A Chorus Line (film)
Encyclopedia
A Chorus Line is a 1985 musical film
directed by Richard Attenborough
, starring Michael Douglas
. The screenplay
by Arnold Schulman
is based on the Tony Award
-winning book
of the 1975 stage production of the same name
by James Kirkwood, Jr.
and Nicholas Dante
. The songs were composed by Marvin Hamlisch
and Edward Kleban
.
theatre to audition for a new musical
production directed by Zach (Michael Douglas
). After the initial eliminations, seventeen hopefuls remain, among them Cassie (Alyson Reed
), who once had a tempestuous romantic relationship with Zach. She is desperate enough for work to humble herself and audition for him; whether he's willing to let professionalism overcome his personal feelings about their past remains to be seen.
As the film unfolds, the backstory of each of the dancers is revealed. Some are funny, some ironic, some heartbreaking. No matter what their background, however, they all have one thing in common - a passion for dance.
Dancers
The songs "And...", "Sing!", and "The Tap Combination" from the stage version are eliminated in the film, as well as most of "The Montage" (Hello 12, Hello 13, Hello Love)
, the stage musical's director, declined to participate when his proposal to present the film as an audition to cast the movie version of the stage play, instead of a literal translation of the play, was rejected. When Attenborough accepted the project, there was some apprehension as to the treatment the British
director would give the musical's quintessentially American story.
The decision to tamper with the score disappointed fans of the show. "Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love," "Sing!," and "The Music and the Mirror" were deleted and new songs "Surprise, Surprise" and "Let Me Dance For You" were added. The show's breakout tune, "What I Did for Love," originally was performed as a paean
to dancers and their dedication to their craft. In the film it becomes a love song delivered by Cassie to Zach.
The stage musical was one of the first to address the subject of gay actors within the theatre business, but most overt references to it were eliminated from the film in order to generate a more family-friendly rating.
The dance numbers were choreographed
by Jeffrey Hornaday
.
, Vincent Canby
observed, "Though it was generally agreed that Hair
would not work as a film, Milos Forman
transformed it into one of the most original pieces of musical cinema of the last 20 years. Then they said that A Chorus Line couldn't be done - and this time they were right . . . Mr. Attenborough has elected to make a more or less straightforward film version that is fatally halfhearted."
Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun-Times
stated, "The result may not please purists who want a film record of what they saw on stage, but this is one of the most intelligent and compelling movie musicals in a long time - and the most grown up, since it isn't limited, as so many contemporary musicals are, to the celebration of the survival qualities of geriatric actresses."
Variety
said, "Chorus often seems static and confined, rarely venturing beyond the immediate. Attenborough merely films the stage show as best he could. Nonetheless, the director and lenser Ronnie Taylor have done an excellent job working within the limitations, using every trick they could think of to keep the picture moving. More importantly, they have a fine cast, good music and a great, popular show to work with. So if all they did was get it on film, that's not so bad."
Time Out London says, "The grit and drive of the original have been dissipated into studiously unkempt glitz as empty as plasticised pop . . . It's too corny and unbelievable for words."
A Chorus Line currently holds a 40% rating on Rotten Tomatoes
.
Academy Awards
Golden Globes
BAFTAs
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
directed by Richard Attenborough
Richard Attenborough
Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough , CBE is a British actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. As director and producer he won two Academy Awards for the 1982 film Gandhi...
, starring Michael Douglas
Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the...
. The screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
by Arnold Schulman
Arnold Schulman
Arnold Schulman is an American playwright, screenwriter, producer, a songwriter and novelist. He was a stage actor long associated with the American Theatre Wing and the Actors Studio....
is based on the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
-winning book
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
of the 1975 stage production of the same name
A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch....
by James Kirkwood, Jr.
James Kirkwood, Jr.
James Kirkwood, Jr. was an American playwright, author and actor. In 1976 he received the Tony Award, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the Broadway hit A Chorus Line.-Biography:Kirkwood was born in Los Angeles, California. His father...
and Nicholas Dante
Nicholas Dante
Nicholas Dante was an American dancer and writer, best-known for having co-written the book of the musical A Chorus Line.-Biography:...
. The songs were composed by Marvin Hamlisch
Marvin Hamlisch
Marvin Frederick Hamlisch is an American composer. He is one of only thirteen people to have been awarded Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, and a Tony . He is also one of only two people to EGOT and also win a Pulitzer Prize...
and Edward Kleban
Edward Kleban
Edward “Ed” Kleban was an American musical theatre composer and lyricist.Kleban was born in the Bronx, New York in 1939 and graduated from New York's High School of Music & Art and Columbia University, where he attended with future playwright Terrance McNally. Kleban is best known as lyricist of...
.
Plot
A group of dancers congregate on the stage of a BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
theatre to audition for a new musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
production directed by Zach (Michael Douglas
Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the...
