Directed by Martin Scorsese and screenplay by Mardik Martin and Earl Mac Rauch from a story by Rauch, New York, New York is the story of a jazz saxophonist and a saxophone singer who meet on V-J Day in 1945 as they fall in love where they endure a turbulent relationship onstage and off-stage. A tribute to the old Hollywood films from the 1930s to the 1950s, the film is a musical drama set in the aftermath of World War II where two people try to maintain a relationship through love and music. Starring Robert de Niro, Liza Minnelli, Lionel Stander, Mary Kay Place, Barry Primus, Frank Sivero, Dick Miller, and special appearances from Clarence Clemons, Casey Kasem, and Jack Haley as the master of ceremonies. New York, New York is a lavish though uneven film from Martin Scorsese.
The film revolves around a jazz saxophonist and a USO singer who meet at a party on V-J Day where they become a couple, join a big band jazz group, form a band of their own, and deal with all sorts of things in their tumultuous relationship. It’s a film with a simple premise that is told in the span of nearly a decade from 1945 to the mid-1950s as focus on this couple who bring out both the best and worst in each other. The film’s screenplay by Mardik Martin and Earl Mac Rauch does play into the elements expected in a romantic drama with music yet there is an element of intense drama as it relates to the relationship between singer Francine Evans (Liza Minnelli) and jazz saxophonist Jimmy Doyle (Robert de Niro).
Their relationship starts off with Doyle trying to woo and win over Evans as the two prove that they learn they were supposed to meet on a blind date and their relationship develops slowly. Yet, once Evans gets a gig singing for a band where Doyle would find and follow her. He becomes part of the band and eventually form his own band but tries to control Evans’ fate as well as her career. Even when he tries to be the one with the glory and talent while Evans is just the voice but who has so much more to offer. While Doyle prefers to play with other musicians who he felt could match his talents as well as socialize with. It is Evans who is poised for stardom as things get complicated when she becomes pregnant with Doyle’s child.
Martin Scorsese’s direction is definitely extravagant for the world he is creating as it’s set from the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s to reflect a period of old Hollywood where musicals were the thing. Shot largely at the MGM soundstages in Hollywood as well as parts of New York City and Los Angeles, Scorsese would create a setting that is lavish and filled with a lot of grand set designs to play into a world that was rich and innocent. Scorsese would create some unique wide and medium shots to get a scope of the nightclubs and places the characters go to while using stock footage to create that world of post-war New York City. Scorsese’s compositions do have elements of style that play into the way Scorsese would frame Evans and Doyle in a scene and the few moments where they are equal such as a scene of the two rehearsing with the band as they both share critiques on the drummer as well as a scene of the two arguing with a couple who are trying to park who were interrupting their own argument. Still, Scorsese also play into the craziness of their relationship such as their first meeting of Doyle trying to use his pick-up lines on her only to fail constantly unaware that they’re each other’s blind dates.
For all of the visual tricks and compositions that Scorsese creates in the film, it is clear that Scorsese is trying to make a film that is a homage to old Hollywood as some of the set backdrops do have that sense of artificiality that was prevalent from the past. Yet, to match it with some of the drama and the infighting between Evans and Doyle for some reason doesn’t mesh. Even as the attempts to blend both end up meandering the film a bit at times while Scorsese would be able to create some entertaining musical numbers though its attempts to infuse some drama ends up feeling messy. Still, the film’s climatic musical number that involves Evans in this massive set piece with top-notch dance choreography by Ron Field is a joy to watch as it play into what Evans could achieve that Doyle couldn’t deal with. Despite the shortcomings in its attempts to blend genres as well as wanting to be a homage to classic Hollywood films of the 1940s and 1950s. Scorsese still manages to create an enjoyable but uneven film about a tumultuous romance between a singer and a jazz saxophone player in the post-war era.
Cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs does amazing work with the film’s cinematography from the usage of some stylish lights for some of the interiors including a hallway scene as well as creating moods for some of the exterior scenes in day and night as it’s a highlight of the film. Editors Irving Lerner, Marcia Lucas, Bert Lovitt, David Ramirez, and Tom Rolf do terrific work with the editing as it some elements of styles including transition wipes, montages, and a few jump-cuts. Production designer Boris Leven, with art director Harry Kemm plus set decorators Robert De Vestel and Ruby R. Levitt, does incredible work with the set design as play into the look of the nightclubs and homes of the characters including the backdrops for some of the exterior sets.
Costume designer Theadora Van Runkle does fantastic work with the period costumes of the times from the blue shirt Doyle wears in the film’s opening scene to some of the dresses that Evans wears. Hair designer Sydney Guilaroff does nice work with the different hairstyles that Evans would sport throughout the entirety of the film. Sound editor Kay Rose does superb work with the sound as it help play into the atmosphere of the clubs and venues that the characters go to. The film’s music by John Kander and Fred Ebb is brilliant for its big-band jazz score with some woodwinds and big sound along with songs that Evans would sing while music supervisor Ralph Burns would provide that mix of different jazz sub-genres as well as vocal pop and other styles of music that was around in those times.
