Cabaret & the Seductive Power of Evil

it's 1971 in a filthy German nightclub and Liza Manelli is starting to think she's made one of the worst mistakes of her life Liza is about to start filming Cabaret it's a movie about a washed up Lounge singer and her queer boyfriend stumbling through 1930s Berlin during the rise of the Nazis what are we going to call it Nifty Nazi Foles she's not the only one worried about this project her director's Bob FY a former burlesque dancer whose previous film flopped so hard it nearly bankrupted Universal and it sent him into kind of movie jail Cabaret is his last chance to save his career but he just had a fight with the producer so bad they're no longer speaking I said boy we're going into the toilet with this meanwhile co-star Michael York just told FY that he hates the script and the other co-star Joel gray just learned that FY tried to replace him with the old lady from Harold and Ma everyone has the right to make an ass out of themselves the entire experience is shaping up to be a huge disaster but what none of them realize is that their weird little low-budget queer musical would become the stuff of Hollywood Legend I had a sense that he was doing something very brave I mean none of us knew if it would work this is the story of Cabaret the film that made icons out of its Stars how Grand transformed the very genre of movie musicals Cabaret made people believe that you can go to a musical and believe it influenced art and culture for decades to come from Chicago to shitz Creek cabar right yeah I actually wanted to do cats but everybody said that it was too political so and also served as a warning that's as timely today as it was back then they're lulling you into a feeling that makes you understand just how evil the evil is Ling boom yeah our story starts at a dinner party at the home of Hal Prince Hal is a Broadway power broker he produced a string of hits Damn Yankees Westside Story Fiddler on the Roof and go on to produce even more like iita Sweeney Todd Phantom of the Opera One Night in 1970 Hal and his wife invited a few friends over for dinner there was Neil Simon and his wife the dancer Joan Simon dancer Gwen Veron and Gwen's husband Bob FY but when Bob arrived something was clearly eating at him he was gloomy he found a seat on the floor he didn't talk much how Prince the producer tried to keep the conversation going he mentioned he was about to start work on a new Broadway show and he added that's why he wouldn't be able to direct the movie version of Cabaret and suddenly there was a voice from the floor the movie version of Cabaret Bob FY was frantic he had to know who's producing it who's financing and do they need a director why was this so urgent for Bob because he was in a tough spot Bob FY was a dancer who'd come up in Vaudeville in the 1940s starting in dingi Burlesque and strip clubs he taught himself a signature move a backflip that caught the attention of MGM Scouts and they started putting him in Big Bright happy Musical of the 1950s Bob's talent and his signature move seemed like guaranteed job security as long as audiences kept flocking to musicals which they did for many years until they stopped tastes changed in the 1960s with the turmoil of the decade audiences started losing interest in movies that were full of upbeat song and dance Bob thought it was time for a new kind of musical one with more serious themes and realistic gritty settings that had worked well enough with adaptations like Westside Story and he got a chance to try it out when he Direct to the film sweet charity it's about a sex worker who falls in love with a movie star a gorgeous movie with amazing iconic dances that left a big impression on culture from Ariana Grande to Beyonce To The Simpsons dig this blender but when it came out sweet charity bombed the general consensus was it was way overd directed too many camera tricks too many artsy shots that were just disorienting it also didn't help that FY went way over budget so the movie Lost a ton of money it was so bad that some Executives at MCA Universal talked about getting out of the movie business completely so they could focus on less risky music and television so not only did sweet charity ruin Bob's reputation it showed the industry that musicals were becoming a big risk seemed like it might be one of the last Nails in the coffin of a struggling genre and after his first film bombed Bob couldn't get hired he and Gwen were living on savings they were desperate for work it was pretty cold I mean no one really wanted me for a long time so when you heard about a film adaptation of Cabaret Bob thought this could be the second chance that he desperately needed why this show in particular because Bob saw something unique about Cabaret the show had its origins in a series of short stories that were written by Christopher isherwood he was a British writer who' moved to Berlin in the late 1920s and he wrote about Berlin's then vibrant gay scene his friendship with a cabaret singer and how the art and culture and freedom of the time was destroyed as the Nazis came to power in isherwood Stories the characters all look away from the danger that the Nazis pose they're distracted by the fun and life on stage that appealed to Bob because he wanted to use the stage as a metaphor for human corruptibility to show how on stage and in life people can be distracted by something dazzling rather than seeing the Urgent danger right in front of them the stories had been adapted before but they were heavily sanitized in the 1950s the writer Dodie Smith the author of 101 Dalmations declared that isherwood stories would never work on AG playwright friend took that as a challenge and wrote a play called I am a camera it was a modest success and was made into a film this winter there are many who do not have clothes to cover them yes I know and I'm one of them but those 50s versions removed some of the darker elements there's less focus on the Nazis and sensors demanded that sexual elements be removed that promiscuous characters face some punishment they also made the main character straight instead of gay even with those edits I am a camera was seen as awfully controversial it was a struggle to get permission to Stage the play and the film version was denied a certificate to be shown in the US so these more sanitized versions left a lot of material in the isherwood stories that just hadn't been explored and a lot of unused potential that a new film version could tap into especially because this new film version wouldn't be based on the old I am a camera adaptation it would be based on a newer musical