40 Films in Robotech: Cabaret (1972)

       

My Dad loved this movie and played the soundtrack frequently in the house I grew up in. Me, on the other hand, uh…not so big a fan.

 ROBOTECH MENTION:  

Robotech author Jack McKinney references Cabaret in this excerpt on page 80 of the book Robotech Metamorphosis (1987)…

Jack McKinney also references Marlene Dietrich in this excerpt. We'll get to her film later this year.

 SYNOPSIS:  

In his book All-Time Movie Favorites published by Octopus Books Limited in 1977, Joel W. Finler writes about Cabaret: “Uncompromising in its representation of Berlin in the early Thirties, Cabaret (Allied Artists/ABC/Cinerama, 1972) is a distinctively modern film musical and the first to earn an “X” certificate. With its powerful and effective use of cross-cutting to relate the cabaret setting to the broader events occurring in Germany at the time, the film marks something of a departure from the original stage production; and it is even further removed from the previous stage and film version, I Am a Camera (1955) and from the stories of Christopher Isherwood where it all began.” (p.146)

 AWARDS & KUDOS:  

The team of reviewers who contributed to the #classicfilmreading book The Rough Guide To Cult Movies: Your Guide To The Good, The Bad And The Weird designated Cabaret as a movie “you would be daft to miss.” (pg. 9). The Cabaret entry in Rough Guide touches upon its impressive display at the Academy Awards: “This deservedly swept the boards at the 1973 Oscars, winning eight, including Best Supporting Actor for Joel Gray, the sinister and brilliant MC of the Kit Kat Club. Based on the play I Am A Camera adapted from Christopher Isherwood’s Goodbye to Berlin), Cabaret tells the story of a Bohemian romance, set against the rising tide of Nazism in 1930s Germany. Fosse’s outstanding direction, his use of mirrors and odd angles to distort and frame the characters, gives the movie a dark edge. Most of the numbers are set in the seedy gloom of the club, but the most chilling of all, Tomorrow Belongs To Me, showing the Germans’ growing devotion to Hitler, is set in the dappled sunshine of a country afternoon. An absolute film masterpiece.” (p. 244)

 OTHER COOL FACTS:  

New York Times film critic Roger Greenspun reviewed Cabaret as “not so much a movie musical” but “a movie with a lot of music in it.”

 ROBOTECH REASON:  

Like Cabaret, Robotech showcases musical entertainment that reflects warzone events while set in the warzone itself. And there is a hefty amount of gender ambiguity in both titles.  

To read my ⭐⭐  (out of a possible 5 star) rating Cabaret (1972) on Letterboxd, click here.