The casting by Lynn Stalmaster is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from Casey Kasem as a jazz radio DJ, Jack Haley as the master of ceremonies for the film’s big climatic number, Dick Miller as a club owner, Clarence Clemons as jazz trumpeter Cecil Powell, Adam David Winkler as Doyle and Evans’ son late in the film, Frank Sivero as Doyle’s friend Eddie DiMuzio, Harry Northup as an agent named Alabama, George Memmoli as a friend of Doyle in Nicky, Georgie Auld as the musician Frankie Harte, and Mary Kay Place as Evans’ replacement in Doyle’s band Bernice Bennett who later sings for another band. Barry Primus is superb as musician Paul Wilson who is a pianist for the band that Doyle is also in as he would later lead his own band with Bernice as the singer. Lionel Stander is fantastic as bandleader Tony Harwell who leads the band with Evans as the singer and Doyle as one of his saxophone players where he knows how talented both of them are but sees Evans as something special.
Robert de Niro’s performance as Jimmy Doyle has its moments where he displays a lot of charm and energy into the role as well as showing he can play saxophone. Yet, his character is unfortunately one of the vilest individuals on film as he doesn’t have many redeeming qualities often thinking more about himself where he can be possessive and selfish. He also tries to maintain his sense of pride and thinking he knows what Evans wants as it’s a performance that doesn’t give de Niro enough to show the good qualities in his character. Finally, there’s Liza Minnelli in a phenomenal performance as Francine Evans as a USO singer who falls for Doyle and sings for a band with Doyle as it’s a performance that is filled with a lot of comic timing and charisma. Although there’s moments that will make anyone wonder why she is still with Doyle as there’s moments where de Niro and Minnelli don’t really click. Minnelli still gives it her all when she sings and dances as she is the best thing in this film.
New York, New York is a good but messy film from Martin Scorsese. Despite its great visuals, amazing set design, incredible music soundtrack, and Liza Minnelli’s radiant performance. It’s a film that wants to be all sorts of things including this love letter to old Hollywood of the post-war era yet struggles to be intense and engaging yet it has a lot of faults in its execution. In the end, New York, New York is a terrific yet extremely flawed film from Martin Scorsese.
Martin Scorsese Films: (Who’s That Knocking on My Door?) – (Street Scenes) – Boxcar Bertha - (Mean Streets) – Italianamerican - Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore - Taxi Driver - American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince - (The Last Waltz) – Raging Bull - The King of Comedy - After Hours - The Color of Money - The Last Temptation of Christ - New York Stories-Life Lessons - Goodfellas – Cape Fear (1991 film) - The Age of Innocence (1993 film) - (A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies) – (Casino) – (Kundun) – (My Voyage to Italy) – Bringing Out the Dead - (The Blues-Feel Like Going Home) – Gangs of New York - (The Aviator) – No Direction Home - The Departed - Shine a Light - Shutter Island - (A Letter to Elia) – (Public Speaking) - George Harrison: Living in the Material World - Hugo - The Wolf of Wall Street - (The Fifty Year Argument) – The Silence (2016 film) - (The Irishman (2019 film)) - Killers of the Flower Moon - (An Afternoon with SCTV)
© thevoid99 2018
Directed by Bob Fosse, Liza with a Z is a concert TV special for Liza Minnelli as she performs songs from the film Cabaret that Fosse directed and Minnelli starred in along with songs written by Fred Ebb and lyricist John Kander. Shot on May 31, 1972 at the Lyceum Theatre in New York City, the film showcases Minnelli singing and dancing to an audience in all-out musical with numbers ranging in different musical styles with Fosse providing choreography. The result is a sensational and dazzling concert TV special from Bob Fosse.
Considered one of the greatest performers in entertainment, Liza Minnelli is someone that can do it all as she can sing, dance, act, and crack some jokes. In early 1972, Minnelli starred in the film version of the hit Broadway musical Cabaret which was directed by Bob Fosse as it drew her rave reviews and would give an Academy Award for Best Actress. As an encore of sorts, Minnelli, Fosse, and the songwriting duo of Fred Ebb and John Kander would create a show largely on her talents. The show itself wouldn’t just be about Minnelli the performer but also a woman sharing bits of her real self onstage where she would tell jokes between a few songs.