version that had been a hit on Broadway the Broadway musical was called simply Cabaret it was directed by Hal prince who updated the story and added some new elements Hal's goal was to use 1920s Berlin as an allegory for racism and the rise of fascism in 1960s America to drive home just how similar those times were Hal brought a photo of angry protesters to the first rehearsal of Cabaret everyone assumed it was Aryan youth in Nazi Germany but it was actually a photo of men protesting School integration in Chicago taken in the last year the Broadway version had a surprising cast Jill Hayworth a former horror Queen who played the damaged chaotic Cabaret singer Sally BS and Joel gray a then closeted actor largely known for TV Western who played the club's Sinister MC and like the other adaptations the Broadway musical was initially controversial when we first played our very first performance in Boston the schuber theater totally exploded we couldn't go on with the show over time it grew in popularity it won Tony there was an international production with Sally played by Judy Dench don't tell Mama whatever you do so with that success on stage why hadn't Cabaret been adapted into a film yet it wasn't for lack of trying how Prince had sold the film rights to a company called cinama in 1968 but then a few months later cinama tried to back out there were some lengthy Court battles and finally the rights were bought by another company called Allied artists at a steep discount Allied artists was in a tricky spot though it was on the verge of going bankrupt they hadn't made a new film in years to help produce Allied artists brought on a guy named Sai fer Sai was an experienced Broadway producer his credits included Guys and Dolls How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying Sai knew that one of their first orders of business needed to be finding a director and he might have offered that job to Hal Prince since how directed it on Broadway but now it was too late howed moved on he was about to start work on a new Steven stime show called company which was sure to be less challenging than adapting Cabaret wrong scier and Bob got together for lunch and it was tense according to SAI he had pasta Bob had a pack of cigarettes I am in flavor Country Bob made the case for himself knowing he was considered damag Goods as a director fy's Vision was for something more shocking than audiences had seen on stage to use the Cabaret as a metaphor for how people can be blinded to the dangers around them in this case the rise of the Nazis Sai heard him out but he said before he gave the job to him he'd have to consider some more prestigious directors he was also talking to Billy Wilder Jean Kelly Joe MTZ all of them much more powerful with a successful track record FY had made one film and it was a flop but he was desperate for this job he told Sai I've got to do it it's my last shot I can't get arrested in Hollywood and there was one thing working in fy's favor Sai had a hunch that Cabaret success would depend on its musical numbers and he knew that whatever fy's failings as a director might be he was one of the best choreographers in the world plus they could always hire Bob to do the choreography and then fire and replace him if he was a lousy director that's basically what happened with Jerome Robbins on Westside Story s went back to his colleagues at Allied artists and told them they had to get fossy so they hired him but nervously sweet charity was still on their minds and after agreeing to hire him I said boy we're going into the toilet with this so now FY had the job but he knew his bosses were watching him like a hawk he was going to have to pull off what seemed like an impossible task saving his directing career with a film about an incredibly off-putting topic made it what might be the worst possible point in history for a musical film work on the screenplay had already started with Jay presson Allen an acclaimed writer known for working with luminaries like Alfred Hitchcock kathern he Barbara strand but she struggled to adapt Cabaret from the Broadway musical to the screen Allan knew that film audience tastes had changed musicals were a tough cell even family musicals like chitty chitty bang bang were struggling to recoup their costs other musical films had tried to go for a more adult tone around this time but those often wound up being huge disasters SK and on top of that was the incredibly unpleasant subject matter the rise of the Nazis sure there had been Nazis and musicals before like the sound of music but Cabaret Dark theme of human corruptibility was a far cry from the simple clear-cut morality of a Rogers and Hammerstein show or for that matter from the playfulness of a Walt Disney film The discomfort with the subject matter was highlighted when they started planning their shoot they wanted to film the movie in Germany but Germans were not eager to relive the trauma of World War II FY was confused when he couldn't find any costumes that match the time period and he later found out that the costume shop had hidden them because they were afraid Cabaret would recreate pre-war Germany too AU tically one costume designer who was told to find outfits like they had before the war responded what war listen don't mention the War World War 2 would ended less than 30 years earlier it would be like making a movie now about the 1990s the horrors of the time were still very fresh in many people's minds another challenge when it came to adapting Cabaret was that FY and sciu were both tired of musicals where people just burst into song they wanted to heighten the story's realism by only having musical numbers take place on a stage where it would make sense for people people to sing plus the more they talked about it the clearer it became that scier hated major sections of the stage version he found it too sentimental especially a love story that the Broadway version added about an elderly land lady s thought it was too cute and he wanted to get rid of that entire storyline and that didn't leave much that they did like so ultimately they decided to throw out huge chunks of the musical including some very popular songs that gave them a fresh slate chance to reinvent C for a new audience but it also raised a new question what would they use instead and that's when they started looking back at the original stories by Christopher isherwood he had a fascinating real life story in his early 20s isherwood was a student at Oxford but he hated the stifling atmosphere of the stuffy British school he preferred to write fiction specifically erotic stories that he traded with his