With its masterful mix of music, movement, memorable performances, stunning visuals and, as its heroine might say, plenty of “divine decadence,” Bob Fosse’s 1972 screen adaptation of Cabaret packed a creative wallop.
Join Joel Grey—who took home one of Cabaret’s eight Oscars for his turn as the Kit Kat Club’s emcee—for this special presentation of a newly restored version of the film at the Smithsonian’s Warner Bros. Theater.
The print, the first available in high-def and digital formats, includes a 10-minute scene whose more than 1.4 million frames were restored using a computer stylus to erase the vertical scratch that ran through 1,000 feet of film damaged by a piece of dirt.
Viewing Cabaret four decades after its premiere proves (as if there were any doubt) that Fosse and company created a landmark movie musical, one that harnessed the exuberant creative spirit of the early 70s to tell the story of a group of characters facing the impending darkness of Nazism in Weimar-era Berlin with great inventiveness, impact, and the trademark Fosse razzle-dazzle. The film also cemented Liza Minnelli’s status as a film actress for her indelible portrayal of the ambitious singer Sally Bowles.
The evening begins with a reception during which artifacts from the Warner Bros. archives will be on view, including costumes worn by Bette Davis in Now, Voyager and Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon. Grey discusses the making of Cabaret and answers questions after the showing. Each guest receives a special gift at the end of the evening.
Devoted to America’s film legacy and exploring how the American experience has been portrayed through film, the new theater a the American History Museum has been made possible through a gift from Warner Bros. Entertainment, a subsidiary of TimeWarner.
Reception opens at 6:30 p.m.; assistive listening and Rear Window Open Captioning devices available; program subject to change.
