it's a minor point, but I really like how Sally Bowles is introduced so incidentally, like all the other performers. She will be the movie's main character, but in this scene the camera doesn't indicate that in any way (such as a closeup when she is introduced). She's just part of the ensemble. I find this a brilliant directorial decision.
I agree with you Andy. It's been a while since I watched the film, but as I recall one of the story arcs is Sally's rise in her career. So, she starts of as just another performer on stage and as the story progresses she rises to be one of the stars.
Even her positioning on the ensemble, she was not on the center or did not perform in front. This was an excellent decision by Bob Fosse. Feels like everyone of them are equally important to the cabaret.
I fell in love with this film at 14 years old now I’m in my late thirties. Still absolutely adore it. We were so obsessed with this film we being my mates and I performed songs to it at assembly at our fairly strict Anglican school. And they let us!
I haven't watched the original, only a production put on by my high school director (that is, not a high school production, but a production at a different venue with professional actors that just so happened to be directed by my high school director), so I can't say much about the original. I don't know how much was changed, but if the musical production my director put on follows the same main plot, I would say: of course it's dark. For the darkest plots, we only need to look at history.
Creepy and fantastic as hell at the same time! The MC, as played by Joel Gray, looks like a ventriloquist's puppet. One of the greatest movie musicals ever made
It was done on purpose. The stage version it was not as extreme, when he was cast in the movie. He wanted to up the makeup to make it clear what the MC was in this movie.
The introduction of "the Cabaret Girls" from 1:57 on gets me every time. The choreography is so deceptively shambolic, and the dancers stare like they're drugged or hypnotizing the audience. It's both sexual and creepy as fuck.
Fosse sets up the tone of the next two hours right there: It’s irony, it’s gonna be about finding fun and entertainment in the misery of society, it is about hipocrisy, about social suffocation disguised of freedom abd above all is about making the heros out of the pariahs of society: the “bohemian forgotten unappreciated and unwelcome” artists.
this is not merely one of the best opening scenes to a movie musical of all time, but rather one of the truly great opening scenes of any type of movie.
This is such a fantastic scene. Even the little details are well-researched : the audience member at 0:28 is taken from a famous painting of the Weimar era, "Portrait of Journalist, Sylvia Von Harden" by German Expressionist painter Otto Dix.
i've been meditating on a mater which crosses most others minds more frequently then mines...how astute an answer if one should ever ask... look up to the sky for one star anyone may be yours with moons and crashing shores..it is distinct..but not as blight and hot as the one we have learnt to tolerate and share... to see beyond my preconception maybe a sin against my humanity...to face it i maybe over presumptuous and find my pride in another's hands..when its personal its a dance a leap a jump a swirl or prance...what ever it is it your choice its your life its your chance ...history is wondrous that way.. dare to ask a question or simply know the answer..the deniability of commonality is simply uncanny...
That only started in the 1998 broadway revival version. Prior to that, she didn't even appear in the opening number the girls weren't even named. Her big entrance was in the Don't Tell Mama number (which was replaced with Mien Herr in the movie and 1998 version).
She's meant to be just one story among a number of dancers stories here. By introducing her normally with everyone else, it prods our imagination to wonder what the other dancers stories are.
That my darlins is some opening. Absolutely brilliant. I played Christina in the chorus line in my misbegotten youth in a drag show. Even the cops in the audience laughed their heads off. My legs are no better now than they were then. Cheers luvs.
@Johnny Louis Both bring great things to the role. Joel Grey original character was innovative and Alan Cummings took to an even greater, but logical, level. But have great things to offer and can be utilized for inspiration for other performers of the role.
Joel Grey WILL ALWAYS be my preferred MC, as he is found memory of my childhood and a big inspiration for my performances. But Alan Cumming the character expended the character. There also a lot of other great people who came after Alan Cummings during the 1998 revival, my favorite will always be Jon Peterson, who I saw at The Kennedy Center a year ago.
The change of speed of the camera at 3:21 to coincide with the dancers stretching their arms forward is pure genius and an achievement in direction creativity, the camera is also dancing!
Ironic your profile pic is Kermit the Frog. Joel and a group of Muppets performed a cleaned up version of this song in S1 E3 (episode 103) of The Muppet Show in 1976.
manuel alvarez I do love him! but he may have had some behaviors that match the #metoo movement. Talented girls really had to get in his pants for roles, it was a must. The first thing he said to Liza for the Cabaret audition was really out of topic...she just skipped the awkward thing because she was celeb royalty and dad was still around, but otherwise...
Yeah me to haha.. When you first see his face pop up in the reflection and then he looks at the camera and smiled it was horrifying to my younger self lol. But I was fascinated by how weird it was and how catchy the song was, so I watched it over and over
@@swish007 I loved Joel Grey as a young boy, but only got to see the movie when I was 13 because my local blockbuster didn't have it for some reason, not sure why?
it's amazing to see how different one role can be played. Joel portrays the emcee as someone who enjoys having fun while still being trapped in the beginning of Nazi Germany, while Alan Cumming plays the emcee as someone who is so provocative and flamboyant, directly rebelling the Nazi idea of conformity. they're both fabulous actors and it seems like the role was written for both of them
Lexxie Payton Rowell You say that Alan Cummings version of the emcee is "rebelling the Nazi idea of conformity." I find that rather strange since, in the original version of the play and the movie, the emcee character is supposed to be a Nazi sympathizer. One can tell from the segment from the film where he's grinning wickedly as he listens to the people in the beer garden (including the young boys in their Hitler Youth Organization uniforms) singing "Tomorrow Belongs To Me," which is supposed to be a Nazi song (ironically, like the other tunes in the play and film, the song was written by John Kander and Fred Ebb, who were both Jewish).