friend Edward I used to write story and uh take it to his rooms late at night when he was in bed and next day I'd find one for from him on my table at the end of one term isherwood filled an exam book with joke answers and the school had enough they asked him not to come back I threw away my whole brilliant academic career trying to figure out what to do next isherwood heard there was a lot of artistic freedom in Berlin and something else that interested him in your own words Berlin meant boys is that uh more or less right oh yes sure so off he went there was a an escape there from the upper middle class to which I belonged and I wanted to to be with these boys to escape into another sort of world and he found just what he was looking for in Berlin isherwood wrote about exploring the local gay scene about meeting and dating men about a friend named Jean who he renamed Sally for the books and her wild rambunctious Life as a cabaret singer and as he spent more time there he saw what was happening politically and he described the violent frightening rise of the Nazis seeing his friends arrested tortured killed and how calmly so many Germans had accepted it isherwood wound up leaving Germany in the nick of time with his German boyfriend in 1933 and he published his books in the Years leading up to World War II FY was drawn to many of the details in those stories especially Berlin's sexual Freedom he saw a parallel with America sexual revolution of the 1960s and he liked that the main character of the books was queer he talked it over with Jay pron Allen the writer and at that point queer characters in movies had tended to adhere to the same tropes mincing and a feminite I may not know my flowers but I know a [ __ ] when I say one but they thought this could be a chance to do something different to show a queer character that was more complex and nuanced than the same old stereotypes in F's words to startle the audience and make them rethink their perceptions of what a gay man looks like because my God what year was that 1972 it was a little late in the day for all that prissy business and that's what they decided should be the basis of their film The Original isherwood Stories including details that had been sanitized out of the earlier adaptations they were going to set their film apart from other movie musicals by making it more gritty more realistic and more queer they'd also enlarge the part of Sally BS Cabaret singer who's flighty Carefree lives for the moment with no responsibilities for that they were interested in Liza Manelli it made sense the role on Broadway had originally been written for her so why wasn't she in it well when they were casting how Prince had her audition but he thought she couldn't play British believably that her singing was too refined for the character of Sally and that she simply wasn't up to the task of acting as sloppy as the role required you know what it's his loss but s fer thought she might be worth a closer look Liza wasn't the same performer she once was for one thing how's rejection had stuck with her and she decided that if Cabaret was ever turned into a film she wanted that role it's his loss so she spent the next few years honing her acting skills building up film credits and roles that she hoped would prove she belonged in a gritty adult part like Sally BS why that part matter so much to her because ever since she was little Liza was compared to her mother Judy Garland now Liza loved and admired her mom but she also needed to prove herself as she put it for the world to say there she is in a musical and that's what her mom did and she's holding her own so she went after a lot of unusual unexpected roles often with a grittier edge than those associated with Judy Liza played a fashion designer struggling to make ends meet during the Depression a college student going through a nervous breakdown a a woman whose face is scarred by acid whose close Confidant is her gay best friend and she turned down roles that she felt were too similar to her mothers including offers from Walt Disney who probably wanted her for a Wizard of Oz project that wound up taking a very different form when you're made of patches life a gay and gy all day it was a yearslong campaign to prove she had it in her and audiences took notice in those rougher edgier roles she won a Tony she was nominated for an Oscar and a bafta and a golden glob her star was on the rise Hal felt she was still wrong for the role but it wasn't his call anymore and producer scier was willing to give her a chance s and some colleagues went to see Liza perform at a cabaret in Paris she knew he was coming and ended her show with the title song from Cabaret I still remember it vividly because my hair and I those days I had a lot more hair than now literally stood up on the back I could feel this thing on the back of my head as it worked toward the front it was incredible and Sai cast her on the spot after the rejection years earlier and all those years of work this was huge Vindication but Liza never had any doubt she sat on the floor cross-legged and said don't worry fellas I'm going to be great you know when you when you're really young and you just you think in such a straight line things are much simpler than you because you're stupid and it's good now she'd have to prove she could actually live up to the part to see if her confidence was really Justified FY didn't have any input put on the casting of Liza Sai let him know she came with a picture fortunately FY liked her but other casting choices didn't go so smoothly for a co-star the standin for the isherwood narrator they wanted what they called a Michael York type Michael York was a young British actor who's mostly known for Shakespeare in Period dramas though he may be better known now for this role I'm basil Exposition with British intelligence at the Time Michael had played a string of characters that he found boring and when he heard what FY was looking for they were looking for a Michael York type and I suggested to my agent that possibly I might qualify FY auditioned him and liked what he saw but Liza didn't she just didn't feel the chemistry she didn't think he looked the part but FY didn't listen he told Michael the part is yours but then Michael had to confess he had a problem he just seen the latest version of the script and he had one thought I've made a huge mistake he told FY the character was Bland he just passively watches doesn't take any action boring and Michael was thinking maybe Liza was right maybe he should pull out that was a huge crisis because this was supposed to be one of the main characters in the