American Cinematographer - July 2003 - 21

motion

pictures &
television
though it's occasionally too confined to
the front soundstage of center, left and
right channels. It's an improvement over

All That Jazz

the solid 1998 remix, and it marks the

enhanced)
Dolby Digital 4.0

return of the minor sound effects
were

(1979)

that

inexplicably dropped from that

Fox Home

The two-disc set includes

Entertainment,
$14.98

track.
much-needed

Careers in

1.85:1 (16x9

a

Acting
Cinematography
Directing

"making of" documentary
been

That Jazz has

that

All

includes the final

format for

and

shooting script, a
program, reviews
stills. The documentary

astoundingly difficult title to find in any

replica of the film's

West Side Memories is stellar, but

DVD, facilitated by 20th Century Fox's
recent restoration of the film, was worth

much too short at 55 minutes. Its

the wait.

and

commemorative

a

numerous

book

numer¬

participants cover several topics of
interest to the film's fans, including the

ous

dubbing of the lead singing voices, the
firing of Robbins midway through the
shoot, and the fact that Wood and

Beymer were not fond of each other.
package includes the film's story¬

The

boards and

a

collection of trailers, and

completists will be thrilled to have the
option of watching the film with or with¬
out the original intermission audio reel.
(Fans can also duplicate the desired
screening-room lighting during the
colorful overture, thanks to the inclusion
of Wise's 1961 memo to projectionists!)
In

a

dominated

society with a youth culture
by gangsta rap, 'hood

movies and Columbine, the social rele¬
of West Side

Story may seem
watching the film
some 40 years after its release, one is
struck by the sheer creativity and indus¬
try on the screen. The pastel-lit, tene¬
ment-filled skyline of its Manhattan and
the enduring virtues of its score earn
West Side Story its place in American
popular culture. Robbins, Wise, Fapp,

vance

dated to

some.

But

remains

a

classic of its kind.
-

Kenneth

Sweeney

Music Videos

time, but this gorgeous

Although it has been released
on VHS and laserdisc in the past, the
film has been essentially out of print for
years thanks to a badly worn negative
and severely faded CRI opticals. Fox
spent 18 months restoring the film, and
Giuseppe Rotunno, ASC, AIC, who
earned an Academy Award nomination
for his cinematography, supervised the
color-timing of the restored print.
Though a studio restoration effort
usually means a DVD release is around
the corner, it seems likely that the recent
commercial and critical

success

of

Chicago, an adaptation of Bob Fosse's
Broadway musical, helped spur some
interest in All That Jazz, which stands as

Fosse's most ambitious

Producing
Screenwriting
Special Effects
Sound
and

AA

more...

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piece of filmmaking. Along with Fellini's 8V2, to
which it is often compared, All That Jazz
is one of the most exhilarating films ever

& Teacher Grants Available

made about the creative process, an

@

autobiographical account of a successful
through a pastiche
of sequences, some realistic and others

theater director told

fantastic, that illustrate the artist's abili¬
ties and limitations
infuse his life with

as

AcademyOfArtCollege
FRANCISCO
SAN

he attempts to

meaning.

Fosse, who directed, co-wrote

1.800.544. ARTS

choreographed the film, presents his
central character and alter ego, direc¬
tor/choreographer Joe Gideon (Roy

www.academyart.edu

Bernstein, Laurents and Sondheim were

working at the top of their form, and
together they created a film that

some

Documentary

an

and

Scheider),

as a

self-destructive, deathgenius whose

obsessed and narcissistic

79 New

Montgomery St.

San Francisco, CA 94105

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American Cinematographer - July 2003

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - July 2003
