I Am a Camera [1955 / 2022] [Vintage Classics] [Blu-ray] [UK Release]
Christopher Isherwood’s life is turned upside down when he meets Sally Bowles!
A brand-new restoration of ‘I Am a Camera’ is based on Christopher Isherwood’s 1939 semi-autobiographical novel “Goodbye to Berlin” (later published in his Berlin Stories collection) has certainly proved to be incredibly fertile when it comes to adaptations and especially the 1951 eponymous play by John Van Druten. The story is based on a fictionalised account of Christopher Isherwood’s time living in Berlin between the two World Wars. Originally, the film ‘I Am a Camera’ was released in 1955 and starring Julie Harris reprising her role as Sally Bowles, the film wasn’t a hit on its initial release but it has become notorious as the inspiration for the film ‘Cabaret,’ the stage play and film that greatly overshadowed it in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Watching the film now, as it fast approaches its 50th anniversary, it’s crazy to think that the film was given an X certificate (over 16's only) for its theatrical release. The “I Am a Camera” play's Broadway premiere in 1951 was a triumph for Julie Harris as the insouciant Sally Bowles, winning her the first of her four Tony Awards for Best Leading Actress in a play.
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 1956 BAFTA Awards: Nominated: BAFTA Film Award for Best Foreign Actress for Julie Harris.
FILM FACT No.2: Filming commenced in mid-October 1954. Cornelius had wanted to film in Berlin, but was unable to because of currency issues with the studio. Christopher Isherwood had hoped to be in London for the filming, but his lover Don Bachardy was unable to secure the permission of his local draft board to obtain a passport. Ron Randell was cast on the strength of his stage and TV reputation. On the 25 August, 1955, the National Legion of Decency condemned ‘I Am a Camera,’ and at least one cinema pulled the film in response to attacks on the film by Catholic priests. The film was one of the most popular at the 1955 British box office.
Cast: Julie Harris, Laurence Harvey, Shelley Winters, Ron Randell, Lea Seidl, Anton Diffring, Ina De La Haye, Jean Gargoet, Stanley Maxted, Alexis Bobrinskoy, André Mikhelson, Frederick Valk, Tutte Lemkow, Patrick McGoohan, Julia Arnall, Zoe Newton, David Kossoff, Paddy Smith, Bill Brandon, Ann Elsden, Stanley Morrell, Bill Billington, Anita Douglas, Charles Saynor, Harry Purvis, Geoffrey Dunn, Peter Prowse, Stan Bernard, Harold Siddons, Philip Morant, William Adams (uncredited), Ian Ainsley (uncredited), Charles Andre (uncredited), Jack Arrow (uncredited), Michael Bird (uncredited), Gina Bower (uncredited), Anthony Bryant (uncredited), Janet Coats (uncredited), Lynn Courtney (uncredited), Jacqueline Cox (uncredited), Vincent Edward (uncredited), George Eugeniou (uncredited), Victor Fairley (uncredited), Marylin Farries (uncredited), Janice Field (uncredited), Rodney Goodall (uncredited), Ann Greenland (uncredited), Mandy Harper (uncredited), Aiden Harrington (uncredited), Jack Healy (uncredited), Ian Hendry (uncredited), Jan Holden (uncredited), Don Koll (uncredited), Janet May (uncredited), Charles McDaniel (uncredited), Charles Mosconi (uncredited), Arthur Mullard (uncredited), Carol Olver (uncredited), Clifford A. Pellow (uncredited), Sid Raymond (uncredited), George Ricarde (uncredited), Penelope Rogers (uncredited), Barry Shawzin (uncredited), Frank Singuineau (uncredited), Keith Smith (uncredited), Emile Stemmler (uncredited), Gareth Tandy (uncredited), Stan Tracey (uncredited), Pat Walsh (uncredited), Richard Wattis (uncredited) and Angela White (uncredited)
Director: Henry Cornelius
Producers: Jack Clayton, James Woolf (uncredited) and John Woolf (uncredited)
Screenplay: Christopher Isherwood (based on the stories), John Van Druten (from the play “I am a Camera”) and John Collier (screenplay)
Composer: Malcolm Arnold
Musical Director: Muir Mathieson
Costume Supervisor: Julia Squire
Costumes: RAHVIS (dresses)
Cinematography: Guy Green, O.B.E., B.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Black-and-White)
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Audio: English: 2.0 LPCM Digital Audio
Subtitles: English SDH
Running Time: 98 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: A Remus Production / Independent Film Distributors / STUDIOCANAL
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: The film ‘I Am a Camera’ [1955] is based on "The Berlin Stories" by Christopher Isherwood and written by John Van Druten. Produced by Gertrude Macy and Produced in association with Walter Starcke. The play ‘I Am a Camera’ opened at the Empire Theatre on 1430 Broadway, 40th and 41st, New York, NY on the 28th November, 1951 and closed on the 12th July, 1952.
The film ‘I Am a Camera’ starred Julie Harris and Laurence Harvey, and was itself based on a Broadway show adapted from Christopher Isherwood’s work by John Van Durten. The play was a big success, so it was inevitable that a film would soon follow. Stepping into the director’s chair was Ealing Studios alumnus Henry Cornelius, who up to this point had deftly managed to balance both comedy and drama throughout his career, directing the 1949 classic ‘Passport to Pimlico’ as well as writing the screenplay for the darker Ealing Studios fable ‘It Always Rains on Sunday.’