film they'd made his relationship with Sally The Heart of the story and at this point FY didn't have much time to recast so what could he do well there were two weeks of song and dance rehearsals coming up and FY decided to devote a big chunk of that to overhauling the scenes with Liza and Michael he got them into a room together to run scenes and improvise and a new writer he wheeler came along to capture whatever they came up with as they rehearsed they started finding new ways to play the characters new dialogue to make the relationship more interesting inspiration that Hugh used to polish into fully fleshed out scenes and at the end of two weeks they had a script that they loved Michael York was thrilled the only thing he asked not to do was a scene where he describes his dick with a Shakespeare quote shall I compare thee to a summer's day Liza had come around too she told FY I was wrong he's Sensational the cast was finally starting to gel but then came another road bump there was already some tension over the casting of the MC that's the character who Reigns over the cabar on stage he's played by Joel gray but how Prince had used the character to represent the soul of Germany growing more deranged and maniacal over the course of the show Joel seemed like a shoe in for the film but then one day he happened to be sitting in the waiting room of his dentist's office picked up a copy of variety and read that FY wanted to cast Ruth Gordon instead that's the nosy neighbor from Rosemary's Baby ma from Harold and ma yeah I saw that movie Harold Ma and I really don't want to talk about it Joel was flabbergasted he liked Ruth but he felt very protective of this character and it was especially surprising since he and Bob FY had the same agent that put the agent in a very awkward position he tried to explain to Joel why FY was reluctant to cast him he wanted nothing to do with what was on the stage but Joel was still upset I had as much an investment in that movie mhm as he did he really wanted to bring that character to life on the big screen for millions of people to see what he'd done on Broadway and he had his own thoughts about what might actually be going on my secret suspicion was that he was hoping that it would be impossible to find someone and that he would end up doing it finally with just a few weeks left until shooting and the character still not cast The Producers forced FY into a room to make a decision they pointed out Joel done a perfectly good job on Broadway Bob tried to throw his weight around he said to everybody it's either Joel gray or me and Marty bomb who was the producer said then it's Joel gray so FY begrudgingly accepted Joel but that didn't lead to particularly warm feelings in rehearsal when they first met Bob was Frosty he avoided talking except to criticize Bob told Joel he wasn't doing enough jazz hands every time Joel tried to improvise Bob shot him down finally Bob took Jo aside and asked him Joel have have you ever done a backflip Joel told him I don't think so and Bob said it's easy and he prepared to go into one of his trademark flips and he proceeded to jump and do a back flip and missed and fell right on his face and laid there for a moment everyone thought FY might be dead and then he pulled himself up and limped off and the next day he showed up with his face swollen and bruised a cigarette hanging from his lips it was the last time FY asked Joel to try a backflip the tension got even worse as they looked for a cinematographer FY wanted to hire Robert CZ who' shot Oklahoma and Ben her and fy's first film sweet charity the producer scy fer was reluctant to hire CTI cuz he was expensive but he told FY he tried to persuade the other producers at that point they were scouting locations in Munich and FY was starting to wonder just what Sai was telling those other producers one night they stayed at a hotel where their rooms were right next to each other FY could hear Sai was on the phone and he put his ear to the wall and what he heard was I don't want C tez and I won't let FY have him Bob realized he'd been lied to scier had no intention of making good on their agreement Bob was Furious he paced for hours trying to figure out what to say or if he should say anything he ran through all of their past conversations wondering if it was all lies the next morning sigh heard pounding on his door he opened it in his robe and he saw FY still wearing his clothes from the day before before Sai could say anything FY told him I heard your whole conversation you no good son of a [ __ ] all the color drained from sai's face and he collapsed into a chair FY went on a rant accusing Sai of betraying him of not trusting him to direct of only hiring him for the choreography it was like their entire collaboration was disintegrating before sai's eyes and finally side heard enough he stood up and he said listen prick you don't know what was going on in the other end of that conversation the guy wants to fire you fy stood right up against him and said if you want me out you're going to have to fire me that was followed by a long pause this was a crazy Gambit remember fy's whole career was riding on making this film and CI fer had just told him how easily he could be fired their tempers still flaring fer said I'm not going to do that because I want to make this picture you stupid son of a [ __ ] ultimately fewer told people he needed fossy I had no idea how to do it without him and although he hadn't told FY this if the other producers had fired him Sai would have quit after that FY stormed out of the hotel room he still had the job but now he and scier were bitter enemies from that point on they refused to talk to each other unless they had to fer avoided coming to set FY ignored him and that simmering anger hung over the entire production as they headed into filming in the summer of 1971 with many still doubting where f was taking them I had a sense when we were shooting cab that he was doing something very brave I mean none of us knew if it would work the film opens with the character based on isherwood now renamed Brian arriving in Berlin it's 1931 he meets Sally a singer who works at a cabaret overseen by a creepy MC Sally and Brian have both come to Berlin for the same thing freedom to throw off the restrictions of their stuffy old lives and try something new Brian to write Sally to perform I'm going to be a great film star that is a booze and sex don't get me first Sally takes Brian on a whirlwind tour of the city she shows off how Wild and exciting Berlin is she also flirts a little bit with Brian isn't my bu drive you wild with desire well doesn't