Sweet Charity

SWEET CHARITY is a very good musical that should have been a great musical. Bob Fosse, making his film directorial debut, couldn't convey the verve he injected into the play to the movie version, which starred Shirley MacLaine as Charity, a dime-a-dance hostess in a tacky New York ballroom whose boyfriend takes all of her hard-earned savings, pushes her off a low bridge in Central Park, and absconds with the cash. Charity, however, is a die-hard optimist, down but not out. Walking along the street one evening, she comes across Italian movie star Vittorio (Ricardo Montalban) in a furious argument with his lover, Ursula (Barbara Bouchet). Vittorio takes the gamine Ch...