). After the initial eliminations, seventeen hopefuls remain, among them Cassie (Alyson Reed
Alyson Reed
Alyson Reed is an American dancer and actress.Reed grew up in Anaheim, California and attended Anaheim High School, where she graduated in 1976. She was a varsity songleader for two years, and was ASB President as a senior. She began performing in high school, and one of her major roles was as...
), who once had a tempestuous romantic relationship with Zach. She is desperate enough for work to humble herself and audition for him; whether he's willing to let professionalism overcome his personal feelings about their past remains to be seen.
As the film unfolds, the backstory of each of the dancers is revealed. Some are funny, some ironic, some heartbreaking. No matter what their background, however, they all have one thing in common - a passion for dance.
Cast
- Michael DouglasMichael DouglasMichael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the...
as Zach, choreographer - Alyson ReedAlyson ReedAlyson Reed is an American dancer and actress.Reed grew up in Anaheim, California and attended Anaheim High School, where she graduated in 1976. She was a varsity songleader for two years, and was ASB President as a senior. She began performing in high school, and one of her major roles was as...
as Cassie - Terrence MannTerrence MannTerrence Vaughan Mann is an American actor, director, singer, songwriter and dancer who has been prominent on the Broadway stage for the past three decades...
as Larry, assistant choreographer - Sharon BrownSharon Brown (actress)Sharon Brown is an American actress of stage, film and television.She was born in New York City, New York, and is the daughter of actor Johnny Brown, who portrayed Nathan Bookman on the 1970s sitcom Good Times...
as Kim, Zach's secretary
Dancers
- Michael BlevinsMichael Blevins & Beth ClaryMichael Blevins and Beth Clary are co-authors on the musical "Count To Ten" that played Off-Broadway at the Theatre of Saint Clements in New York City. Blevins is the bookwriter of the musical and co-authored the lyrics with Clary...
as Mark Tobori - Yamil Borges as Diana Morales
- Jan Gan Boyd as Connie Wong
- Gregg BurgeGregg Burge-Career:Burge graduated from New York's prestigious Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts in 1975. His credits ranged from television's The Electric Company to the stage and film version of A Chorus Line , for which he served as assistant to choreographer Jeffrey Hornaday and...
as Richie Walters - Cameron English as Paul San Marco
- Tony Fields as Al DeLuca
- Nicole Fosse as Kristine Evelyn Erlich-DeLuca
- Vicki FrederickVicki FrederickVicki Frederick is an American Television and film actress who has starred in a number of popular TV shows such as Murder She Wrote in 1990, and Mork and Mindy and Happy Days in 1979....
as Sheila Bryant - Michelle JohnstonMichelle JohnstonMichelle Johnston is an American dancer and actress. She rose up the ranks from chorus gypsy to choreographer of film and TV and featured performer herself....
as Beatrice Ann "Bebe" Benson - Janet JonesJanet JonesJanet-Marie Gretzky is an American actress. She is married to ice hockey icon Wayne Gretzky.-Entertainment career:Jones performed in Annie , Staying Alive and Snow White Live , and had a bit part in The Beastmaster...
as Judy Monroe - Pam Klinger as Maggie Winslow
- Audrey LandersAudrey LandersAudrey Landers is a German American actress and singer, who is probably best known for her role as Afton Cooper in the television drama series Dallas and her role as Val Clarke in the film version of A Chorus Line.- Early years :...
as Val Clarke - Charles McGowan as Mike Cass
- Justin Ross as Greg Gardner
- Blane Savage as Don Kerr
- Matt WestMatt WestMatt West is a choreographer and actor. He choreographed the first Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast. He won a Drama-Logue Award for his work on that show.His acting credits include the role of Bobby in the Broadway musical A Chorus Line...
as Bobby Mills
Musical numbers
- "I Hope I Get It" - Entire cast -- Contains new sections of music not in the original stage version
- "Who Am I Anyway?" - Paul -- his solo, originally part of "I Hope I Get It"
- "I Can Do That" - Mike
- "At the Ballet" - Sheila, Bebe and Maggie -- The soundtrack contains an extended version not heard in the film
- "Surprise, Surprise" - Richie and dancers -- Replaces "Hello 12, Hello 13, Hello Love" and "Gimme The Ball", although one verse of the song is heard in the film. The monologues of Mark, Connie, Judy, and Greg which are part of this number are performed in other parts of the film sans music
- "Nothing" - Diana
- "Dance: Ten; Looks: Three" - Val
- "Let Me Dance for You" Cassie -- replaces her song "The Music and the Mirror", although part of the instrumental section remains the same
- "One" (rehearsal) - entire cast
- "What I Did for Love" - Cassie -- Sung counterpoint to the Tap Combination. In the stage version, the company performs the number, with Diana leading.
- "One" (Finale) - entire cast
The songs "And...", "Sing!", and "The Tap Combination" from the stage version are eliminated in the film, as well as most of "The Montage" (Hello 12, Hello 13, Hello Love)
Production
Following the smash success of the Broadway production, Hollywood producers expressed interest in a motion picture version of the musical. Many directors turned down the project, insisting that not only was A Chorus Line too beloved, but it would not translate well to the screen. Even Michael BennettMichael Bennett
Michael Bennett was an American musical theater director, writer, choreographer, and dancer. He won seven Tony Awards for his choreography and direction of Broadway shows and was nominated for an additional eleven....
