MovieChat Forums > Cabaret (1972) Discussion > Why was it altered so much from the stag...

Why was it altered so much from the stage version?

posted 12 years ago by Naive-Melody
6 replies | jump to latest

I understand the idea of omitting songs that weren't performed in the cabaret but why replace the heartbreaking tale of Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz with that of the young couple whom I wasn't nearly as invested and then there's the love triangle subplot and the character of Max who I found completely uninteresting. I think that this is a great film overall, beautifully shot by Geoffrey Unsworth and excellently directed by Bob Fosse and Liza Minelli and Joel Grey give such incredible performances. But when it comes to story and character, I can't help but prefer the stage version. Does anyone know why such characters were omitted and why new and in my opinion inferior subplots were created?

"Life goes on within you and without you." - George Harrison

[–] skinsk05 12 years ago

A valid question with no clear answer (well, from me). . . but it was 1973, so the love triangle was intriguing (though Brian was gay/bi in the play, nothing ever happened to "show" this the way it could be done on film). I think a younger couple replaced the Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz relationship again for "audience appeal" though I agree with the poster-- this subplot was really the heart of the play.

I have to just watch them as separate entities. The characters are very different (for example, Liza is WAY too good to be at the Kit Kat Club. . . and WAY too good to be drinking and smoking as she does^^!) But the movie is very loosely based on the play. Comparing them is an interesting and fun thing to do, but better to enjoy each for what it is: a masterpiece in it's own right.

[–] jschillig 9 years ago

In the very first stage version, in 1966, Cliff was straight and his relationship with Sally was portrayed as more of a conventional romance. The revised scripts have made him mostly gay although he does seem to love Sally and be attracted to her.

I've also wondered why they junked the Schneider/Schultz subplot. I believe the screenwriter of the movie said she found it too schmaltzy. The Fritz/Natalia romance was straight from the play and movie I Am A Camera, as was the involvement with the millionaire (an American named Clive in those versions, and no mention of homosexuality, of course). Fritz and Natalia were both in the original Berlin Stories, but they never met, let alone had a romance.

[–] iluvbairs 9 years ago

I agree with you and have wondered this myself. I would love to see a movie remake done that follows the play more closely.

[–] amdew717 9 years ago

I understand that nowadays, stage revivals are a composite of the original stage musical and the film version, although I have never seen it on stage.

[–] evguenimlodik 8 years ago

I understand that nowadays, stage revivals are a composite of the original stage musical and the film version, although I have never seen it on stage.

Recent revivals do add some of the film's new songs, as well as a similar more decadent tone than wasn't in the original staging, which includes Cliff's bisexuality, but the story itself isn't altered. The Herr Schultz/Fraulein Schneider subplot is still there, though Herr Schultz Yiddish-themed solo "Meeskite" is cut, probably because it doesn't fit thew revised production's darker and more serious tone.

[–] rrb_1 9 years ago

Come on. Stage plays are usually rethought for the screen (just look at Sound of Music for one, another example of a highly successful stage-to-screen transition). The Schneider/Schultz story may have broken your heart, but it didn't too many others - it's fairly cliched. The Max addition was brilliant: showed how corruptible both Sally and Brian were, lent itself to incorporating lots of different locations, and reflected the detachment of the German aristocracy from the reality of growing Nazi power (Donald Trump, anyone?).

The revised stage presentation is brilliant, as is the filmed Cabaret. To claim one's not as good as the other is like complaining your swordfish doesn't taste like steak.