@@michaelpalmieri7335 I'm not sure that's correct. I am quite familiar with the various iterations of Cabaret and have seen numerous stage productions over the last 35 years. I don't ever recall the Emcee portrayed as a "sympathiser". He's a neutral Greek chorus, a court jester. Commenting on the action but never part of the action.
@@schrire39 Steady on the "Greek chorus", not everyone are familiar with the concept. ;) Also MC here is not only a chorus, he does take place in drama. Joel Gray absolutely nailed it.
I've read someone's comment interpreting the emcee as basically catering to the masses so that at the beginning, he is making fun of the nazis bc they are still not taken seriously, but by the end, he is practically supporting them bc thats his audience now
@@urosmarjanovic663I learned of the Greek chorus concept my sophomore year of high school in English class so I do believe most know of it. I’ve also only ever seen musical movies and never on stages themselves so I don’t have a lot of theatre knowledge either.
I'm sure stage performers in this role have charmed audiences the world over, but for me, nothing beats Joel Grey's Oscar-winning turn as Cabaret's Master of Ceremonies.
Now I understand the hype for this musical currently in London - they transformed the theatre so it is totally immersive and it feels just like being in the audience of this film. I had previously seen the musical many years ago, but it was just like any other show in the West End. However, now seeing this clip after visiting the KitKat club and experiencing this show confirms how authentic they made it. Well worth the price.
I love Joel Gray AND Allan Cumming. Joel Cray captures the slimy, creepy, smarmy side of the Emcee very well! The part that is a self-absorbed, conniving, businessman. Allan Cumming captures the sensual, sexy, darker side of the Emcee. The part who thinks every day is this wild expression of sexuality. The one who "cares" about the Kit Kat Club girls and just loves this big old party. Alright. My rant is done, haha.
I don't think this really counts as a rant. A rant would be full of all caps, veiled nasty comments of certain types of people. What you wrote was mostly just a paragraph.
Sam Harnish A rant doesn't have to be nasty comments. A rant is just going on and on about something while expressing your feelings in like an intense way.
Almost an Actress I feel that Joel Gray better shows the funny, facetious, and eccentric type of the Emcee, while Cumming expresses the more sexualized and eerie type of the Emcee.
Never was there a better Master of Ceremonies than Joel Grey in this musical! What an utterly perfect introduction to arguably the best musical of them all.
years ago my mother bought me the DVD, I watched it thinking what the fuck was that! ... but the bizarness of it never left me...again I watched it years later realising how astonishing this movie is! everything about it....this is what great movies do! they never leave you, they make you wonder and they just get better with time and they make you think about them obsessively...2001 space odyssey was like that too for me..simply a work of genius
Joel Gray in a state of grace, with that funny German accent :). Hypnotizing this great musical performance. Unforgettable. And very deserved his Oscar in this magnificent film.
Perfectly captures the seamier side of nightlife of late 1920s Berlin, with which both Kurt Weill and Berthold Brecht would have been familiar. Also Christopher Isherwood, whose writing formed the basis of Cabaret. I first went to Berlin in the 70s and then often after and I would always think of this movie - there are echoes in Berlin even now.
Unsettling to the max, but absolutely brilliant. Watching this clip again makes me appreciate filmmaking in the 70s ... and how lightings, camera angles, and editing can provoke such disturbing feelings.
Can we just take a moment to appreciate the amazing work of the make-up team. It really gives the vibes of that time. Today movies about the 30/40/50 all have the same make-up...
Bob Fosse was easily one of the most innovative and original directors of the 1970s (even in a decade that included the early masterpieces of Coppola, Scorsese, Spielberg, and many others). Of course, the editing in this scene by David Bretherton and the cinematography by Geoffrey Unsworth is equally brilliant. A truly haunting masterpiece of cinema.
Everyone mentions Joel's performance, and sure, it is exceptional, but what about the DIRECTION of this scene? Simply brilliant, the choreography, the camera angles, it makes me feel claustrophobic and excited and entranced and creeped out all at the same time. It's like something between a nightmare and a glorious dream.
Omg the choreography in such a small stage!! At some point there are like 15 people dancing and playing instruments in that stage and all do harmonically what their characters should do. The position of the cameras!! The layers!! The mirror reflections game, is like Bob Fosse was determined to do this scene with entirely new techniques
Can you believe that bob fosse was forced to use Joel Grey against his will, even when he never wanted him, and as result he was very rude to him during filming, so i wonder how the scenes with the master of ceremonies could be so well directed, i guess Fosse was professional at the end of the day.
I also like how there are some shots toward the beginning of the song that show audience members looking somewhat incredulous, and by the end the emcee has completely won them over; convinced them that what they've chosen to attend will be worth every penny.
@@gerardosantiagobrahms505 Fosse was a genius not least because his choreographic style was absolutely unmistakable, but rarely if ever identical from one show to the next. I don't know if it's due to Fosse or if it was the editor's idea, but this clip also shows some kind of genius in that it subverts the way that dance sequences were traditionally filmed - usually, the camera just follows the dancers (think of Astaire and Rogers, or the "Begin the Beguine" sequence from "Broadway Melody of 1940," when there would be single shots lasting several minutes). But in this case, the sequence increases the feeling of disorientation by the rapid cutting from one angle to another. Later directors would abuse this technique in order to film "dance" sequences featuring actors and actresses who did not actually know how to dance.
The man who is singing this is Joel Grey and he is Jennifer Gray's dad if you do not know who that is she was the female lead in the movie Dirty Dancing.
+T Mab Cabaret (the musical) was based on a play called I Am Camera, so I think it was really smart of Fosse to have still shots like that one throughout the film.
I know this sounds crazy but I just saw this for the first time today ..I am not a big musical guy but I love this time period ... This dance had me hooked. I love the little dance where they spin their fingers..Mausie is sooo pretty..
I had the privilege of seeing Joel Grey play the part of Amos Hart in Chicago during the Chicago revival on Broadway. He really is absolutely amazing at just about everything he does.
