his film directorial debut with this movie version of his Broadway hit, which was based on Fellini's Nights of Cabiria. Shirley MacLaine is terrific as the proverbial hooker with the heart of gold, one who is convinced that she will find the right man if she just turns enough tricks. The Cy Coleman score is a solid one; the film is at its best when Fosse lets his cast of singer-dancers (which includes Chita Rivera, Paula Kelly, and Sammy Davis Jr.) unleash his leggy brand of choreography. While the film suffers from stylistic excesses of the period, you can see the seeds being planted for Fosse's future musical film forays in Cabaret and All That Jazz. -–Marshall Fine

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

ccAlternate ending
"Sweet Charity - From the Stage to the Screen" featurette
"Edith Head's Costume Design: The Art of Exaggeration" featurette
Theatrical trailer

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

• Side #1 --
  • Play
  • Scenes
  • Bonus Materials
    • Alternate Ending
    • Sweet Charity: From the Stage to the Screen
    • Edith Head's Costume Design: The Art of Exaggeration
    • Theatrical Trailer
    • Recommendations
  • Languages
    • English Language
    • English Captions for the Hearing Impaired
    • Spanish/Espaol Subtitles
    • French/Franais Subtitles
    • No Subtitles

Side #1 --
1. Overture
2. Main Titles
3. My Personal Property
4. Hey, Big Spender
5. The Rich Man's Frug
6. If My Friends Could See Me Now
7. There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This
8. It's a Nice Face
9. Intermission
10. Act II
11. The Rhythm of Life
12. Sweet Charity
13. I'm a Brass Band
14. I Love to Cry at Weddings
15. Where Am I Going?
16. End Titles