Plantiana Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Lawbolisted Powerful

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Charles Herold (cherold) I love this movie, and I always figured everyone must love this movie, because it's written by Neil Simon, has some wonderful songs and stunning choreography, and Shirley Maclaine is adorable. So I was a surprised to come here and find that a lot of people are underwhelmed. How is that possible?Maclaine plays Charity Hope Valentine, a dance hall hostess (a bowdlerized version of the prostitute from the film it was based on) whose search for love leads her through adventure and heartache.Bob Fosse was a stage choreographer who seemed to complete understand how to use film to expand his choreography. Compare this movie with Damn Yankees, a Fosse-choreographed movie in which the director planted the camera and filmed the stage show. Fosse re-imagines his work for a different medium, removing the staginess when possible but keeping it when necessary (as in the brilliant Big Spender, which is still mainly just a line of women at the bar) . Fosse did try a few unfortunate gimmicks, like the still-photo montages that add nothing to the film, but overall he showed a tremendous command of the medium. And of course Fosse was a brilliant choreographer and there are some amazing numbers, including the fabulous Rich Man's Frug, a wondrous 60s-themed number that is as Fosse as anything he has ever done (and which some idiots here describe as "dated" - is no different from calling a Fred Astaire Fox Trot dated).The songs are, overall, terrific, with some classics (Big Spender, If They Could See Me Now) some fun but less well known songs (I Love to Cry at Weddings, I'm a Brass Band) and, unfortunately, some filler (My Personal Property is an unfortunately bland way to begin the movie).As is typical of Hollywood, the production's Broadway star was swapped out for a Hollywood celebrity. But unlike Audrey Hepburn, Shirley Maclaine had worked in musicals before her Hollywood stardom and could actually sing and dance. Judging from a youtube video of Gwen Verdon doing Hey Big Spender on stage, Fosse had to ease up on some of the trickier moves, but Maclaine is still a solid dancer and a personable singer.I also found her mix of lower-class awkwardness and romanticism instantly likable, although when I watched the film with my girlfriend her comment after the first song was, "is she supposed to be annoying? Because she's really annoying." So your mileage may vary. (My girlfriend liked her better by the end.)I don't care what anyone else says, and I don't care that this movie, from what I've read, bombed. This is a brilliant classical musical from the guy who went on to make the even more brilliant Cabaret, and if you haven't seen it, you should.

SnoopyStyle Taxi dancer Charity Hope Valentine (Shirley MacLaine) tries to have hope despite being pushed into a lake by her boyfriend Charlie. She meets the Italian movie star Vittorio Vitale (Ricardo Montalban) but his volatile statuette girlfriend returns. Then she's stuck in an elevator with flustered Oscar Lindquist (John McMartin). She tries to keep her real life a secret from him.Shirley MacLaine is great and there are a couple of terrific songs like 'Big Spender' and 'If They Could See Me Now'. She is a really funny broad. This is Bob Fosse's movie directorial debut. He shows that he can stage performances. The pacing does drag a little here and there. MacLaine is always there to pick up the movie when that happens. There is an alternate happy ending filmed. The movie works either way and its fun to see both.

TheLittleSongbird Sweet Charity from a personal point of view wasn't a great film as such. The pace does ramble at times, John McMartin has moments where he is amusing but on the most part he's rather bland and the non-musical scenes are dull and gaudy. However it is a good film, a promising start in film for Bob Fosse and it didn't deserve to bomb the way it did. Some of the non-musical scenes do show signs of directorial inexperience, but in the musical numbers his direction does come to life and even very early on we see signs of his distinctive style. Even better is his choreography, it is full of energy and fun and was quite daring for its time, at its absolute best in There's Got to be Something Better Than This. The songs are justifiably famous, Hey Big Spender and Rhythm of Life are the biggest hits and are still iconic. If They Could See Me Now is also very well done. The production values are very colourful and vibrant too. The writing on the most part is sharp and sophisticated, if not quite as much as the stage show, while the somewhat bittersweet ending is very moving. The performances are fine. Shirley MacLaine gives a charming and energetic lead performance, allowing us to root for her character Charity later on by bringing some much needed subtlety in the latter parts of the film. Riccardo Montalban is very funny even when chewing the scenery, Paula Kelly and underseen Chita Rivera are electrifying and Sammy Davis Jnr absolutely mesmorises in the Rhythm of Life number. All in all, a good film that was undeserving of its bomb status but Bob Fosse did go on to better things. 7/10 Bethany Cox

bkoganbing I notice that uncredited, but still making a vital contribution to this film was the original Broadway lead Gwen Verdon who assisted her then husband Bob Fosse with the choreography. This has to be one of the truly unselfish acts in a business that's built on ego. Sweet Charity ran 608 performances on Broadway with a flock of Tony Award nominations including Gwen Verdon for the lead of Charity Hope Valentine and two Tony Awards for Bob Fosse for direction and choreography. Fosse came over to Hollywood to repeat his dual roles. But instead of Gwen doing the lead, Shirley MacLaine steps into the part and Gwen assists in the choreography. Quite frankly had she told Universal and her then husband to take their film and follow explicit directions what to do with it, who could have blamed her.Yet there was Gwen Verdon, helping another performer do good in a part she created. Shirley MacLaine did do good in the role and it was a return to MacLaine's own musical roots. Shirley MacLaine has done so many dramatic roles and been Oscar nominated and once a winner for them, people do forget her beginnings were musical. Had she come along ten years earlier she would have been a great musical star. As it is she does have films like Can Can, Artists and Models, and What A Way To Go where we see Shirley singing and dancing. Her first big break was on Broadway replacing Carol Haney in Pajama Game.Charity Hope Valentine, someone who is charging more than 10 Cents a Dance Depression prices in a dance hall keeps having the worst luck in men which is established early on when at the beginning a guy she was just getting interested in threw her off a bridge into Central Park lake and robbed her purse. The latest in a long line of romantic failures. But quite by accident she gets involved with two men, Italian film star Ricardo Montalban and insurance actuary John McMartin who is repeating his role from the original Broadway production.The Cy Coleman-Dorothy Fields score is a bit cut down, but you couldn't do Sweet Charity without Hey Big Spender and If They Could See Me Now. In the latter Shirley's musical talents, singing and dancing, get their full range. It must have been something however to see Gwen Verdon cavorting around the Italian film star's apartment doing that soliloquy of finally hitting the big time and wishing her dance hall girls could see here.As for the dance hall girls, Shirley's peers are led by best friends Chita Rivera and Paula Kelly who along with Shirley do the big production number of Hey Big Spender. Who wouldn't want a little quality time with any one of them.And we get a special treat with Sammy Davis, Jr. doing the Rhythm Of Life church, a satire on those who claim religious tax exempt status for some interesting beliefs. It maybe his best musical moment in film.The ending for a musical is rather unusual, I can't reveal, but nothing similar comes to mind at the moment. Though Shirley MacLaine is great, poor Gwen Verdon died having only had one of her Broadway hits filmed, Damn Yankees.But Gwen was quite the girl helping someone else score a hit with her role.