Joel Grey!!! My favorite Emcee ever!!! Love the singing, the adlibs, the mannerisms, the way he communicates through his eyes with constant ambiguity, seeping darkness and that burst of hilarity and campiness... all that inner conflict meshed into one complex, solid, memorable, historic, spectacular performance! I find it always refreshing and never get tired of watching this bit! I wish I was one of the cabaret girls!
I’m going to have to watch this film. It’s no doubt a masterpiece of cinema. When I watched it as a kid I just thought it weird. How one changes getting older.
Joel Grey came to the premiere of 2010 Broadway revival of The Pee-Wee Herman Show (which I saw live), as did Alan Cumming...hmmm.... Alan Cumming has also been said to look similar to Paul Ruebens, even Paul acknowledged that. But Joel Grey...no reason for him not to Pee Wee Herman and want to come to see the show. Maybe he take pride in seeing a possible...son ;)
It works even after so many years. An incredible musical. When I saw it upon its release, I was completely awed by it. And I still am!!!! Thanks to all and, of course, Mr. Fosse.
It wasn't creepy on that though. I remember seeing it way before I saw this. I thought it was this smooth jazz song, saw the movie and was like "??????"
As someone who actually danced to "The Hustle" when it came out, wore a polyester leisure suit, somehow was convinced to buy a pair of platform shoes, and remembers when Richard Nixon was president, I can agree with "creepy." "Most glorious" - not so much. Although I have to admit that until "Star Wars" arrived and ruined everything, it was a great decade for film - the censorship of previous decades was relaxed to the point where filmmakers could attempt to present a fairly honest portrayal of the human condition and could make "adult" movies in the sense that they were aimed at adults with adult sensibilities, and in which the filmmakers had grown up on classic movies, so they knew what a great film should look like.
@@balok63a40 im a 2000s baby who never experienced that world, but i definitely thank the lenience of the 70s for many of my favorite movies. new movies just never capture that raw, realistic to life energy. they just feel like long commericals.
I'm so fucking late. I saw the Schitt's Creek version of Willkommen just this morning and now I'm here, watching this video on repeat. What an incredible number.
It's certainly a very good film and revolutionized the way movie musicals are made. But the BEST musical ever made? I'm not sure that I can agree with that in a universe that contains "Singin' in the Rain" and "The Band Wagon."
Watched Cabaret for the first time ever last week, and ever since I’ve watched this video at last 5 times a day. This is so beautiful and creepy. Love the choreography when the girls are introduced. Anyone else in love with Mausi?
I remember being tired and this was on late night TV. I was so confused and tried to find it by typing "even the orchestra is beautiful", the only line I could make out in my daze. Glad I was able to find it.
I was shown the clip Money Makes the World go Round by my school history teacher at 14 in a lesson and it never has left my mind... It's magnetic ... Reflecting the moral chaos of Weimar Germany, the creepiness, it's intoxicating, wish I could have seen this scene performed.
His break to move across stage at 21" is superb - and superbly captured..... and, yes, Fosse's intermittent cutaways to characters that echo the era's paintings is sheer genius....
Truly there is nothing in all the world like the opening scene to Cabaret. Joel Grey is so gloriously charismatic and of course the theatrical number Willkommen is the very best thing you will ever see. I love the way Grey laughs here and often imitate it myself. This is a scene I go back to all the time. It always cheers me up.
Bless my neglectful parents for ignoring what movies I went by myself on the bus to see as a teenager. 13-year-old me had never seen anything like this and went back twice.
Lyrics: Willkommen! And bienvenue! Welcome! Fremder, étranger, stranger Glücklich zu sehen Je suis enchanté Happy to see you Bleibe, reste, stay Willkommen! And bienvenue! Welcome! I'm cabaret, au cabaret, to cabaret! Meine damen und herren Mes dames et messieurs Ladies and gentlemen Guten abend! Bon soir! Good evening! Wie geht's? Comment sa va? Do you feel good? Ich bin eur confrencier! Je suis votre compère I am your host! Und sage Willkommen! And bienvenue! Welcome! I'm cabaret, au cabaret, to cabaret! Leave your troubles outside So life is disappointing, forget it! In here life is beautiful The girls are beautiful Even the orchestra is beautiful And now presenting the cabaret girls! Each and everyone a virgin You don't believe me Well, do not take my word for it Go ahead, ask her! Ha ha ha ha Outside it is winter, but in here it is so hot! Every night we have the battle to keep the girls from taking off All their clothing, so don't go away, who knows, tonight we may Lose the battle! Und sage Willkommen! And bienvenue! Welcome! I'm cabaret, au cabaret, to cabaret! We are here to serve you! Bleibe, reste, stay Willkommen! And bienvenue! Welcome! I'm cabaret, au cabaret Wir sorgen! Willkommen! And bienvenue! Welcome! Fremder, etranger, stanger Glücklich zu sehen Je suis enchanté, enchanté, madame! Happy to see you, happy to see you Bleibe, reste, stay Und sage Willkommen! And bienvenue! Welcome! Fremder, etranger, stanger Glücklich zu sehen Je suis enchanté Happy to see you Bleibe, reste, stay Willkommen! And bienvenue! Welcome! I'm cabaret Au cabaret To cabaret!
I found the others too sexed up where as his was more a restrained kind of sleezy (probably how the cabaret was in real life) Suggestive but not outright vulgar. The creepiness was there but not over the top
I love that the beginning of the movie started with the Emcee's reflection, and at the end of the movie was the reflection of the nazi's in the audience. Perfect contrast to the wild happy beginnings to the ending doom in the movie!
Fantástico, me encanta esta película. La vi cuando tenía 6 años se me grabó mucho y volví a verla a los 12 y ahora sí quedé impactada con la trama, la época la locación el vestuario y los cantos y coreografías. Gracias.
