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:

Broadway Musical | Box Office Flop | Pulitzer Prize Source | Dance | Audition

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 5 nominations

Cast

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 | 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 Film Associates

Trivia:

Kelly Bishop, best known to young audiences as Rory's grandmother on "Gilmore Girls" (2000), won a Tony award for her performance as Sheila in the original cast of Chorus Line (under the name Carole Bishop) and as the mother Marjorie Houseman in Dirty Dancing (1987).

Goofs:

Continuity: After Paul is carried off the stage to be taken to the hospital, we see Diana carrying his bag out for him. Moments later as the last elimination is about to take place, the bag is still in the middle of the stage and you even see Diana looking at it as she is walking back to the front line.

Quotes:

Larry: What's the matter, Sheila? Forget the combination?
Sheila: I knew it when I was in the front!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Catalina Caper (#3.4)" (1990)

Soundtrack:

A Chorus Line

The problem is, someone forgot it's a musical...

A Chorus Line, when it functions as a Broadway musical, works fine. Unfortunately, the director and writers forget that occasionally. Then we get the romantic interest/subplot between Zach and his ex. This actually gets in the way once or twice, when a musical number is reduced to background noise while characters have a conversation about the subplot in the foreground. Arrgh. The "Music and the Mirror" piece gets re-adapted for the movie, and not to the better. And "One" gets reprised once or twice too often for my taste (although that's a flaw of the original musical as well). Very entertaining when it sticks to the musical, but loses a point or two on my rating when it moves away from that.