Appearing at a time when it seemed the big-screen musical was an outdated relic of the past, Broadway veteran Bob Fosse's clever and accomplished Cabaret caught all of Hollywood by surprise. Sophisticated, playful, adult and remarkably well-made, Cabaret was in, but not of, the classical musical tradition; and while it had many pillars of strength -- outstanding lead performances, rock-solid source material, sure-handed direction, and a unique approach to storytelling -- it wouldn't have been the huge critical and commercial success it became without its dazzling array of songs.
John Kander and Fred Ebb's musical had come along relatively late in the day, and though it proved extremely popular, there were plenty of reasons to suspect that it might not be an immediate success as a motion picture. Its homosexual subtext -- drawn directly from the autobiographical writings of Christopher Isherwood that inspired the play -- and its attempts to fold an energetic romantic comedy into a grim story about psychologically desperate people trying to find happiness during the rise of the Nazi party were controversial and were likely to draw criticism from all quarters if not handled with great care. Facing these issues as well as time constraints, at least seven songs were cut from the Broadway play, leaving only a dozen to make the transition to the big screen. New characters would be introduced, old ones would be cut, and the lead role of Sally Bowles was to be Americanized in order to accomodate the actress who would be playing her: Kander and Ebb's favorite collaborator, Liza Minelli. Fosse made the decision to play up, rather than down, the sense of doomed decadence that pervaded the Berlin social demimonde in those days, and to film in start, contrasting, and muted colors, giving what was a widescreen musical extravaganza a justifiable noir feel. Any of these factors might have sunk the production, but in all, they seemed to perfectly capture the tone, experience and mood of its audience of the day, who helped make it a runaway success upon release.
In what was then an extremely unsual move, only two of the lead actors -- Minelli as the cabaret singer Sally Bowles and the incredibly charismatic (and unnamed) Master of Ceremonies played by Joel Grey -- sing songs. (The rest are assayed by relatively minor characters.) Part of the reason this works so well is because of what Kander and Ebb called 'what if sessions': firm believers in a strong collaboration between author and actor, they would have frequent brainstorming meetings with Minelli and Grey to determine how the two wanted to handle their characters and what emotions and information they hoped to convey in any given song. Kander and Ebb would then would with Fosse themselves to tailor the music and lyric towards that goal. The result is an often seamless soundtrack that never once appears artificial or arbritray, as was often the problem in traditional musicals, but seems to grow organically out of the characters' interactions with one another and their gradually dangerous surroundings. Now, some 35 years later, Cabaret still stands as one of the greatest musicals of its day.
BEST TRACKS: Liza Minelli's showstopper as Sally Bowles, "(Life is a) Cabaret", is justifiably the most famous song in the musical, and went on to become her signature number later in life. Her collaboration with Grey's Master of Ceremonies, "Money, Money", is the play's funniest song, a hilarious meditation on greed delivered in a perfectly over-the-top evocation of pure camp. And while it's hard to pick a single track to stand for the best of Grey's sinister but playful MC, "Two Ladies" and "If You Could See Her" (with Gray dueting with a man in an ape suit!) are two of our favorites.