Watch this performance. No secret why Joel Grey won the Oscar. He was magnificent!!!!! Oh.... and by the way, just keep in mind that his (the Emcee), yes HIS daughter is Baby from "Dirty Dancing"
Видеоклипы
it's a minor point, but I really like how Sally Bowles is introduced so incidentally, like all the other performers. She will be the movie's main character, but in this scene the camera doesn't indicate that in any way (such as a closeup when she is introduced). She's just part of the ensemble. I find this a brilliant directorial decision.
I agree with you Andy. It's been a while since I watched the film, but as I recall one of the story arcs is Sally's rise in her career. So, she starts of as just another performer on stage and as the story progresses she rises to be one of the stars.
@@trbryant3 Agreed !
Even her positioning on the ensemble, she was not on the center or did not perform in front. This was an excellent decision by Bob Fosse. Feels like everyone of them are equally important to the cabaret.
As were the Hitler's masses ever so gradually but surely on the background...
i love that you noticed this
I watched Cabaret for the first time today. I suggest this to anyone with a fascination towards musicals.
Oh those poor plants :(
… over at 16 as well I hope
I watched it when I was in sixth grade. I didn't understand it, but still loved it.
I fell in love with this film at 14 years old now I’m in my late thirties. Still absolutely adore it. We were so obsessed with this film we being my mates and I performed songs to it at assembly at our fairly strict Anglican school. And they let us!
.
Truly the darkest musical I’ve ever seen, yet so hypnotic
Young MC Darker than Chicago?
Paperback Only definitely
Jamiéëē I feel Cabaret is at least rueful ... whereas Chicago is just unapologetic.
...Steve Martin's "Pennies From Heaven" is much darker...
(as it should be, for it is considered to be a 'musical tragedy')...
I haven't watched the original, only a production put on by my high school director (that is, not a high school production, but a production at a different venue with professional actors that just so happened to be directed by my high school director), so I can't say much about the original. I don't know how much was changed, but if the musical production my director put on follows the same main plot, I would say: of course it's dark. For the darkest plots, we only need to look at history.
Creepy and fantastic as hell at the same time! The MC, as played by Joel Gray, looks like a ventriloquist's puppet. One of the greatest movie musicals ever made
Yes!!
valedictorian69 There is definitely something sinister about his performance...
valedictorian69 he had talent that still remains unmatched and untouched by any other actor out there :). brilliant man!
choirkitty Had? He's not dead.
Tia Williams I meant for the role. no I know he's not dead. sorry that came out a little wrong.
The atmosphere of this film is so unique in the history of cinema. The biggest footprint of the great Bob Fosse.
Ever see All That Jazz?
macron macron
he's like pennywise's sleep paralysis demon.
why the hell hasn't the video's OP faved and stickered this comment yet?
¾
The fact that Joel Grey defeated James Cann, Al Pacino and Robert Duvalll that year for the Godfather, says a lot of Joel's brilliant performance.
Joel Grey's character is downright creepy in three languages.
Yet has charisma.
😂😂😂
Charles Bowen Faire enough🤣
It was done on purpose. The stage version it was not as extreme, when he was cast in the movie. He wanted to up the makeup to make it clear what the MC was in this movie.
That's the idea.
He’s so creepy yet charismatic
Very few can pull it off, but he does it nicely. 😎
The introduction of "the Cabaret Girls" from 1:57 on gets me every time. The choreography is so deceptively shambolic, and the dancers stare like they're drugged or hypnotizing the audience. It's both sexual and creepy as fuck.
It reminds me of the Big Spender song in Sweet Charity. Dead eyes and all. It sells how seedy the whole thing is
Summed it up perfectly
Fosse sets up the tone of the next two hours right there: It’s irony, it’s gonna be about finding fun and entertainment in the misery of society, it is about hipocrisy, about social suffocation disguised of freedom abd above all is about making the heros out of the pariahs of society: the “bohemian forgotten unappreciated and unwelcome” artists.
The way they twist their fingers in that dance was so pretty
@@sinker0 Which part? At 2:58?
The makeup is another character here. Hope the makeup artist had also won an oscar for this
Unfortunately no. They didn’t start giving Oscars for that until the 80’s.
You have to be very talented to come across as creepy but likeable at the same time. The best MC, Joel Grey.
Like Richard O'brien in Rocky Horror. Also one of my favorites
this is not merely one of the best opening scenes to a movie musical of all time, but rather one of the truly great opening scenes of any type of movie.
Best part rest of movie no big deal Joel nailed it
Joel Grey. My goodness. What a performance. He wore the role like a glove. When that happens, it is absolute magic.
Yea, he was made for this role, no one has ever done it better.
Maybe someone has, we just haven’t see it personally. I doubt Eddie Redmayne will be that person though.
@@heliotrope3345Alan Cumming did it better.
He opened it on Broadway.
Plot twist: Cabaret is a horror movie from beginning to end. The laughter of the damned...
Absolutely.
Yeah, Germany sorted out this rif raff in time for the Olympics.
This is such a fantastic scene. Even the little details are well-researched : the audience member at 0:28 is taken from a famous painting of the Weimar era, "Portrait of Journalist, Sylvia Von Harden" by German Expressionist painter Otto Dix.
Partnerfrance I always thought it was very familiar - i was searching for another movie i thought i had seen it in!
Partnerfrance Omg that's so true!!!!!!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing this!
Partnerfrance so that's why he is so still.
It's always meticulously done when its the legend Mr Fosse himself!
One of the most deserving Oscar wins in history, along with every win it took that night.
Absolutely
This movie was made 50 years ago and was set in 1931. So it is closer in time to the era it depicts than to our own time.
Ain't history strange?
Well, I feel reminded of John Kirby and his press conferences...
