Primetime Backyard Movie Series - ALL THAT JAZZ (1979)

It is rare for visual and musical art to successfully navigate multiple disparate themes and appeal to wildly different audiences. It's almost unheard of for that piece of art to feature essentially an anti-hero that is a thinly disguised autobiography/confession/apology of the work's creator. And I can only think of one work that did it as a highly entertaining movie musical.

ALL THAT JAZZ (1979) is truly one of my favorite movies (not just movie musicals) of all time because it does precisely all that. I rewatched it again a few days ago to see if my feelings towards it have changed, as they sometimes do, since I first saw the movie in a theater in 1979. I can say without reservation it has not.

Maybe it was the fact that I was a theater nerd back in high school and college. Maybe its because my parents also had a fondness for old-style movie musicals, although ALL THAT JAZZ certainly does not qualify as that. Maybe its because I had participated in a few humiliating cattle call theater auditions myself before I decided that I wanted to be backstage and behind the camera more than I wanted to be on the stage or in front of the camera. Maybe it is because of my daughter, who to this day continues to carve out an actual living in New York theater and often tells me stories of tyrannical directors and backstage intrigue, and who has always shared my love of Bob Fosse's work despite all the rumors about his personal life.

Maybe its just because Fosse had style, even if it was almost overpowered by his dark cynicism and stubborn refusal to conform the the norms of musical theater and Broadway society. But that unique style created some of the most singular, admired, envied, and copied choreography and moves in the history of theater, and it is doubtful there is a single musical production from London and Broadway all the way down to the smallest high school musical that has not been in some way influenced by Fosse, even if it was the production's adamant intent to not look like a Bob Fosse production. High school theater students are often told to their bewilderment to not "give us jazz hands". "Jazz hands" were a Fosse trademark, and most young stage dancers grew up watching elements of Fosse choreography whether they knew its origin or not.

But Fosse was a complicated man. If you watched the Emmy-winning miniseries FOSSE/VERDON (2019) on F/X a few years ago, you got a taste of that. In fact, that miniseries made several references to ALL THAT JAZZ, which would turn out to be Fosse's final film. It was therefore appropriate that ALL THAT JAZZ turned out to be a very thinly disguised autobiography of the man himself, even engaging in a little fortune telling by correctly predicting the circumstances of Fosse's death while he was still alive. And while FOSSE/VERDON may have been more accurate and in particular much more fair to Gwen Verdon, herself a wonderful actress and dancer and choreographer and Fosse's former wife and early collaborator, this film serves as a kind of fever dream where Fosse contemplates his own successes and failures and ultimately his fate. But in true Fosse fashion, he does it all with Fosse trademark and flashy over-the-top musical numbers and dancing.

However one thing this film does better than any other musical I have ever seen is take the somewhat discordant musical numbers and, with two notable exceptions which take place during hallucinations, weaves them into believable plot points. This is not a musical where the characters suddenly and inexplicably break out into song for no apparent reason. Set in the world of rehearsals for a new play, Fosse and the dancers get to strut their stuff (sometimes in quite revealing ways) as part of the rehearsals. Therefore, the false notes that people sometimes feel in both stage and movie musicals ("Why would anyone sing at the saddest moment of their life?") aren't there. Additionally, there's only one original song in the film. The rest are recognizable and Fossified standards from the 1930's to the 1960's.

With the exceptions of the recent shark bait survivor Roy Scheider as Fosse stand-in Joe Gideon, John Lithgow as a stand in for Fosse rival Michael Bennett, and Academy Award winner Jessica Lange as a mysterious woman, most of the actors, dancers, and indeed the characters in ALL THAT JAZZ relate to real people in Fosse's life. In fact, Fosse/Gideon's statuesque dancer girlfriend Kate in ALL THAT JAZZ is played by Fosse actress and dancer and actual girlfriend Ann Reinking, who would go on to keep the Fosse legend alive long after his death, creating a successful Broadway musical of her own called Fosse, but perhaps most notably by reinvigorating a failed Fosse musical from the 1960's, which originally starred Gwen Verdon and would star Reinking in the revival. The Tony Award winning revival would go on to become one of the biggest and longest running Broadway musicals of all time, and would later be turned into an Academy Award Best Picture winner. Maybe you've heard of it. CHICAGO (2002) anyone?

Part musical, part fantasy, part apology, and part confession, ALL THAT JAZZ was a fitting and strangely honest and cynical tribute to its own creator shortly before he died. It serves as a reminder that stage or movie musicals do not have to be recycled jukebox song fluff, and can actually be about something. It can honestly lay bare the soul of its main character, even if you realize that he's using cheap tricks and jazz hands to distract you from the ugliness. It is one of Roy Scheider's three best performances and was my pick over KRAMER VS. KRAMER (1979) for Best Picture of 1980. And keep in mind that year also saw the release of APOCALYPSE NOW (1979).

A content warning here: Amid all the singing and dancing, ALL THAT JAZZ is about an amphetamine addict, a womanizer, and an altogether loathsome (but talented) person. It features scenes of peppy drug addiction, language, non-sexual nudity, self-harm, show tunes and jazz hands, and even quick but graphic clips of actual open heart surgery. Bet you haven't seen that in a musical before, have ya?

Presenting our fifth season of our Primetime Backyard Movie Series, where we'll all get together during good weather armed with our bug spray and lawn chairs to watch a variety of movies.

I have the movies. I have the projector. I have a sort of giant (for a backyard at least) 10 foot screen. I even have a long, narrow but semi-deep backyard with a giant oak tree that will silently watch over us as we relive our youth at the drive-in and make fun of those making out on the back row.

There will be free hot dogs, movie candies, movie nachos, and popcorn. Feel free to bring other stuff if you want, including your own lawn chair. I have some spares and some blankets, but not enough for a full house. BYOB. I'll have some soft drinks and water as well.

We'll socialize for about an hour before the movie, which will start promptly at dusk (about 7:45 pm), along with an Alamo Drafthouse -style preshow.

RAIN POLICY - I'll post here if we have to reschedule for weather or other unforeseen events. Just check here before you head this way.

CARPOOLS - My parking around here really is limited thanks to overbuilding on nearby lots, so carpooling is encouraged.