The selection of song choice doesn’t just consist of songs by Ebb and Kander but also interpretations of standards, show tunes, and a few contemporary songs like I Gotcha by Joe Tex and Son of a Preacher Man sung famously by Dusty Springfield. All of which play into Minnelli’s own personality and her own diverse take on these songs where the contemporary numbers dwell more into rock, pop, and soul while the rest are more fitted into traditional pop and jazz with the aid of music coordinator Marvin Hamlisch. The show also includes a medley devoted to Cabaret as it’s not just about Minnelli singing these songs. It is also the presentation of the show where she’s joined by dancers dancing along all to Bob Fosse’s intricate and racy choreography which adds a lot to many of these musical numbers.
Instead of having the concert special shot on videotape, which was the standard at the time. Fosse would shoot the special on 16mm film with the aid of cinematographer Owen Roizman in the way much of the stage sets are lit and shown. Even as Fosse would shoot many of the performance not just at the stage but also from the side with high and low angles to see what the audience at the show would see. Especially in the way the sets that are created by production designer Robert Randolph and art director Sabina Daley are shown to play into each different set of the performance as well as the costumes worn by the many dancers that are designed by Frank L. Thompson with Minnelli’s costumes provided by Halston. Each set would have Minnelli sport different looks of sorts courtesy of hair stylist Simon Scudera and makeup designer Christina Smith.
Adding to the energy and performances is the editing of Alan Heim as it says a lot to how Minnelli reacts to the audience as well as in the way she performs a song. Sound mixer Robert C. Fine, with sound consultant Andy Potvin for its 2000 reissue, would do nice work with the way the music sound with Potvin providing some additional mixing for the remastered edition of the special.
Liza with a Z is a spectacular concert TV special from Bob Fosse that features in the incomparable Liza Minnelli. Not only is the special a must-see for fans of Minnelli but it’s also an overlooked gem of sorts from Fosse who would create a lavish presentation that plays into Minnelli’s stature as an entertainer. In the end, Liza with a Z is a fabulous concert TV film from Bob Fosse.
Bob Fosse Films: Sweet Charity - Cabaret - Lenny - All That Jazz - Star 80 - The Auteurs #56: Bob Fosse
© thevoid99 2016
Based on the 1966 musical by Joe Masteroff with music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb that was based on the novel The Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood and its play I Am a Camera by John Van Druten. Cabaret is the story of pre-Nazi Berlin, Germany where a young writer finds himself entranced by the world as he meets and falls for an American cabaret singer. Directed by Bob Fosse and screenplay by Jay Allen, the film is a musical that plays into the lives of an outsider and various others in a world that was to change as they try to hold on to a world of decadence. Starring Liza Minnelli, Michael York, Helmut Greim, Fritz Wepper, Marisa Berenson, and Joel Grey. Cabaret is a spectacular and exhilarating film from Bob Fosse.
Set in 1931 Berlin, the film revolves around a British writer and an American cabaret singer who meet and fall in love during a period in Germany that would mark a major change for the country in the emergence of Nazism. Yet, it’s a film that play into two different people and personalities who meet together as one is this reserved academic that lives in a world of reality while the other is this exuberant woman with big dreams to make it as an actress while being this revered cabaret singer. All of it is told that plays into a world that is quite decadent and sort of escapist where this young man ventures into the world as an outsider where he’s taken aback but also amazed by it. The film’s screenplay by Jay Allen isn’t just about this relationship between Brian Roberts (Michael York) and Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli) but also the people around them and what is going on at the Kit Kat Club where Sally performs that features commentary from its Master of Ceremonies (Joel Grey).
The film also has a subplot as it relates to a friend of Bowles in Fritz Wendel (Fritz Wepper) who is a well-known gigolo that goes to Roberts to improve his English as he falls for another of Roberts’ pupil in a rich Jewish woman in Natalia Landauer (Marisa Berenson). It’s a subplot that doesn’t just play into Roberts being this observer of watching another man fall in love but also deal with the realities of what is happening as it relates to the emergence of Nazism. The script does have a traditional structure where much of its first act and the first half of the story revolves around the growing relationship between Roberts and Bowles despite their difference with the former also admitting to having feelings for men. By the time the character of baron Maximilian von Heune (Helmut Greim) comes into the picture, the second act would begin as it plays into this threesome that also involves Roberts and Bowles but also a dark reality that would emerge.
Even in the third act where it plays into this disconnect of sorts of what is happening in Germany and the world that Bowles wants. Even as the events in the Kit Kat Club showcases that disconnect while offering commentary on what is happening outside of the club. The performances that involve the Master of Ceremonies with or without Bowles not only help bring in ideas of what is going on in the narrative but also into a world that is ever-changing where it is this world of escape but also filled with some contradictions. Notably as it relates to what Bowles had to face in her life as it showcases how flawed she is as a person. While Roberts might seem as somewhat stuffy and a bit cynical, he is someone that is willing to be open but also realizes that what is happening in Germany is wrong. For Bowles, she doesn’t think about the bigger picture rather than what she wants to be as it raises that sense of disconnect into reality.
