A Chorus Line (1985)

Director:

Richard Attenborough

Writers:

Michael Bennett (musical) and
Nicholas Dante (musical) ...

Release Date:

13 December 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Drama | Comedy

Plot:

Hopefuls try out before a demanding director for a part in a new musical.

Plot Keywords:

Dancer | Audition | Dance | Price Of Fame | Chorus Line

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 5 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Michael Blevins	...	Mark Tobori
Yamil Borges	...	Diana Morales
Jan Gan Boyd	...	Connie Wong
Sharon Brown	...	Kim
Gregg Burge	...	Richie Walters
Michael Douglas	...	Zach
Cameron English	...	Paul San Marco
Tony Fields	...	Al DeLuca
Nicole Fosse	...	Kristine Evelyn Erlich-DeLuca
Vicki Frederick	...	Sheila Bryant
Michelle Johnston	...	Beatrice Ann 'Bebe' Benson
Janet Jones	...	Judy Monroe
Pam Klinger	...	Maggie Winslow
Audrey Landers	...	Val Clarke
Terrence Mann	...	Larry

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Netherlands:AL | Australia:PG | Argentina:Atp | Canada:14A | Chile:TE | Finland:S | France:U | Germany:6 | Norway:11 | Sweden:Btl | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:6 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Helen Hayes Theater - 240 West 44th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Embassy Films

Trivia:

The original Broadway production of "A Chorus Line" opened at the Shubert Theater in New York on July 25, 1975, won the 1976 Tony Awards for the Best Musical, Book and Score and ran for 6,137 performances, setting a record. That record was later broken by "Cats", which ran for 7,485 performances.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the auditions, many of the dancers that were cut are shown again later on in the auditions before the cut resulting in only the main characters. A key example is the boy with the red-striped shirt and red head band who mutters, "I've never been cut this soon" as he leaves the stage; he is clearly seen a few minutes later behind Diana just before she goes over to talk to Paul.

Quotes:

Sheila: Can I sit on your lap?
Zach: Do you always come on like this?
Sheila: No. Sometimes I'm aggressive.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Dinosaurs: Career Opportunities (#2.8)" (1991)

Soundtrack:

The Music and The Mirror

Stage to screen unsuccessful

Having seen, studied, read, and researched ACL and Michael Bennett, I have to say that the show does not translate well to the screen. The movie is 'good' at best, but completely loses much of what made ACL so successful on Broadway. The constant swipes to Cassie (taking a cab into the city; talking with Larry; etc) were completely unnecessary, and many of the great songs and monologues were shortened or (worse) cut altogether! Whereas I like Michael Douglas, I feel that he was a poor choice for Zach. Michael Douglas should not have been cast as Zach for the exact same reason Kevin Kline was not cast as Zach in the original production: he couldn't dance.

I often wonder if Michael Bennett would have approved of this film.