Chicago (2002 film)

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Chicago is a movie adaptation, released in 2002, of the musical Chicago, about celebrity and scandal in Jazz age Chicago. It won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The film was released December 27, 2002 and runs 113 minutes.

Production

Ironically, the movie was actually filmed in Toronto, Canada. The courthouse was Queen's Park, Toronto - the Ontario legislature. Other scenes were filmed at the former Gooderham and Worts distillery.

Synopsis

Velma Kelly is a nightclub star whose celebrity is only increased by her double murder of her adulterous husband and her sister. Roxie Hart is a nobody who dreams of the fame and wealth of a singing career. When she shoots her abusive lover, who lied about his ability to get her a job as a performer, she is sent to murderess' row. There she meets Velma Kelly. Facing death row, Roxie hires Billy Flynn, Chicago's most famous defense attorney, who promises to turn her case into a celebrity murder trial and get her acquitted. Flynn and Roxie manipulate the press and the public and Roxie becomes famous. When Billy recognizes Roxie's potential, Roxie and Velma become locked in a rivalry to outdo each other in stardom.

The film is based on the musical Chicago, the original Broadway production of which (in 1975) had not been especially well-received by audiences due to the show's cynical tone. The minimalist 1996 revival enjoyed a great deal more success, however, and the influences of both productions can be seen in the film version. The original production's musical numbers were staged as vaudeville acts, which presented some problems when transferring from stage to screen. The movie version allowed the vaudeville scenes to happen by transferring the musical numbers to an imaginary stage in Roxie's fantasies, while keeping the pared-down flavour of the revival production.

Cast and characters

The movie stars: Renée Zellweger as Roxie Hart, a nobody in the big city dreaming of stardom and willing to do anything to get it; Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma Kelly, a Chicago staple, a singing and dancing sensation and half of the duo The Kelly Sisters and Roxie's idol; Richard Gere as Billy Flynn, a big-shot lawyer who does not care about his clients' guilt or innocence, only whether they have the money to afford his services; John C. Reilly as Amos Hart, Roxie's naive, hard-working, albeit boring spouse; Queen Latifah as Matron "Mama" Morton, the Matron of Cook County Jail, whose philosophy is "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours"; and Christine Baranski as Mary Sunshine, the personification of the sensationalist news media.

All principal actors did their own singing and dancing in the film. Zeta-Jones and Latifah previously had professional music careers and Reilly, Zeta-Jones and Baranski had had musical theater experience. Gere was the most experienced actor of the leading cast, and needed only minimal rehearsal (tap dance instruction before shooting his courtroom tap dance routine). Zellweger had never danced professionally but sang in the 1994 movie Shake, Rattle and Rock! (a remake of the 1956 American International Pictures musical of the same name). Both Gere & Zellweger, however, later admitted to having their voices digitally enhanced slightly for the final cut.

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards

Chicago won six Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Catherine Zeta-Jones), Best Editing (Martin Walsh), Best Art Direction (John Myhre), Best Costume Design (Colleen Atwood), and Best Sound (Michael Minkler, Dominick Tavella and David Lee)

It was nominated for seven others: Best Director (Rob Marshall), Best Actress (Renée Zellweger), Best Supporting Actor (John C. Reilly), Best Supporting Actress (Queen Latifah), Best Cinematography (Dion Beebe), Best Song ("I Move On" by John Kander and Fred Ebb), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Bill Condon).

Golden Globes

Chicago won three Golden Globe Awards: Best Picture (Musical or Comedy), Best Actress in Musical or Comedy (Renée Zellweger), and Best Actor in Musical or Comedy (Richard Gere).

It was nominated for five more: Best Director (Rob Marshall), Best Actress in Musical or Comedy (Catherine Zeta-Jones), Best Supporting Actor (John C. Reilly), Best Supporting Actress (Queen Latifah), and Best Screenplay (Bill Condon).

Songs

• "All That Jazz" - Velma Kelly
• "Funny Honey" - Roxie Hart
• "When You're Good to Mama" - Matron "Mama" Morton
• "Cell Block Tango" - The Six Merry Murdresses of Cook County Jail (Liz, Annie, June, Hunyack, Velma Kelly, Mona)
• "All I Care About" - Billy Flynn
• "We Both Reached for the Gun" - Billy Flynn
• "Roxie" - Roxie Hart
• "I Can't Do It Alone" - Velma Kelly
• "Mister Cellophane" - Amos Hart
• "Razzle Dazzle" - Billy Flynn
• "Class" - Velma Kelly and Matron "Mama" Morton (+)
• "Nowadays" - Roxie Hart
• "Nowadays / Hot Honey Rag" - Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly
• "I Move On" - Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly

(+)"Class", performed by Queen Latifah and Catherine Zeta-Jones was filmed, but it was cut from the movie. The footage was later included on the DVD release and the song was included on the soundtrack album.

Sources

The movie is based on the Kander and Ebb Broadway musical, Chicago, which was based on the Maurine Watkins play, Chicago, which was in turn based on the stories of two Jazz-era killers, Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner. The film follows a similar plot to William Wellman's 1942 film Roxie Hart, starring Ginger Rogers. It also bears many strong resembelances to Cabaret.

Trivia

Chicago was to have been the next movie project for legendary stage and film choreographer and director Bob Fosse, who directed and choreographed the original Broadway production. Although he died before the film was made, the influence of his distinctive jazz choreography style can be detected throughout the film. In particular, the parallels to Cabaret are numerous and distinct.

Chita Rivera, who originated the role of Velma Kelly on Broadway in 1975, makes a cameo appearance as 'Nicky.'

Catherine Zeta-Jones began her career in musicals, appearing in the lead role of 42nd Street in London's West End at the age of just seventeen.

External links

• [New York Review of Books: Hilton Als' "Girls & Guns"]
• [Miramax Chicago homepage]

 

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