I've watched this a thousand times and it simply perfect.
i've been meditating on a mater which crosses most others minds more frequently then mines...how astute an answer if one should ever ask...
look up to the sky for one star anyone may be yours with moons and crashing shores..it is distinct..but not as blight and hot as the one we have learnt to tolerate and share... to see beyond my preconception maybe a sin against my humanity...to face it i maybe over presumptuous and find my pride in another's hands..when its personal its a dance a leap a jump a swirl or prance...what ever it is it your choice its your life its your chance ...history is wondrous that way.. dare to ask a question or simply know the answer..the deniability of commonality is simply uncanny...
Pricilla
+TheProphessorx. are you trippin'
It never gets old huh, that's how masterpieces work I suppose
Best part of movie is Joel's roll masterpiece
The pigeon toed walk, the thrust hips, the laconic finger twirls, the flexed-foot kick line. Fosse’s vocabulary of movement is so creepy and perfect.
One of the greatest opening scenes in film history. I love it how the Liza Minnelli character is practically an afterthought in the introductions.
An interesting difference is on stage, Sally gets a big introduction by herself. But here, she is casually introduced with the other acts.
That only started in the 1998 broadway revival version. Prior to that, she didn't even appear in the opening number the girls weren't even named. Her big entrance was in the Don't Tell Mama number (which was replaced with Mien Herr in the movie and 1998 version).
I didn't know that because that's the version of the song I'm more familiar with.
Night Jest Productions in the 2014 revival they put don’t tell mama back in, but also kept mien heir
She's meant to be just one story among a number of dancers stories here. By introducing her normally with everyone else, it prods our imagination to wonder what the other dancers stories are.
This song is literally always playing in my head ...
Him: what’s going in your head?
Me:
ALL THE TIME
OMG SAME
I feel you sista
I've been constantly singing the first line repeatedly for the last few days .. it can't be helped haha
no one: my brain at 3am: willkommennn and biENvenue! welcomeeee I'm cabarettt, au cabarettttt
That my darlins is some opening. Absolutely brilliant. I played Christina in the chorus line in my misbegotten youth in a drag show. Even the cops in the audience laughed their heads off. My legs are no better now than they were then. Cheers luvs.
mark prescott I hope you've checked back to see how many thumbs up you've gotten. ;-)
babypygmymarmoset I
mark prescott I love it!
The cinematography and choreography is just stunning.
Allen Micheal - In 1973, Bob Fosse got two Oscars ;
for directing and choreography.
Joel Grey will always be THE Emcee. So incredibly nuanced performance.
DAMN RIGHT!!!!!! He won the Academy Award for a reason!!!!!!!!!
@Johnny Louis Both bring great things to the role. Joel Grey original character was innovative and Alan Cummings took to an even greater, but logical, level. But have great things to offer and can be utilized for inspiration for other performers of the role.
Joel Grey WILL ALWAYS be my preferred MC, as he is found memory of my childhood and a big inspiration for my performances. But Alan Cumming the character expended the character. There also a lot of other great people who came after Alan Cummings during the 1998 revival, my favorite will always be Jon Peterson, who I saw at The Kennedy Center a year ago.
Exakt 👍
Who is loving this with me in 2024?
Sure am!
@@adriand6883 Wilkommen Bienvenue!
me
nope
Fabulous!
Everything about Bob Fosse's choreography is just so perfect for this song.
The change of speed of the camera at 3:21 to coincide with the dancers stretching their arms forward is pure genius and an achievement in direction creativity, the camera is also dancing!
joel grey is my last braincell right now
this is top secret, okay?! Glad someone made a joke like that here, only comments here are from like 6 years ago lmao
Ironic your profile pic is Kermit the Frog. Joel and a group of Muppets performed a cleaned up version of this song in S1 E3 (episode 103) of The Muppet Show in 1976.
Capitol Limited productions is ironic the right word? Not trying to argue I’m actually genuinely curious about the exact meaning of ironic
@@capitollimitedproductions211 and that’s why it too, is my last braincell.
Personally, it's the combination of framing, direction, and performance that make this scene so effective.
Bob Fosse was a god.
No one can perform "Willkommen" better than Joel Grey!!
John Bojazi It's because the cast of this 1972 production was so good.
I feel that Alan cumming did it better. To be honest. His voice sounds a little creepy for me.
its supposed to be!!! 😂
Alan Cumming!
125ponygirl for me Alan Cumming is the ultimate emcee
bob fosse, a genius ...
manuel alvarez I do love him! but he may have had some behaviors that match the #metoo movement. Talented girls really had to get in his pants for roles, it was a must. The first thing he said to Liza for the Cabaret audition was really out of topic...she just skipped the awkward thing because she was celeb royalty and dad was still around, but otherwise...
About his choreography dancers would say "If it doesn't hurt then it isn't Fosse".
That is precisely what I was going to write. This film was classic Fosse.
lol nah joel grey's the genius here
do see fossee and vernon i might have got title wrong sorry but he were musical genius😎
I remember seeing this as a kid, Joel Gray scared the hell out of me doing this role.
Yeah me to haha.. When you first see his face pop up in the reflection and then he looks at the camera and smiled it was horrifying to my younger self lol. But I was fascinated by how weird it was and how catchy the song was, so I watched it over and over
@@swish007 I loved Joel Grey as a young boy, but only got to see the movie when I was 13 because my local blockbuster didn't have it for some reason, not sure why?
he is more talented than his dull daughter jennifer zzz poor patrick 😣
Accidentally tortured my little brother with it too
I saw this at 13 or so and found his character creepy, confusing, and fascinating all at once.
it's amazing to see how different one role can be played. Joel portrays the emcee as someone who enjoys having fun while still being trapped in the beginning of Nazi Germany, while Alan Cumming plays the emcee as someone who is so provocative and flamboyant, directly rebelling the Nazi idea of conformity. they're both fabulous actors and it seems like the role was written for both of them
Lexxie Payton Rowell You say that Alan Cummings version of the emcee is "rebelling the Nazi idea of conformity." I find that rather strange since, in the original version of the play and the movie, the emcee character is supposed to be a Nazi sympathizer. One can tell from the segment from the film where he's grinning wickedly as he listens to the people in the beer garden (including the young boys in their Hitler Youth Organization uniforms) singing "Tomorrow Belongs To Me," which is supposed to be a Nazi song (ironically, like the other tunes in the play and film, the song was written by John Kander and Fred Ebb, who were both Jewish).
