Happy 50th Anniversary to SWEET CHARITY!

50 years is a great milestone for a revival...

These photos are wonderful. Thank you!

Saw the original at the Palace. Great fun great score with Fosse choreography. This is the Broadway I remember and Love. Sad we will never see shows like this again.

Updated On: 1/29/16 at 11:17 AM

Fabulous photos as always, Nowack

Thanks for the photos! So great. I love this show. I saw the '80s Fosse revival with Debbie Allen and absolutely loved it. I can only imagine seeing it live with the brilliant Gwen Verdon.

One of my absolutely favorite movie musicals....EVER!

I think it's it's just brilliant in every possible way.

I also saw the 1980s revival with Debbie Allen, Michael Rupert and Bebe Neuwirth.

I think the movie is brilliant as well - - - If you had to find a bankable star to replace Gwen Verdon then Shirley MacLaine was the best choice.

Here is Miss Verdon herself coaching MacLaine on the Universal set of the film version.

I have an expanded version of the film's original motion picture soundtrack/score. A lot of the musical numbers on the original release of the album were severely edited for space on vinyl. A very good friend scored master quality tracks of the musical numbers as they are heard in the film and he gifted me a copy because he knew I loved it so much.

Updated On: 1/29/16 at 04:33 PM

So right about its awkward placement at the very end of the Golden Age of the movie musical. It was an extremely pricy lavish roadshow 3hr spectacular, one of so many that failed to recreate the successes of My Fair Lady and The Sound Of Music earlier in the decade because thats not what people wanted to see (despite the artistry involved). But it was such a modern show that if made a few years later, perhaps after Cabaret with a less classical approach like that one, it probably could have been more successful and more respected. Though I do think it's nearly perfect as is.

I too have always been dismayed at the lack of an expanded soundtrack. I would love to have the extended numbers available for listening, but seeing that Decca/Universal pretty much quit its musical re-releases its unlikely an official release will ever be done.

I decided to watch the movie again tonight because of this anniversary of the Broadway show.

Just as good as ever. I really do love it.

"And she lived hopefully ever after."

I remember my mom taking me to see Sweet Charity with Debbie Allen when I was in high school (late 80s). We lived in southern California and I don't remember going to New York to see it. Did it ever play in LA or San Diego?

Carlos, I saw it in HD about a year ago (or even less) on Netflix or Amazon Prime. Forget which, but it looked fine enough to release as a catalog title on Blu-ray, so ... I hope they do it! The DVD is certain watchable though! Not bad picture and sound even if it's not remastered. Yes, I love that both Kristoffer Tabori and Bud Cort (of Harold and Maude) as well as that blonde girl from "Dark Shadows" are the hippie kids that greet her with "love" at the end. That scene is so moving to me after all that she has been through. Very simple. It's also in the vein of a foreign film (not unlike "Cabiria" to do something like that. I love the music as it builds and swells through that whole sequence. Even though it reaches "triumphant," the movie leaves me feeling bittersweet each time. Hopeful for her, yes, but wishing it would have happened. Very romantic.

Updated On: 1/30/16 at 01:47 PM

Besty, I was trying to figure out who the other guy was and meant to go to imdb and look it up but i got sidetracked and it turned out to be Bud Cort! Wow, that's funny.

I agree that I do love the bittersweet ending....it's very touching and I have to admit I get a bit misty eyed....damn I'm really such a sap! LOL!

It ends with Charity, back on the bridge in Central Park after being dumped by Oscar at the courthouse where they were to be married. She has her suitcase with her and removes the paper sign taped to it saying, "Almost Married!" and chucks it into the water. She watches it float away.

Then she sits on a park bench and falls asleep (she has nowhere to go now, having moved out of her apartment with Nicki and Helene, thinking she was moving in with Oscar after their honeymoon). She wakes up to find a small group of very young (late teens) hippies, who are walking up to total strangers in the park and handing them each a single flower, saying "Love." That's when the music first starts to swell. The hippies give the peace sign and smile and move on. They approach Charity on the bench, who sits up and takes the flower. She looks at it. They each say, "Love," and offer her a peace sign and a smile. You can see her struggling with it in her face, as her misery melts away and her beliefs and dreams kick in. The music swells again, and she says, "Love," herself and smiles.

As the hippies move on, Charity gets up and starts walking out of the park in the early morning hours. The camera pans up through the trees as the music reaches its peak. Then we see a superimposed closeup of Charity's smiling face, with the words: "And she lived hopefully ever after."

Fade to black. THE END.