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Sweet Charity, a lavish, 70 mm screen adaptation of Neil Simon’s hit Broadway musical (inspired by Fellini’s 1957 film Le Notti di Cabiria) premieres in New York. As scripted by Peter Stone, Bob Fosse's directorial debut stars Shirley MacLaine as Charity Hope Valentine, an irrepressable, hopelessly romantic, nightclub taxi dancer who spends her down time away from the glitz and footlights wistfully reflecting on her ongoing seduced and abandoned love life. Despite the sheer, choreographed-to-perfection exuberance of the Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields-penned show tunes (notably Hey, Big Spender and The Rhythm of Life), which MacLaine, Chita Rivera and a hippie, trippy Sammy Davis Jr. belt out in show-stopping profusion, the film is a box-office failure. An alternate ending is a featured extra on the DVD release.