@@michaelpalmieri7335 I'm not sure that's correct. I am quite familiar with the various iterations of Cabaret and have seen numerous stage productions over the last 35 years. I don't ever recall the Emcee portrayed as a "sympathiser". He's a neutral Greek chorus, a court jester. Commenting on the action but never part of the action.
@@schrire39 Steady on the "Greek chorus", not everyone are familiar with the concept. ;)
Also MC here is not only a chorus, he does take place in drama.
Joel Gray absolutely nailed it.
I've read someone's comment interpreting the emcee as basically catering to the masses so that at the beginning, he is making fun of the nazis bc they are still not taken seriously, but by the end, he is practically supporting them bc thats his audience now
@@urosmarjanovic663I learned of the Greek chorus concept my sophomore year of high school in English class so I do believe most know of it. I’ve also only ever seen musical movies and never on stages themselves so I don’t have a lot of theatre knowledge either.
I'm sure stage performers in this role have charmed audiences the world over, but for me, nothing beats Joel Grey's Oscar-winning turn as Cabaret's Master of Ceremonies.
Helga’s make-up is EVERYTHING
Still a better Joker than Jared Leto
Way better
No one asked
@@b.c.2523 Cause it's common knowledge? Agreed.
Or Jared Kushner
😂 Yeah, when I saw him I was like, “Whoa! When did the Joker dye his hair black?”
Now I understand the hype for this musical currently in London - they transformed the theatre so it is totally immersive and it feels just like being in the audience of this film. I had previously seen the musical many years ago, but it was just like any other show in the West End. However, now seeing this clip after visiting the KitKat club and experiencing this show confirms how authentic they made it. Well worth the price.
I love Joel Gray AND Allan Cumming. Joel Cray captures the slimy, creepy, smarmy side of the Emcee very well! The part that is a self-absorbed, conniving, businessman. Allan Cumming captures the sensual, sexy, darker side of the Emcee. The part who thinks every day is this wild expression of sexuality. The one who "cares" about the Kit Kat Club girls and just loves this big old party.
Alright. My rant is done, haha.
I don't think this really counts as a rant.
A rant would be full of all caps, veiled nasty comments of certain types of people.
What you wrote was mostly just a paragraph.
Sam Harnish A rant doesn't have to be nasty comments. A rant is just going on and on about something while expressing your feelings in like an intense way.
I feel that the Alan Cumming version it truer to the Isherwood novel for what it's worth.
Almost an Actress You should see the video where they sing Willkommen together, it is really cool and shows both sides really well.
Almost an Actress I feel that Joel Gray better shows the funny, facetious, and eccentric type of the Emcee, while Cumming expresses the more sexualized and eerie type of the Emcee.
An excellent portrayal of the final days of the Weimar Republic inspired by Christopher Isherwood's "Goodbye to Berlin".
Never was there a better Master of Ceremonies than Joel Grey in this musical! What an utterly perfect introduction to arguably the best musical of them all.
years ago my mother bought me the DVD, I watched it thinking what the fuck was that! ... but the bizarness of it never left me...again I watched it years later realising how astonishing this movie is! everything about it....this is what great movies do! they never leave you, they make you wonder and they just get better with time and they make you think about them obsessively...2001 space odyssey was like that too for me..simply a work of genius
your mother probably took a look at you and thought, "eek! I need to educate this lump somehow!"
@@Marcel_Audubon probably!
@@pshakouri glad to see you're catching up with your year old comments ... I was worried about you 🤣
@@Marcel_Audubon I hope you didn't hold your breath!
Joel Greys' performance in this movie is great.
2:36 I went back to this sound like five times to convince myself I was for real. Seriously, this guy scares the hell out of me..
Joel Gray in a state of grace, with that funny German accent :). Hypnotizing this great musical performance. Unforgettable. And very deserved his Oscar in this magnificent film.
Perfectly captures the seamier side of nightlife of late 1920s Berlin, with which both Kurt Weill and Berthold Brecht would have been familiar. Also Christopher Isherwood, whose writing formed the basis of Cabaret. I first went to Berlin in the 70s and then often after and I would always think of this movie - there are echoes in Berlin even now.
"So Life is disappointing, forget it !" - best advice anyone has ever given me....
In my opinion, one of the best movies ever
Unsettling to the max, but absolutely brilliant. Watching this clip again makes me appreciate filmmaking in the 70s ... and how lightings, camera angles, and editing can provoke such disturbing feelings.
Can we just take a moment to appreciate the amazing work of the make-up team. It really gives the vibes of that time. Today movies about the 30/40/50 all have the same make-up...
Bob Fosse was easily one of the most innovative and original directors of the 1970s (even in a decade that included the early masterpieces of Coppola, Scorsese, Spielberg, and many others). Of course, the editing in this scene by David Bretherton and the cinematography by Geoffrey Unsworth is equally brilliant. A truly haunting masterpiece of cinema.
Everyone mentions Joel's performance, and sure, it is exceptional, but what about the DIRECTION of this scene?
Simply brilliant, the choreography, the camera angles, it makes me feel claustrophobic and excited and entranced and creeped out all at the same time.
It's like something between a nightmare and a glorious dream.
