Cabaret - 1972

Cabaret Photo
20 in. x 16 in.

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Set in a cabaret in sexually-charged, decadent, 1930s pre-war Berlin, one of the greatest musicals ever produced, adapted from the Kander-Ebb Broadway stage musical from John Van Druten's play (and movie) I Am a Camera, which, in turn, was based on Christopher Isherwood's Berlin Stories. Young, bisexual Englishman Brian Roberts (York) becomes involved with free-spirited, promiscuous Kit Kat Klub singer and American expatriate Sally Bowles (Minnelli in her first singing role on-screen). Unbeknownst to her, he also shares her with wealthy German baron playboy/homosexual Maximilian von Heune (Griem). The seedy and sleazy Kit Kat Klub is presided over by a sinister, leering, androgynous emcee/master of ceremonies (Grey). After Sally's abortion and the end of her affair, she sings: "Life is a cabaret, old chum, only a cabaret..." The show 'must go on' night after night as the monstrous Nazis come to power, anti-Jewish persecution and propaganda increases (the subplot of the love affair between Roberts' Jewish friends Fritz and Natalia) and the horror of war appears on the horizon.

42nd Street - 1933

42nd Street, with Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels, George Brent, and Una Merkel, 1933 Giclee Print
9 in. x 12 in.
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42nd Street (1933) is the classic, fast-paced, backstage movie musical - a refreshing film that changed the film musical forever and saved Warner Bros. studios from bankruptcy, helping it grow into a major studio. Set during the Depression and about the Depression, this film is considered the backstage musical par excellence, the grand-daddy of them all. It was based on the 'putting-on-a-show' tradition stemming from MGM's first sound film, The Broadway Melody (1929), another "backstage musical."

Its skillful direction was provided by Lloyd Bacon, with a funny, often sardonic screenplay by Rian James and James Seymour, and the film was nominated for Best Picture. The film succeeded by mixing veteran stars (George Brent, Warner Baxter and Bebe Daniels) with virtual new-comers (Ginger Rogers, Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler), and exotic chorus girls in abundance.

42nd Street was the first of three landmark musical films released in 1933 by Warner Bros. to revitalize the musical film genre (the other two films were Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) and Footlight Parade (1933)). In contrast to the fantasy, escapist romantic dance musicals of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers that also began in the same year (Flying Down to Rio (1933)), this film was an unglamorized look at the tough realities of backstage life behind the footlights. The urban milieu of the film is filled with crisp, slangy, bitter dialogue and wisecracks, street-wise characters, topical references, desperately-striving chorines, dancers, and crew, and down-and-out references to the Depression.

As well as being one of the most commercially-successful films of its time, it was also the first major work of Busby Berkeley, a tremendously talented choreographer, whose direction of voyeuristic, surrealistic production numbers is illustrated in extravagant, musical numbers, giant kaleidoscopes of imagery, dancing girls forming abstract designs and patterns, and innovative camera images. He was particularly known for his overhead shots, freely-moving camera (dollies and pans), and for creating numbers especially-made for films that went far beyond conventional boundaries.

Duck Soup - 1933

Duck Soup Masterprint
12 in. x 16 in.
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The Marx Brothers' greatest and funniest masterpiece - the classic comedy Duck Soup (1933) is a short but brilliant satire and satires of awkwardness dictatorial leaders, Fascism and authoritarian government. The film, produced by Herman Mankiewicz, was prepared during the crisis period of depression. Some of his gags and clever routines were taken from Groucho and Chico early 1930s radio steering wheel, steering wheel and Shyster. working for securities The film included Oo La La, firecrackers, grasshoppers, and cracked ice.

He was fifth Marx Brothers film in a five-film with Paramount studios, before going to MGM. It was their last and best film with the studio. The film was directed by first-class veteran director Leo McCarey (who was directing The Awful Truth (1937), Love Affair (1939), Going My Way (1944), and An Affair to Remember (1957) - a remake of his film, 1939), and its screenplay was written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby (with additional dialogue by Arthur Sheekman and Nat Perrin). Originally, it had to be directed by Ernst Lubitsch. The film was devoid of Oscar nominations.

The film was a scandalous failure critically and commercially at the time of its release - the audience was surprised by such a senseless political defiance, buffoonery and cynicism at a time of political and economic crisis, with Roosevelt's struggle against depression in the midst of rising American power of Hitler in Germany. (This quote from the movie, spoken by Groucho, was particularly hated: "And remember while you're out there risking life and limb by shot, we'll be here thinking what a sucker you are." ) Insulted by the film, the Italian fascist dictator Mussolini banned the film in his country.

Fortunately, the film was rediscovered by a generation of college students in 1960 and at festivals and screenings of the museum's rebirth. Consequently, the film was granted immortality. This was the last of the Marx Brothers films feature all four brothers. Their next film (without Zeppo), for MGM and its producer Irving Thalberg, the most prestigious studio in Hollywood, was their landmark film A Night At The Opera (1935), with a plot line more developed and polished.