Factory sealed DVD Shirley MacLaine gives one of her greatest performances in this spectacular musical based on Neil Simon’s smash Broadway hit. Director Bob Fosse broke new cinematic ground with this freewheeling, visually stunning story of a lovelorn New York dance hall hostess, Charity Hope Valentine, who dreams of old-fashioned romance but gives her heart to one undeserving man after another. MacLaine joins all-star cast members Chita Rivera, Sammy Davis Jr., Ricardo Montalban and Stubby Kaye in belting out thirteen vibrant Cy Coleman-Dorothy Fields’ numbers including Big Spender, Rhythm of Life, There’s Gotta Be Something Better Than This and the show-stopping If My Friends Could See Me Now. It’s an unforgettable production of an all-time classic.
The late Sixties were practically an impossible time to make a successful movie musical. The same Julie Andrews who mined gold in THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965) could not save STAR!, a costly musical biopic of Gertrude Lawrence. PAINT YOUR WAGON, DR. DOOLITTLE, FINIAN'S RAINBOW and others all came and went, including this one, SWEET CHARITY (1969). CHARITY, adapted from an earlier Broadway hit, is loosely based on a 1957 Fellini pic, NIGHTS OF..
I am sure that some folks might know this, but there were two endings filmed to this musical. The one we see on TV or in the video is the sad version, but there was also the up beat version. Right after Charity is gilted, Oscar returns to his apartment- only to find out that his clostrophoebia (spelling?) is coming back. He leaves his apartment for air, when he comes across Charity standing in front of the bridge, where, Charley, her former boyfriend..