Omg the choreography in such a small stage!! At some point there are like 15 people dancing and playing instruments in that stage and all do harmonically what their characters should do. The position of the cameras!! The layers!! The mirror reflections game, is like Bob Fosse was determined to do this scene with entirely new techniques
Can you believe that bob fosse was forced to use Joel Grey against his will, even when he never wanted him, and as result he was very rude to him during filming, so i wonder how the scenes with the master of ceremonies could be so well directed, i guess Fosse was professional at the end of the day.
I also like how there are some shots toward the beginning of the song that show audience members looking somewhat incredulous, and by the end the emcee has completely won them over; convinced them that what they've chosen to attend will be worth every penny.
@@gerardosantiagobrahms505 Fosse was a genius not least because his choreographic style was absolutely unmistakable, but rarely if ever identical from one show to the next. I don't know if it's due to Fosse or if it was the editor's idea, but this clip also shows some kind of genius in that it subverts the way that dance sequences were traditionally filmed - usually, the camera just follows the dancers (think of Astaire and Rogers, or the "Begin the Beguine" sequence from "Broadway Melody of 1940," when there would be single shots lasting several minutes). But in this case, the sequence increases the feeling of disorientation by the rapid cutting from one angle to another. Later directors would abuse this technique in order to film "dance" sequences featuring actors and actresses who did not actually know how to dance.
The man who is singing this is Joel Grey and he is Jennifer Gray's dad if you do not know who that is she was the female lead in the movie Dirty Dancing.
she''s been forgotten, he hasn't ... as it should be
She got a nose job and no one recognised her anymore
I wish Netflix would buy this masterpiece
Netflix ain't big on classics ... they lost their way when they moved to streaming
They had it briefly, but it's gone now
why ? they'd just make it hard to get a DVD
If memory serves me....TCM plays it on their app...
This is what you call the ULTIMATE introduction...damn.. in a musical and a movie.. can't beat that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
REPLY
True about Sally's introduction. Joel, Michael and Liza made CABARET a heart-stopping classic.
I love the reference in 0:28 to Otto Dix's "Portrait of the Journalist Sylvia von Harden"
I din't even notice, that's brilliant! It really adds to the atmosphere.
thank you
well done
+perjovski , Damn! You're right!
+T Mab Cabaret (the musical) was based on a play called I Am Camera, so I think it was really smart of Fosse to have still shots like that one throughout the film.
I noticed that immediately! A lot of references to Otto Dix here.
I know this sounds crazy but I just saw this for the first time today ..I am not a big musical guy but I love this time period ... This dance had me hooked. I love the little dance where they spin their fingers..Mausie is sooo pretty..
Brilliant!!! 1972... Still golden and real. Life is a Cabaret
I had the privilege of seeing Joel Grey play the part of Amos Hart in Chicago during the Chicago revival on Broadway. He really is absolutely amazing at just about everything he does.
Both "Cabaret" and "Chicago" were produced by Bob Fosse and featured songs by John Kander and Fred Ebb.
I love the Kitt Katt girls. They just look dead inside and yet they all move so precisely. Super freaky and hot at the same time.
Joel Grey!!! My favorite Emcee ever!!! Love the singing, the adlibs, the mannerisms, the way he communicates through his eyes with constant ambiguity, seeping darkness and that burst of hilarity and campiness... all that inner conflict meshed into one complex, solid, memorable, historic, spectacular performance! I find it always refreshing and never get tired of watching this bit!
I wish I was one of the cabaret girls!
I’m going to have to watch this film. It’s no doubt a masterpiece of cinema. When I watched it as a kid I just thought it weird. How one changes getting older.
Kiedy wiele lat temu poszłam na ten film do kina, nic o nim nie wiedziałam. Wyszłam z kina zauroczona i taka pozostaję do dnia dzisiejszego.
Irena Kaczmarek Bezwiednie trafila Pani w dziesiątkę! Ech, jakże chciałbym w obecnych czasach przeżyć coś takiego przy wyjściu do kina… ;)
Irena Kaczmarek widziałam w telewizji.raz. KOCHAM DO TEJ PORY 💜
Most iconic song ever!
No, that would be "O Come All Ye Faithful"
2:15 one of the best performances in history for me
Uno dei più grandi capolavori del cinema! Joel Grey è stupefacente. I livelli di lettura di questa opera è da premio nobel per la letteratura.
I dunno, I feel like Pee-Wee and Ledger's Joker found their vibes from The Emcee
Absolutely! And also Jack Lemmon trying to deal with Joe E. Brown in Some Like it Hot.
Opan Mustafa ledger formed a lot of mannerisms from Tom Waits
Food for thought. . .
LOL
Joel Grey came to the premiere of 2010 Broadway revival of The Pee-Wee Herman Show (which I saw live), as did Alan Cumming...hmmm.... Alan Cumming has also been said to look similar to Paul Ruebens, even Paul acknowledged that. But Joel Grey...no reason for him not to Pee Wee Herman and want to come to see the show. Maybe he take pride in seeing a possible...son ;)
It works even after so many years. An incredible musical. When I saw it upon its release, I was completely awed by it. And I still am!!!! Thanks to all and, of course, Mr. Fosse.
Joel Gray performed this on the Muppet's Show. A kids show... Let that sink in. The 70s were truly the creepiest, most glorious decade of all times.
It wasn't creepy on that though. I remember seeing it way before I saw this. I thought it was this smooth jazz song, saw the movie and was like "??????"
As someone who actually danced to "The Hustle" when it came out, wore a polyester leisure suit, somehow was convinced to buy a pair of platform shoes, and remembers when Richard Nixon was president, I can agree with "creepy." "Most glorious" - not so much.
Although I have to admit that until "Star Wars" arrived and ruined everything, it was a great decade for film - the censorship of previous decades was relaxed to the point where filmmakers could attempt to present a fairly honest portrayal of the human condition and could make "adult" movies in the sense that they were aimed at adults with adult sensibilities, and in which the filmmakers had grown up on classic movies, so they knew what a great film should look like.