it he's not interested and he's hesitant to say why at first but it doesn't take Sally long to guess maybe you just don't sleep with girls oh turns out he didn't need to be so nervous about it to Sally it's no big deal we're practically living together so if you only like boys I mean I wouldn't dream of pestering you her nonchalant parallels the real life attitude in much of Berlin around this time in most of the world queer people had to stay hidden there were harsh laws and social stigma that made it dangerous to be found out but Germany had a surprisingly open queer scene at the time Germany offered wide raging freedom of press and assembly that made it possible for activists to organize groups throughout the country so queer people could find each other and push for reform activists like Carl Heinrich olrick who's often referred to as the first person to publicly identify himself as a gay man rrick was also responsible for one of the first gay vampire novels and we don't have room for that whole story here but I'm posting a bonus video about that over on patreon in the 1920s Berlin was an especially gay friendly City when isherwood was there it was full of gay magazines gay theaters gay bars similar to what you might find in many cities today there was even an Institute for sexual research in Berlin led by Magnus herfeld who helped push for early legal protections for queer people herfeld worked with the government to create legally recognized identification for Trans people so they were no longer arrested and in Cabaret you can see a reflection of the safety that queer people found in Berlin there are gender non-conforming characters in the club like Eli who's played by the British drag performer Ricky Renee in real life people like Eli flocked to Berlin from all over the world to escape violence and arrest that they faced elsewhere and of course there was also opposition to queer Liberation in Germany especially from the growing Nazi movement but at least at first in Cabaret the Nazis are only hinted at they're minor background detail some characters Express a concern about them like Brian's Jewish friend who poses as a gentile for his own safety to be a Jew in Germany only a fool is this I think so I come to Berlin and I'm not a Jew but he's an exception in the film for the time being it's easy for the main characters to ignore the Nazis and the swasa and enjoy the Carefree fun around them as he gets to know the city Brian discovers its surprising sexual Freedom he gets a job translating pornography Sally gets to perform party until late enjoy attention from men and all the while their friendship deepens Brian starts to care for Sally more and more and then one night Brian and Sally discover that his interests are broader than he thought and they sleep together afterwards Brian realizes he's in love with Sally but Sally doesn't take things quite so seriously to her it's just a casual fling nothing to think twice about all part of the freedom that she came to Berlin for she's especially tickled when a rich count named Max starts courting her and to Brian surprise the count starts courting him too I think it's my duty to corrupt you agreed the Count's attention is beguiling for both of them it makes it easy to ignore the fact that the Nazi presence is growing it's not just in the background anymore when a club bouncer tries to throw a Nazi out the bouncers beaten possibly killed FY crosscuts the beating with a comic song to show that what's happening inside the Cabaret is a reflection of what's happening [Music] outside and to show how easily the German public is distracted from the violence how easily they laugh it off the MC who represents the attitude of the country is getting more Sinister Brian notices things are getting out of hand especially when they pass a scene of Nazi violence but Max dismisses it the Nazis are just a gang of stupid Hooligans he says the Nazis are useful because they oppose the Communists besides says they'll never be too powerful they'll always be easy to control that attitude has real life parallels too even among Berlin's real gay leaders some sounded the alarm about the Nazis but others aligned themselves with them like Adolf Bron who formed gay Social Clubs and openly espoused Beauty ideals based on Germanic racial Purity or Friedrich rajut a powerful publisher who argued that queer people didn't need to fear the Nazis as long as gays behaved respectably and weren't Jewish but collaboration and dismissal of the Nazi threat was wrong both in real life and in the film Brian's Jewish friend can see the danger he's met a woman he wants to marry but if he does people would find out that he's a Jew which he knows would put him in danger his girlfriend is known to be Jewish and she's targeted by the Nazis her dogs killed a threat about what could happen next but Sally and Brian don't feel like they have to worry they feel secure with Max the count and their threesome gets more intimate Max makes big promises about using his money to look after them traveling the world with his protection it seems like whatever threat the Nazis might pose are someone else's problem but then they're at a beer garden and a kid starts singing a patriotic song at first it seems innocent idilic the St in the forest runs free and then they realize who's singing the brch of the lind is Ley and green and they watch as more and more Germans join in until the attitude of the Gathering becomes [Music] clear and the MC watches over the whole thing with approval Brian leaves the gathering with a message for the count and for anyone else who would downplay the the threat of rising fascism you still think you're going control them the danger especially growing for their Jewish friends they decide to get married which means they can't hide anymore and the romance is met with a chilling response from the MC at first it seems like a comic ballad a love song about a gorilla if you could see her through my eyes you wouldn't wonder at all at the club the German audience loves it and when the song first appeared in the Broadway show audiences there loved it too if you could see us through my eyes I guarantee you would fall I did and then he gets to the punch line he sings if you could see her through my eyes she wouldn't look Jewish at all that shocked audiences they were outraged to the point that the punchline was removed from the stage version and FY and Joel recorded the line without music so it could be removed from the film if necessary but the outrage is the point that things have gotten so bad that the MC can be so gleefully openly anti-semitic should be deeply