Best Films – 1972
Musicals tend to be either vacuous and light as air (e.g., An American in Paris) or vacuous and heavy as lead (e.g., Doctor Dolittle). Cabaret fits into neither category. Set at the dawn of the Nazi era, Bob Fosse’s best film is a socio-political-psychological musical. If it’s not the first of its kind, it surely is the best — written by Jay Presson Allen, adapted from Joe Masteroff’s musical (taken from John Van Druten’s play I Am a Camera, which in turn was based on Christopher Isherwood’s semi-autobiographical book).
Fosse’s choreography is electrifying, the production values are superb, and Cabaret also offers good performers in top form: Liza Minnelli as the free-spirited girl; Michael York as the shy, intellectual (and sexually ambivalent) boy; and Joel Grey as pre-Nazi Germany itself.
FILM
Cabaret
Butterflies Are Free
The Candidate
Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie / The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
The Godfather
La Più bella serata della mia vita / The Most Wonderful Evening of My Life
Sleuth
Travels with My Aunt
Viskningar och rop / Cries and Whispers
DIRECTOR
Bob Fosse (Cabaret)
Ingmar Bergman (Viskningar och rop / Cries and Whispers)
Luis Buñuel (Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie / The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie)
Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather)
George Cukor (Travels with My Aunt)
Milton Katselas (Butterflies Are Free)
Joseph L. Mankiewicz (Sleuth)
Paul Newman (The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds)
Ettore Scola (La Più bella serata della mia vita / The Most Wonderful Evening of My Life)
Luchino Visconti (Ludwig)
ACTOR
Alberto Sordi (La Più bella serata della mia vita / The Most Wonderful Evening of My Life)
Marlon Brando (The Godfather)
Marlon Brando (Ultimo tango a Parigi / Last Tango in Paris)
Alec McCowen (Travels with My Aunt)
Laurence Olivier (Sleuth)
Al Pacino (The Godfather)
Robert Redford (The Candidate)
Jofre Soares (João en het mes / João and the Knife)
Alberto Sordi (Lo Scopone scientifico / The Scientific Cardplayer)
Michael York (Cabaret)
ACTRESS
Joanne Woodward (The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds)
Goldie Hawn (Butterflies Are Free)
Silvana Mangano (Lo Scopone scientifico / The Scientific Cardplayer)
Liza Minnelli (Cabaret)
Romy Schneider (César et Rosalie / César and Rosalie)
Maggie Smith (Travels with My Aunt)
Elizabeth Taylor (Zee and Co. / X, Y and Zee)
Ingrid Thulin (Viskningar och rop / Cries and Whispers)
Tuesday Weld (Play It As It Lays)
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Pierre Brasseur (La Più bella serata della mia vita / The Most Wonderful Evening of My Life)
Peter Boyle (The Candidate)
Burt Reynolds (Deliverance)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Harriet Andersson (Viskningar och rop / Cries and Whispers)
Stéphane Audran (Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie / The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie)
Diane Cilento (Z.P.G. / Zero Population Growth)
Eileen Heckart (Butterflies Are Free)
Geraldine Page (Pete ‘n’ Tillie)
Delphine Seyrig (Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie / The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie)
Susan Tyrrell (Fat City)
Cicely Tyson (Sounder)
Susannah York (Zee and Co. / X, Y and Zee)
SCREENPLAY
Jay Presson Allen (Cabaret)
Sergio Amidei & Ettore Scola (La Più bella serata della mia vita / The Most Wonderful Evening of My Life)
Ingmar Bergman (Viskningar och rop / Cries and Whispers)
Luis Buñuel & Jean-Claude Carrière (Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie / The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie)
Francis Ford Coppola & Mario Puzo (The Godfather)
Jean-Loup Dabadie & Claude Sautet (César et Rosalie / César and Rosalie)
Leonard Gersche (Butterflies Are Free)
Jeremy Larner (The Candidate)
Alvin Sargent (The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds)
Anthony Shaffer (Sleuth)
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Geoffrey Unsworth (Cabaret)
John A. Alonzo (Sounder)
Victor J. Kemper & John Korty (The Candidate)
Charles B. Lang (Butterflies Are Free)
Oswald Morris (Sleuth)
Armando Nannuzzi (Ludwig)
Sven Nykvist (Viskningar och rop / Cries and Whispers)
Douglas Slocombe (Travels with My Aunt)
Harold Stine (The Poseidon Adventure)
Gordon Willis (The Godfather)
ORIGINAL SCORE
Armando Trovajoli (La Più bella serata della mia vita / The Most Wonderful Evening of My Life)
Gato Barbieri (Ultimo tango a Parigi / Last Tango in Paris)
Vladimir Cosma (Le Grand blond avec une chaussure noire / The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe)
Taj Mahal (Sounder)
Piero Piccioni (Lo Scopone scientifico / The Scientific Cardplayer)
"Best Films of …" Annual List
1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
Comments
Leave a Reply
NOTE:
All comments are moderated and may take some time before they are posted. Different views and opinions are welcome, but courtesy is imperative. Rude/crass/bigoted comments and name-calling of any sort will be immediately deleted.
Also, please be aware that the Alternative Film Guide has no contact information for the talent mentioned in this blog and no information pertaining to or access to distributors'/producers' film prints.
