Sweet Charity (1969)

December 1, 2022 12:04 PM

[TRAILER] Charity Hope Valentine (Shirley MacLaine) always tries to look on the bright side of life, despite working in a rundown dance hall and contending with a seemingly endless run of bad dates. Determined to find love, Charity falls for suave actor Vittorio Vidal (Ricardo Montalban), but their romance is all too brief. However, when Charity finds herself stuck in an elevator with the reserved Oscar Lindquist (John McMartin), it turns out that she may have finally met her match.

Also starring Sammy Davis Jr., Chita Rivera, Paula Kelly, Stubby Kaye, Barbara Bouchet, Suzanne Charny, Alan Hewitt, Ben Vereen, Toni Basil, Bud Cort.

Directed by Bob Fosse. Screenplay by Peter Stone. Story by Neil Simon. Based on the stage musical with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and book by Neil Simon. That musical was in turn based on the film Nights of Cabiria by Federico Fellini, Ennio Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli, Pier Paolo Pasolini.

86% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

The film is not currently legally available to stream in the US, but hey, we're doing the whole Bob Fosse today. JustWatch listing.

posted by DirtyOldTown (4 comments total)

Previously on the blue there was a very fun post about the "Rhythm Of Life" scene.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:12 PM on December 1, 2022

My third year in acting school I had to play Charity because according to our singing teacher "You have a heart of gold but would rather die than let anyone see it. So I am going to make you." (Third year acting students had to do all the songs from a musical they were "cast" in with other students also helping out in the case of duets, trios, etc. The idea was getting us acclimated to be able to perform an entire musical.) My performance exceeded his expectations despite me being chronically ill and dealing with things like minor surgery on my left foot. I remember watching everything I could get my hands on about Charity and being pissed because I saw the movie as a tragedy. I haven't watched the movie since then.

I will say my duet with a good friend of mine who played Mame doing "Bosom Buddies" from was incredibly fun.

After my christmas horror marathon, I will watch it again.
posted by miss-lapin at 2:00 PM on December 1, 2022 [1 favorite]

My spouse and I noted: The choreography is incredible, all designed to point out how ludicrous the human body is.
posted by brainwane at 6:46 PM on December 1, 2022 [1 favorite]

The film is not currently legally available to stream in the US...

Any idea what the reason for this is?
posted by Thorzdad at 7:28 AM on December 3, 2022