Sweet Charity

Bob Fosse, USA, 1969, 157 minutes

"Love" is the religion of Miss Charity Hope Valentine, and before the opening credits have even finished you just know this musical was made in 1969. Subtle it is not, but Bob Fosse's innovative directing style, including a bizarre use of stills and zooms, is perfectly suited to the psychedelic period in which it was made.

Shirley MacLaine plays the naive dance-hall hostess/prostitute of the title who just wants to be loved, and her zestfull performance - which might be described as Bonnie Langford on acid - matches the enthusiastic direction (Watch out for the "Somebody Loves Me" number, with a manic Shirley dressed in a red marching-band outfit dancing her way round New York!).

The film contains a bucketful of good songs by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields, including the wonderfully seedy "Big Spender" and the funky "Rhythm of Life" sung by a psychedelic Sammy Davis Jnr and several stoned hippies. The musical numbers are expertly staged choreographed by Fosse, whose talents are used to best effect in the Barbarella-esque nightclub sequence where several groovy dances are performed.

Sweet Charity was actually based on Fellini's Nights of Cabiria, but leave all serious thoughts at home, put on your smiling-Shirley faces, and come and experience a truly outrageous film.

Review by Kathryn Parkerson
Taken from EUFS Programme 1992-93