@@balok63a40 im a 2000s baby who never experienced that world, but i definitely thank the lenience of the 70s for many of my favorite movies. new movies just never capture that raw, realistic to life energy. they just feel like long commericals.
Impressive. I love to watch it again and again...
I just had the realisation that Caberet is longer ago from today than 1930s Berlin was from Caberet 🤯
I'm so fucking late. I saw the Schitt's Creek version of Willkommen just this morning and now I'm here, watching this video on repeat. What an incredible number.
“There was a cabaret, and there was a Master of Ceremonies, in a city called Berlin, in a country called Germany. And it was the end of the world.”
This is how you make sure no one will do it better.
You will always be the OG !
I have to sing this for a musical performance at my high school...
I'm so jealous. . .give it all you've got!
The BEST musical ever made. Bob Fosse's choreography puts it on the top.
Plus he directed!
It's certainly a very good film and revolutionized the way movie musicals are made. But the BEST musical ever made? I'm not sure that I can agree with that in a universe that contains "Singin' in the Rain" and "The Band Wagon."
Watched Cabaret for the first time ever last week, and ever since I’ve watched this video at last 5 times a day. This is so beautiful and creepy. Love the choreography when the girls are introduced. Anyone else in love with Mausi?
Fosse was a genius - Cabaret is one of my fave films and his choreography is brilliant
If Cabaret hadn't come out in 72 it would have swept the Oscars!
This film won Oscars over The Godfather, and rightfully so
This was one of the 1st musicals my mum showed me and i legit fell in love lol she then showed me chicago carosel lol this one stuck for life
I remember being tired and this was on late night TV. I was so confused and tried to find it by typing "even the orchestra is beautiful", the only line I could make out in my daze. Glad I was able to find it.
I was shown the clip Money Makes the World go Round by my school history teacher at 14 in a lesson and it never has left my mind... It's magnetic ... Reflecting the moral chaos of Weimar Germany, the creepiness, it's intoxicating, wish I could have seen this scene performed.
His break to move across stage at 21" is superb - and superbly captured..... and, yes, Fosse's intermittent cutaways to characters that echo the era's paintings is sheer genius....
I think he was born for this role and the role was made for him. He does the best job of it!
0:50 I LOVE THIS SO MUCH AND IDK WHY
Truly there is nothing in all the world like the opening scene to Cabaret. Joel Grey is so gloriously charismatic and of course the theatrical number Willkommen is the very best thing you will ever see. I love the way Grey laughs here and often imitate it myself. This is a scene I go back to all the time. It always cheers me up.
Bless my neglectful parents for ignoring what movies I went by myself on the bus to see as a teenager. 13-year-old me had never seen anything like this and went back twice.
Lyrics:
Willkommen! And bienvenue! Welcome!
Fremder, étranger, stranger
Glücklich zu sehen
Je suis enchanté
Happy to see you
Bleibe, reste, stay
Willkommen! And bienvenue! Welcome!
I'm cabaret, au cabaret, to cabaret!
Meine damen und herren
Mes dames et messieurs
Ladies and gentlemen
Guten abend! Bon soir! Good evening!
Wie geht's? Comment sa va?
Do you feel good?
Ich bin eur confrencier!
Je suis votre compère
I am your host!
Und sage
Willkommen! And bienvenue! Welcome!
I'm cabaret, au cabaret, to cabaret!
Leave your troubles outside
So life is disappointing, forget it!
In here life is beautiful
The girls are beautiful
Even the orchestra is beautiful
And now presenting the cabaret girls!
Each and everyone a virgin
You don't believe me
Well, do not take my word for it
Go ahead, ask her!
Ha ha ha ha
Outside it is winter, but in here it is so hot!
Every night we have the battle to keep the girls from taking off
All their clothing, so don't go away, who knows, tonight we may
Lose the battle!
Und sage
Willkommen! And bienvenue! Welcome!
I'm cabaret, au cabaret, to cabaret!
We are here to serve you!
Bleibe, reste, stay
Willkommen! And bienvenue! Welcome!
I'm cabaret, au cabaret
Wir sorgen!
Willkommen! And bienvenue! Welcome!
Fremder, etranger, stanger
Glücklich zu sehen
Je suis enchanté, enchanté, madame!
Happy to see you, happy to see you
Bleibe, reste, stay
Und sage
Willkommen! And bienvenue! Welcome!
Fremder, etranger, stanger
Glücklich zu sehen
Je suis enchanté
Happy to see you
Bleibe, reste, stay
Willkommen! And bienvenue! Welcome!
I'm cabaret
Au cabaret
To cabaret!
it’s unhealthy the amount of times I’ve watched this
Just wonderful. It holds up well for a movie that came out in '72.
There have been several other actors who did his role on the stage, yet his performance remains the best
I found the others too sexed up where as his was more a restrained kind of sleezy (probably how the cabaret was in real life) Suggestive but not outright vulgar. The creepiness was there but not over the top
Que peliculón
May I say, good sir, that your profile pic is just the bee's knees 😁
@@qutaibaabumatar6015 Joel Miller
Es un peliculón!
Pues claro es un clásico de su género
Cúlon
Once you see Grey's stunning performance as the MC, all others come in second place.
I love that the beginning of the movie started with the Emcee's reflection, and at the end of the movie was the reflection of the nazi's in the audience. Perfect contrast to the wild happy beginnings to the ending doom in the movie!
Fantástico, me encanta esta película. La vi cuando tenía 6 años se me grabó mucho y volví a verla a los 12 y ahora sí quedé impactada con la trama, la época la locación el vestuario y los cantos y coreografías. Gracias.
Watch this performance. No secret why Joel Grey won the Oscar. He was magnificent!!!!!
Oh.... and by the way, just keep in mind that his (the Emcee), yes HIS daughter is Baby from "Dirty Dancing"
stunning performance, one of best ever