Bob Fosse’s direction is very unique not just for his recreation of 1930s Berlin but also in the fact that nearly half of the film is set inside this club. The scenes set in the club has this air of danger in what could be revealed either literally or metaphorically. Even as many of the musical numbers that are written by John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb has this playful yet decadent feel. Fosse’s presentation of these musical numbers are very intimate but also something that is very lively and unpredictable. With Fosse also serving as the choreographer, the dance numbers and performances have this air of sexuality that is enthralling but also add to what is going on in the story such as Bowles’ meeting with von Heune for a song with the Master of Ceremonies in Money, Money. The songs aren’t just crucial to the narrative but it also expresses everything that Bowles is dealing with as well as what is happening in the story.
Shot on location in Germany with much of it in rural places along with some location shooting in Munich and parts of West Berlin, Fosse would take advantage of the beauty of the locations as well as create something that was once peaceful despite the dark undercurrent of Nazism. The usage of wide and medium shots would play into these moments along with some of the musical numbers. Fosse’s close-ups are also key in some of the musical sequences either for comical or very emotional moments while it is also evident in a key moment where Bowles, Roberts, and von Heune notice the attraction towards each other. It also plays into these moments between Bowles and Roberts in their relationship despite the growing darkness that is emerging as it relates to people they know. Even as it indicates a reality that Bowles would have to face no matter how much she tries to ignore it. Overall, Fosse creates a dazzling and ravishing film about a cabaret singer and an academic falling in love during 1931 Berlin.
Cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth does brilliant work with the film‘s cinematography with its array of lighting for some of the cabaret numbers as well as the usage of soft lights for some of the daytime interiors while using some low-key lighting for some of the exterior lightings set at night. Editor David Bretherton does amazing work with the editing as it features some unique jump-cuts as well as montages that play into some of the dramatic moments as well as some unique back-and-forth cutting to play into the musical numbers and what is going on outside of the club. Production designer Rolf Zehetbauer and art director Hans Jurgen Kiebach do fantastic work with the look of the Kit Kat Club and its stage as well as the apartment that Bowles and Roberts share that play into their different personalities.
Costume designer Charlotte Flemming does excellent work with the costumes from the clothes that Bowles wears on and off the stage as well as the clothes the men wore in those times as well as those Nazi uniforms. Sound editor James M. Falkinburg does superb work with the sound in the way some of the dancing sounds as well as some of the moments that occur in the streets and small towns. The film’s music by John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb, with additional work by Ralph Burns, is incredible not just for the songs that are made but also in the music score that plays into that world of jazz to showcase a world that is changing slowly but also the sense that something dangerous is coming.
The casting by Renate Neuchl is wonderful as it features some notable small roles from Elisabeth Neumann-Viertel as Bowles and Roberts’ landlord Fraulein Schneider and Oliver Colligan as a Nazi youth with Mark Lambert as its singing voice. Marisa Berenson is terrific as Natalia Landauer as a rich socialite who is dealing with Fritz’s feelings for her but also the fact that she’s Jewish and a target for the Nazis. Fritz Wepper is superb as Fritz Wendel as a gigolo who falls for Natalia as he tries to please her while carrying a secret of his own which he believes will destroy him. Helmut Greim is fantastic as the baron Maximilian von Heune as a rich gigolo who woos both Roberts and Bowles as well as be someone that has a lot of power in what to do where it is clear he is just someone that uses people.
Joel Grey is phenomenal as the Master of Ceremonies as he is this vivacious performer that is so full of charm and humor as it is just this performance that really steals the show while looking really good in stockings and garters. Michael York is remarkable as Brian Roberts as a British academic/writer who comes to Berlin to write while falling for Bowles where he deals with his own sexuality as well as what is happening around him where he tries to make a difference. Finally, there’s Liza Minnelli in a spectacular performance as Sally Bowles as this woman who is so full of life and charisma as she is this cabaret performer that is just so engaging while Minnelli also provides some vulnerability and wit to the character offstage that is quite selfish but also troubled as she is someone that doesn’t know if there is a life outside of entertaining and making people smile amidst a world that is changing.
Cabaret is an outstanding film from Bob Fosse that features great performances from Liza Minnelli, Michael York, and Joel Grey. It’s a musical that manages to be very entertaining as well as have an air of danger that makes it so compelling. Especially as it features a strong story, amazing technical work, and exhilarating music that makes the film a total joy. In the end, Cabaret is a sensational film from Bob Fosse.
Bob Fosse Films: Sweet Charity - Liza with a Z - Lenny - All That Jazz - Star 80 - The Auteurs #56: Bob Fosse
© thevoid99 2016