outrageous but that's still not Sally and Brian's concern they've got the count to protect them until Max abruptly leaves Germany his promises were all lies he simply abandons them he leaves them a little money and a fur coat now they're on their own in a Berlin that's growing increasingly dangerous the Nazis are no longer easy to overlook they're everywhere when Brian lashes out at them he's beaten the easy Carefree life they once enjoyed is shrinking away replaced with terrible danger I hear you took on the entire Nazi party single-handed and again this parallels the real life conditions of the time as the Nazis Rose to power they often attack people who thought they were safe like that gay publisher friederick ruite he tried to Plate conservative forces by endorsing their theories about homosexuality being contagious but when they took power they raided and shut down his gay magazines that other Adolf brond considered ruide a rival and celebrated the destruction of his Publications but then they went after brond too shutting him down neither one of them survived the war trying to compromise with the Nazis didn't protect them Nazis didn't care they were the good ones they went after them anyway as Sally and Brian deal with Max leaving they get another bombshell God damn it I'm going to have a baby it's a shock but they talk it over and decide this could be the start of a new life ni start planning to marry but as they form those plans Sally ruminates on everything she'd have to give up the fun Carefree life of the club the attention the Casual Sex not having to be responsible for anyone else that's the life that she wants in the end she decides she'd be a terrible mother how soon would it be before we started hating each other she sells the coat that the count left them to get an abortion and that's another detail that was fairly accurate to the time in real life an abortion would have been relatively easy to obtain in Berlin it wasn't legal for everyone but restrictions had been relaxing over the previous few years Germany was on a path toward more reproductive freedom than 1920s and it seemed possible abortion might be fully legalized soon but that was another Target for the Nazis when they came to power they imposed Draconian restrictions on reproductive care eventually that included the death penalty for performing abortions The Only Exception was for Jews and other groups that Nazis wanted to wipe out after all of those years of progress it was a devastating slide backwards and the laws that the Nazis passed were especially tenacious some of them were repealed but other restrictions remain in effect today reproductive Choice was also a timely issue in the US when Cabaret was made in America abortion had been criminalized for years although people with money were still able to get them but in the 1960s a few states legalized it and by the early '70s there was a patchwork of protections from state to state similar to what the US had with marriage equality for a long time and when Cabaret came out in 1972 roie Wade was just in the process of being decided abortion was a plot point in other films around this time but it was usually portrayed as something terrible and traumatic like the movie Blood Mania Terror that rips the screams right out of your throat or end of the road where it's associated with torture and death Daddy's Gone to hunting where a woman's abortion is punished by a stalker cabar is noteworthy for presenting abortion without judgment or stigma even presenting it as ultimately the right thing for Sally to have done an extremely timely depiction and Cabaret was more than just a timely examination of current events it was also a timely warning the film shows a country that enjoyed a period of greatly expanding freedoms but was on the brink of losing it all when cabar was made America had just gone from the conservative 1950s into the Civil Rights Movement sexual liberation of the 60s the Voting Rights Act gave Americans more access to democracy Stonewall and Prides allowed queer people to live more freely expanding reproductive choice gave people more control over their bodies there was a lot of progress in a short amount of time but there was also a backlash a conservative movement led by forces like Richard Nixon STM Thurman Ronald Reagan they used the progress of the 1960s as a scare tactic to whip up support among their followers they promised to roll things back to make America like it used to be Ronald Reagan for president let's make America great again and that's why FY felt that the setting of Cabaret was so productive for com ing on contemporary times cabaret shows how easily an audience either at a club or a voting public could be distracted and manipulated that is safe as Brian and Sally and all their friends felt how vulnerable they really were at the climax of Cabaret we see Sally choose distraction over reality after she has her abortion and bents her relationship with Brian her final song is about her decision to remain willfully blissfully ignorant of the troubles around her the lyrics of her song declare what goods permitting some profet of Doom to wipe every smile away life is a cabaret old chum come to the Cabaret she sings about her wish to live like a friend who died young and happy when I saw her laid out like a queen she was the happiest corpse I'd ever seen the message of the song life doesn't have to be sad it could be a cabaret a place to enjoy yourself as long as you ignore or deny the problems around you but in the final moments of the film we can see the problems that she's choosing to ignore the MC comes out to make a speech we have no troubles here here Al is beautiful but his words ring false he slips away and the camera pans to a mirror reflecting the audience and we can see Nazi sitting among them lots of them while Sally was singing they were taking over her space and now there's too many to get rid of just a few months after this film takes place in real life the German president would appoint Hitler as Chancellor within weeks they pass laws resending freedom of press and assembly which meant it was no longer safe for queer people to gather to communicate to express themselves in public the rights that made Germany a safe haven for so many people in the first place then came the raids held's Institute for sexual research was among the first and his work was burned the Nazis also went hunting for address books they compiled lists of homosexuals and started rounding them up so if you happen to have subscribed to one of those magazines or gave your name and address to a friend you might be arrested and taken