, the stage musical's director, declined to participate when his proposal to present the film as an audition to cast the movie version of the stage play, instead of a literal translation of the play, was rejected. When Attenborough accepted the project, there was some apprehension as to the treatment the British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
director would give the musical's quintessentially American story.
The decision to tamper with the score disappointed fans of the show. "Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love," "Sing!," and "The Music and the Mirror" were deleted and new songs "Surprise, Surprise" and "Let Me Dance For You" were added. The show's breakout tune, "What I Did for Love," originally was performed as a paean
Paean
A paean is a song or lyric poem expressing triumph or thanksgiving. In classical antiquity, it is usually performed by a chorus, but some examples seem intended for an individual voice...
to dancers and their dedication to their craft. In the film it becomes a love song delivered by Cassie to Zach.
The stage musical was one of the first to address the subject of gay actors within the theatre business, but most overt references to it were eliminated from the film in order to generate a more family-friendly rating.
The dance numbers were choreographed
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
by Jeffrey Hornaday
Jeffrey Hornaday
Jeffrey Hornaday is an American choreographer and film director.Hornaday's choreography credits include the films Flashdance, A Chorus Line, Dick Tracy, D.C. Cab, Romancing the Stone, Tango & Cash, Life Stinks, Carlito's Way, Sweet Jane, and Neil Simon's The Marrying Man...
.
Critical reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics. In his review in The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...
observed, "Though it was generally agreed that Hair
Hair (film)
Hair is a 1979 American film adaptation of the 1968 Broadway musical of the same name about a Vietnam war draftee who meets and befriends a tribe of long-haired hippies on his way to the army induction center...
would not work as a film, Milos Forman
Miloš Forman
Jan Tomáš Forman , better known as Miloš Forman , is a Czech-American director, screenwriter, professor, and an emigrant from Czechoslovakia. Two of his films, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus, are among the most celebrated in the history of film, both gaining him the Academy Award for...
transformed it into one of the most original pieces of musical cinema of the last 20 years. Then they said that A Chorus Line couldn't be done - and this time they were right . . . Mr. Attenborough has elected to make a more or less straightforward film version that is fatally halfhearted."
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
stated, "The result may not please purists who want a film record of what they saw on stage, but this is one of the most intelligent and compelling movie musicals in a long time - and the most grown up, since it isn't limited, as so many contemporary musicals are, to the celebration of the survival qualities of geriatric actresses."
Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
said, "Chorus often seems static and confined, rarely venturing beyond the immediate. Attenborough merely films the stage show as best he could. Nonetheless, the director and lenser Ronnie Taylor have done an excellent job working within the limitations, using every trick they could think of to keep the picture moving. More importantly, they have a fine cast, good music and a great, popular show to work with. So if all they did was get it on film, that's not so bad."
Time Out London says, "The grit and drive of the original have been dissipated into studiously unkempt glitz as empty as plasticised pop . . . It's too corny and unbelievable for words."
A Chorus Line currently holds a 40% rating on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
.
Awards
The film was nominated for the following awards:Academy Awards
- Academy Award for Best Original SongAcademy Award for Best Original SongThe Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
("Surprise, Surprise") - Academy Award for Best Film EditingAcademy Award for Film EditingThe Academy Award for Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. Since 1981, every film selected as Best Picture has also been nominated for the Film Editing...
- Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing (Donald O. MitchellDonald O. MitchellDonald O. Mitchell is an American sound engineer. He won an Academy Award for Best Sound and was nominated for thirteen more in the same category...
, Michael MinklerMichael MinklerMichael Minkler is a Motion Picture Sound Re-Recording Mixer. His Oscars are for the work done on Dreamgirls, Chicago and Black Hawk Down, but Minkler has a varied career that includes films like Inglourious Basterds, JFK and Star Wars, as well television programs like The Pacific and John Adams...
, Gerry HumphreysGerry HumphreysGerry Humphreys was a Welsh sound engineer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards in the category Best Sound. He worked on 250 films between 1952 and 2002.-Selected filmography:* Gandhi...
and Christopher Newman)
Golden Globes
- Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
- Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion PictureGolden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion PictureThis page lists the winners of and nominees for the Golden Globe Award for Best Director. Since its inception in 1943, it has been presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, an organization composed of journalists who cover the United States film industry for publications based...
BAFTAs
- BAFTA Award for Best SoundBAFTA Award for Best SoundThe British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award for Best Sound has been presented to its winners since 1968 and sound designers of all nationalities are eligible to receive the award.-Winners 1968-present:...
- BAFTA Award for Best EditingBAFTA Award for Best EditingThe BAFTA Award for Best Editing is one of several annual awards presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . The film-voting members of the Academy select the five nominated films in each category; only the principal editor for each film are named, which excludes additional...