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All That Jazz (1979)
In director/co-writer Bob Fosse's kinetic, semi-autobiographical
musical :
- the cleverly-edited opening sequence of New York
choreographer-director Joe Gideon's (Roy Scheider) waking in the
morning (with dosages of dexedrine, alka-seltzer, eyedrops, etc.)
and the repetition of his rousing stock phrase in front of the
mirror: "It's showtime, folks!"
- the full-stage 'cattle-call' audition dance number
set to George Benson's
"On Broadway"
- the erotic, sweaty and sensual Air-Rotica rehearsal
scene with the bizarre number "Take Off With Us" featuring
sexy and half-naked Sandahl Bergman ("Going all the way, Won't
you climb aboard?")
- the impromptu top hat song-and-dance act "Everything
Old Is New Again" performed in Joe's apartment by his girlfriend/lover
Kate Jagger (Ann Reinking, Fosse's real-life lover essentially
playing herself) and pre-teen daughter Michelle Gideon (Erzsebet
Foldi)
- the heart attack scene (with an angel of Death
appearance by flirtatious Angelique (Jessica Lange) while NY choreographer
Gideon was overworking himself) - he had tempted fate with mental
and physical abuse: overwork, cigarettes, womanizing, lack of sleep
and amphetamines, while he was preparing by day for a 1975 Broadway
theatre production of Chicago (the centerpiece was the hypersexualized “Air
Erotica” number). At night, he was editing a film (possibly Lenny
(1974))
Angel of Death - and Gideon's Fatal Heart Attack
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Operating Table
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Death Angelique
(Jessica Lange)
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Gideon in Body Bag
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- after workaholic Gideon's heart-attack in a hospital,
he was set to undergo open-heart cardiac surgery; Angelique
tempted him to leave the world of the living, although he would
first look back at his life
- musical sequences in the film illustrated the five
stages of grief, as he approached death; Gideon feverishly fantasized
a dreamy nightmare as he laid on a hospital bed
- the spectacular and extravagant 9-minute long finale
included wild, imaginatively-surreal hallucinations that were
experienced by drug-addicted Gideon as he was on life support and
underwent open-heart cardiac surgery with gyrating chorus girls
in tights with feather fans (some costumed as diagrams of the human
circulatory system) danced around his surgical bed, while he (in
a glittering black sequined outfit) and
television host O'Connor Flood (Ben Vereen) took center stage to
sing "Bye
Bye Life"
(originally Bye Bye Love) to a heavenly live-studio audience
in a dance-musical number; in fact, Gideon choreographed and attended
his own hallucinated funeral
- this dark finale ended with Gideon in a body bag
being zipped up, as Ethel Merman belted out, in caustic bitter
contrast: "There's No Business Like Show Business"; the
film then faded to black for the credits.
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Drug-Addicted Workaholic Joe Gideon: "It's Showtime,
Folks!"
Audition Dance Number
Air-Rotica
Song-and-Dance Act
"Bye Bye Life"
Dancers
Zipped-Up Body Bag
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