They hired the original Broadway director/choreographer Bob Fosse who was a talented guy but had never actually directed a movie before. Fosse fell in love with every weird camera angle he could think of. The film is loaded with slow motion shots, reversed film effects, still montages, hand held camera movements and just about any other faddish 60's camera technique he must have seen at his local foreign film art house. The constant zooming in and out and the bizarre film editing made the film an ordeal to sit through. Sweet Charity looks very dated now. The film was also shot in widescreen which means that when the camera moves in close on the dancers it cuts their legs off. Then of course if the camera pulls back. the the dancers look small. If you can't see dancers doing their dancing thing that kind of defeats the purpose of a musical.
Fosse |
Finally, who in their right mind ever thought people would want to go see a musical about a dance hall hooker. When Mommy and Daddy were looking for a film musical to take the kids too what were they going to pick, Mary Poppins or Sweet Charity?
149 minutes!
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