Movie · 1969 · Comedy, Music, Romance, Drama · 2h 33m · G · English
Curator score: 5.7/10 (24.5K ratings)
Love is what it's all about!
Overview
Taxi dancer Charity continues to have faith in the human race despite apparently endless disappointments at its hands, and hope that she will finally meet the nice young man to romance her away from her sleazy life. Maybe, just maybe, handsome Oscar will be the one to do it.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.7/10
IMDb: 6.9/10
Letterboxd: 3.77/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 80%
Metacritic: 53
TMDB: 6.9/10
Director
Bob Fosse
Production
Universal Pictures
Cast
Shirley MacLaine, John McMartin, Chita Rivera, Paula Kelly, Ricardo Montalban, Sammy Davis Jr., Stubby Kaye, Barbara Bouchet, Suzanne Charny, Alan Hewitt, Dante DiPaolo, Bud Vest, Ben Vereen, Lee Roy Reams, Al Lanti, John Wheeler, Leon Bing, Leon Alton, Toni Basil, Larry Billman
Curator Review
Verdict
A stylish, bittersweet movie-musical with some of Bob Fosse’s most dazzling choreography and a lead performance that keeps the character’s optimism from curdling into sentimentality. The story is uneven, but the spectacle, editing, and emotional ache make it a standout for musical fans.
Best for
viewers who love bold, choreographed movie-musicals
fans of bittersweet romantic comedies
people interested in 1960s Hollywood style and experimentation
audiences who value performance and staging over tight plotting
Skip if
you need a tightly structured narrative
you dislike stagey or highly stylized musicals
you want a purely upbeat romance
you’re impatient with mid-century musical length and intermission pacing
Overview
Sweet Charity is one of those musicals where the form is the point: the camera, the cuts, the choreography, and the color all work overtime to turn heartbreak into entertainment. Shirley MacLaine gives Charity a bruised, stubborn sweetness that keeps the film from becoming a mere showcase, even when the plot wanders or repeats itself.
Worth noting
Bob Fosse’s direction is the real attraction here. The dance numbers are inventive, sometimes slyly funny, sometimes ecstatic, and often more psychologically revealing than the dialogue. The film has that late-60s mix of glamour and disillusionment, where the world is bright but never kind.
Bottom line
It’s not a perfect musical, but it’s a memorable one: ambitious, a little messy, and full of personality. If you respond to movies that turn performance into character study, this is very much worth the trip.
Top Letterboxd reviews
lubchansky (4★) · 911 likes
this bob fosse shit has got me honking like a goose
mia lee vicino (4★) · 886 likes
three simple ingredients every movie-musical should have:
1. overture
2. intermission
3. elaborate dance numbers ghost-choreographed by gwen verdon that consist of pure, flashy spectacle; i don’t require one iota of plot nor character development, thank you! sometimes cohesive narrative isn’t REAL and that is GOOD
David Sims (4★) · 821 likes
Charity just seems like a fun hang
anna nomaly (4.5★) · 566 likes
Overture, logos, Fellini, whip pan, crackerjack dialogue, Neil Simon, snap zoom, Shirley MacLaine, close-up, Sammy Davis, fuck the cops, freeze frame, razzle dazzle, dance moves created in the editing room, intermission, big spenders, top hats, slow dissolves, photo montage, rack focus, lights in every color, God help the girl, ache, ache, ache, pop, six, squish, uh-uh, Cicero, Lipschitz, exit music! Most directors spend entire careers trying to attain this level of craft and Fosse nails it the first time out, turning screen into stage and theatre into cinema. Bravo!
jorgemol (4★) · 389 likes
I maintain that the Rich Man's Frug might be the best dance number ever put on film.