away and of course they didn't just come for Gaye the Nazis raided the headquarters of political enemies and had them arrested many executed if you belong to the wrong political party you might just vanish they forced labor unions to disband so there were no protections at work Jews were forcibly removed from their jobs they revoked the passes that HSI had developed for transgender people that allowed them to appear in public in fact trans people were a particular Target for Nazi violence and although there have been some who deny that trans people were among the Nazis victims the German legal system is ruled they absolutely were and to claim otherwise is considered a denial of Nazi crimes along with those crackdowns came a rapid military buildup by March of 1933 Germany had built its first concentration camps and began systematic arrests without warrant first of political enemies and within a few years queer people Jews people with disabilities Romani black people Jehovah's Witnesses and more millions of people rounded up and murdered the safe haven for people from all over the world World wiped out in a matter of months replaced with the regime that over the next decade would be responsible for the worst atrocities of the 20th century knowing what's coming makes the last shot of Cabaret especially chilling it's not just a shot of the audience it's a mirror it makes the viewer reflect on themselves suggests that you watching this film might be surrounded by dangerous people who could turn on you or that maybe you're one of them those dark themes are exactly what faly wanted to convey with Cabaret they wrapped filming on September 7th 1971 but the film wasn't done now they had to figure out how they would fit the pieces together and then see how audiences would react the editor David Breon knew that the film was supposed to be rough and gritty so he spent 3 weeks assembling a rough cut with takes that highlighted the dancer's imperfections and when he screened it for fossy FY stood up and said my God I feel sick and walked out he come back until the next day David the editor was understandably nervous and tried to figure out what FY wanted but communication between them was rough FY expected to see every take and when David thought he'd found a shot that best told the story of a scene FY would erupt over a toe being out of place and then he'd disappear again pacing back and forth outside the editing room for hours offering no feedback which made David even more nervous and they had reason for concern songwriters cander and E were shown a rough cut and reacted with dismay there was another screen for friends and family and they all just sat there silently nobody knew how to react FY started to think maybe this was shaping up to be another disaster David the editor kept struggling to find a cut that worked with fossy pacing outside the edit room David later said like a panther finally trying to diffuse both their nerves David asked fossy if he might like to come inside and sit down make himself comfortable FY looked at him and said can I tell you something the reason reason I don't sit down is because I have the worst case of hemorrhoids anyone ever had and with that the walls of communication between them just crumbled FY didn't seem scary anymore David later said when he told me that he became human feeling a little bit more comfortable with each other Bob and David started talking through the problems with the edit a major issue was the balance of messy takes to perfect takes before it' just been off but together they found a solution essentially starting with all the most perfect takes and then carefully adding a few messy ones here and there as David said slop it up a bit until it was just right with the release date drawing close they held a screening of their latest cuts for some VIPs including Liza's dad the director Vincent Manelli he was a Hollywood Legend directed to Meet Me In St Louis and America Paris XII many other hits Vincent watched the film in silence while FY stood at the back of the audience studying him for any reaction when the film ended Vincent took up his coat and headed for the exit when he passed FY he stopped and said I have just seen the perfect movie that was certainly promising but there was still a lot of concern about the reception from the public remember musicals had been declining in popularity those that did manage some success tended to be very traditional like Fiddler on the Roof man of lamancha this was an extremely different kind of film from what audiences were used to In fact when British sensors saw it they gave it an x- rating the first x-rated musical in UK history one of the issues was that some test audiences were scandalized by the inclusion of a queer character most didn't care but in conservative areas a preview audience complained about having to see a sex deviant and called it a degenerate movie those complaints presented a tricky Choice it would have been possible to cut or at least reduce the queer content and in fact there were a couple decisions made in the edit to soften the edge in one scene the script called for Brian to say [ __ ] maxmillion to which Sally responds I do and then Brian replies so do I but that was deemed a little too explicit and it was replaced with something milder oh screw maxilon but while FY was willing to compromise on using [ __ ] versus screw he wouldn't budge on straightening the brine character that was too important for everyone who worked on the film from the writer J Preston Allen to FY and scier to Michael York straightening him might have made it easier for some audiences to tolerate but would have meant losing too much of what they wanted to say the comparison of 20s Berlin and 60s America so they left it in crossed their fingers for the release the release date was set for February 13th 1972 FY had put a lot on the line for this movie his career and his reputation were at stake he'd suffered through grueling physical work for months he'd sacrificed relationships like his friendship with Sai fer and his marriage with Gwen which was falling apart as he finished work on Cabaret he'd given up a lot in his pursuit to perfect this movie and now it's time to find out if it have been worth it February 13th came and Cabaret was a huge hit critics loved it audiences loved it against a budget of just 4.6 million Cabaret made 42 million that's about equal to 300 million today reviewers were stunned by this entirely new kind of musical film Ebert later wrote this is no ordinary musical variety called it unusual literate body sophisticated sensual cynical heartwarming and disturbingly