Bob Fosse's musical remake of Federico Fellini's Nights of Cabiria casts the kooky Shirley Maclaine as a hostess girl looking for Mr. Right, but finding a slew of Mr. Wrongs.
Eye-popping, colourful and effortlessly cool dance numbers make this a feast for the senses.
On the surface the story is a sweet tale of true love, but as this is from the brains behind Chicago the telling of the tale goes into murkier waters.
The titular Charity (Maclaine) works in a sleazy club and repeatedly has to avoid the pitfalls of her trade, and her Mr. Right is a small-minded prude reluctant to accept her history.
But, while the path to true love is beset with compromise, Fosse refuses to surrender his vision when it comes to staging lavish spectacle.
The astonishing musical sequences blend physical and cinematic choreography to dazzling effect (look out for a cameo from Sammy Davis Jr. as a hot-shoe-shuffling bohemian), and make the recent big-screen incarnations of Chicago and The Producers look club-footed by comparison.
Only Baz Lurhmman's Moulin Rouge! comes close.
At two hours plus this could have done with some pruning, but they rarely make them like this anymore. They rarely made them like this back then either, so check out this toe-tapping gem now.
Rob Daniel
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