thought-provoking Pauline kale at the New Yorker wrote that Liza Manelli becomes a star before our eyes it was a success beyond what anyone could have hoped and it was just the start of an incredible year for FY he felt rejuvenated after the release and a few months later headed back to Broadway to direct a new musical Pippen join uses that also was a hit and it won him aony for best director that same year fossy approached Liza about creating a television special it was a big flashy concert called Liza with a Z featuring songs from Cabaret songwriting Duo cander and EP Liza with a z is an amazing show it's shot on film with an intimate documentary style that's totally unlike the slicked polished musical variety shows common in the 1970s show way get out [Music] of why is it with the Z culminates in a high powerered medley of songs from Cabaret it's only a cabaret oh and it won FY and Emmy for best Direction then came more good news Cabaret had been nominated for an Oscar nine of them in fact including for best director no director had ever won an Emmy a Tony and an Oscar all in the same year it would be an incredible feat if FY was the first but that seemed like a long shot because that same year The Godfather had come out and it was a massive Blockbuster Cab's box office was a solid 40 million the Godfathers was 250 million it was nominated in 11 categories many overlapping with Cabaret including best director for Francis Fort Copa who is already deeply respected for writing the movie Patton Ebert called The Godfather the best film of 1972 Stanley kubri called it perhaps the greatest movie ever made up against all that it didn't seem like a little queer musical stood much of a chance and so the night of the Oscars the cast and crew Cabaret arrived at the Dorothy ch Pavilion with low expectations all of us are like we're here and we're going to lose but at least we got here to their surprise Cabaret racked up some winds early in the evening including David brethon for Cabaret that's the editor who struggled for months with FY to find just the right takes I only wish tonight that my um mouth was or perhaps as talented as my hands so I could thank you all very much then it was time for the in categories I was sure I wasn't going to win the academy award that year I was sure Al Pacino would win and then Joel gray and C for best actress it was Liza up against Maggie Smith Diana Ross Sicily Tyson Liv Olman Giants in their field and Liza Manali suspense mounted as the ceremony stretched into hour three you can see the various presenters getting a little Punchy as it drags on we're going to give the U scoring ws and uh finally it was time for best director FY versus Francis W Copa and Joe manowitz one of the bigname directors who was originally considered for Cabaret everybody held their breath and Bob FY for [Applause] C it was incredible Vindication for all that hard work and all the tough choices and was a chance for Bob to mend some fences and I'd also like to mention ciur the producer with whom I had a lot of uh disputes but on a night like this you start having affection for everybody thank you by the end of the night it was eight Oscars in total for Cabaret but what nobody could know that night is how Cabaret would stand the test of time I had no idea what that movie was going to turn out to be none of us did not only did it Revitalize fy's career and establish the actors as huge Stars it also helped Revitalize movie musicals proving they weren't as dead as everyone thought Cabaret was followed by other bold movies that dared to try something new like the rock opera Tommy Liza's followup in the musical drama New York New York Start Spreading the News everybody thinks to Frank Sinatra and the film version of Steven Sim's show A Little Night Music featuring Diana rig decades before she stole the show on Game of Thrones I shall make love to your husband Cabaret opened the door to much broader experimentation opened audien's Minds to what music and film could do together it sort of ushered in the S time era and it began a whole new way of seeing musicals and it served as inspiration for decades to come from Rob Marshall's Chicago there weren't many movies that succeeded in doing what Cabaret did until Chicago which can well be called the son of Cabaret to shitz Creek maybe this time how and it remains a story with a message that always manages to capture its times still resonates with audiences today just this year a Revival hit Broadway it shows the hope the joy the aspiration but it shows how progress can be taken from you and we can regress and it was nominated for nine tonies why does Cabaret keep coming back the first answer is the music it's also sadly Timeless because it is also a story about encroaching evil and what do we do in the face of it do we recognize it do we fight it turning isherwood stories and his dire warning into a musical film meant taking risk after risk after risk and in the end was it all worth it well not only did the movie win all of those accolades more importantly it reached people in Cabaret FY saw a desperately important message and audiences responded then and today because in the end they recognized what he was trying so urgently to tell us FY is a landmark he changed things and the film Cabaret was one of a kind this and some of the other nice things that have happened to me the last couple days may turn me into some sort of hopeful Optimist and ruin my whole life i a [Music] [Applause] now there are lots more stories to tell about the making of Cabaret like how Liza prepared for her role by visiting lesbian mud wrestling pits there's a story of how Germany's Gay Liberation scene is intertwined with Tales of gay vampires and details about the Disney roles that Liza turned down before taking Cabaret I'm posting bonus videos over on patreon with details about all of that and if you like pop culture from the 1970s you might like my book about the history of queer characters on American sitcoms hi honey I'm homo it's available now wherever books are sold and you can get a signed personalized copy details for that are at gay sitcoms descom thanks to the folks who helped with research for this video especially at the Seattle Public Library and the music library at the University of Washington and thanks to everybody who makes my videos possible on patreon now if you'll excuse me Li is in the kitchen rustling up some dinner stoping chicken

Channel: Matt Baume

Views: 379,633

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Id: cPpwXUZNbNs

Length: 52min 53sec (3173 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 02 2024