For those familiar with Cabaret, you will certainly be surprised by ‘I Am a Camera’ and not just because that this is resolutely not a musical. The plot remains fairly identical. Set in the early 1930’s and in the dying days of the Weimar Republic and a year or so before the Nazis came to power, where see Christopher Isherwood [Laurence Harvey] arrives in Berlin in order to develop himself as a writer. Taken to a cabaret nightclub by his friend Fritz, he meets Sally Bowles [Julie Harris], a voracious and impulsive singer and performer with aspirations to become an actress on the big screen. After Sally Bowles is spurned by a fickle lover, she ends up sharing Christopher Isherwood’s flat. A close relationship soon develops, one which will change their lives forever.
Perhaps the most notable aspect of ‘I Am a Camera,’ certainly in regard to its more famous stablemate, is its tone. If ‘Cabaret’ is a musical drama, then ‘I am a Camera’ feels, first and foremost, is like a comedy. And not just a light, frothy one either. There are moments and set pieces that feel like they belong to an American Thirties screwball comedy with broad, almost outlandish moments. This doesn’t de-rail the film at all. Both Henry Cornelius and screenwriter John Collier deftly manage to keep the comedy strong and amusing throughout, ensuring that ‘I am a Camera’ is consistently fun and totally entertaining.
Much of the credit for this has to go to Julie Harris, deploying a completely different persona here compared to films such as the brilliant ‘The Haunting.’ Julie Harris is more than holds her own in her interpretation of Sally Bowles, capturing the lost child in the character far more adroitly than Ms Liza Minnelli did. While Sally Bowles’ impetuousness and impulsiveness can make the character occasionally unlikable, Julie Harris delivers an engagingly sympathetic and endearing performance that stridently keeps the film upright during its weaker moments – even if it echoes too strongly of theatricality at certain points.
Laurence Harvey fares less well and never truly convinces us as the bookish Christopher Isherwood and he feels less natural delivering the broad comedy compared to his more spirited co-star. Anton Differing, playing Christopher Isherwood’s best friend Fritz Wendel, adds depth and pathos to his character with a limited amount of screen time, something that Shelley Winters as Natalia Landauer, playing Fritz Wendel’s lover, struggles to do with quite the same impact.
Despite its light tone, ‘I Am a Camera’ does not shy away from the darkness that bubbles underneath the surface of the story. The Nazi rise to power is largely ignored until the final half hour, but the film does find some chilling moments as German characters coldly begin to blame the Jewish population for Germany’s misfortunes.
An abject sense of poverty is also prevalent throughout the film. Christopher Isherwood truly feels like a struggling writer, continually counting his pennies and at one point looking on in horror as Sally Bowels burns through his rent money in a matter of minutes. According to Christopher Isherwood, this depicts the reality of early 1930’s Germany far more successfully than the film ‘Cabaret.’
Yet the heart of each of these films, and of the literary story itself, is the relationship between Sally Bowles and Christopher Isherwood. Due to the time in which it was made, Christopher Isherwood’s homosexuality is far more subtle in ‘I Am a Camera,’ blurred to the point where it is almost non-existent. Yet the platonic relationship that is the result still feels quietly tragic. Both of these characters, with dreams of being famous and successful, are living in a fantasy, ignoring the future and the pitfalls that lie ahead. The metaphor for the situation in Germany may not be subtle but it remains a very powerful image.
The lead performances from Julie Harris and Laurence Harvey are unsurprisingly great. The two shares a wonderful chemistry, there’s a bond or love which isn’t just a simple romantic connection. Julie Harris throws everything she has, the sheer amount of energy she puts out makes you feel like she must have been exhausted after every take. While Laurence Harvey brings an interesting lead in that he doesn’t feel like the typical hero or lovably hapless, he lands somewhere in the middle. Creating a balance of being both confident and capable while bringing a sincere vulnerability. They are a fun duo to watch and of course adding Shelley Winters to any production was always going to improve it. Ron Randell and Anton Diffring also add a nice variety and different energies for the leads to play off of.
Yet it is in attempting to establish the emotional connection between the two leads which sees ‘I Am a Camera’ ultimately stumbles. A chemistry never authentically develops, leaving the heart of the film rather hollow and ensuring that the ending feels unsatisfying and rather cheap and in the film’s defence, a sizeable amount of darker material, along with a late plot twist, had to be significantly revised in order for the film to be released at all – even then it still earned itself an X Certificate in the United Kingdom.
There is no doubt that ‘I Am a Camera’ is an interesting, alternative take on Christopher Isherwood’s seminal literary work. Julie Harris offers another side to Sally Bowles that can stand tall next to Ms Liza Minnelli’s iconic performance, while the film sheds light on aspects of the story that the film ‘Cabaret’ either brushed over or ignored. Yet compared to Bob Fosse’s masterpiece, it feels too light and insubstantial, the relationship at the film’s heart never scoring an emotional impact. ‘I Am a Camera’ remains an interesting and thoroughly entertaining watch, but I feel that the film ‘Cabaret’ will always remain the definitive adaptation of Isherwood’s tale of two lonely souls meeting and connecting on the cusp of one of the darkest times in modern history.
Whether or not one cares for ‘I Am a Camera’ and its light-hearted touch and bittersweet Hollywood happy ending, which still feels more honest than making the Christopher Isherwood character either bisexual or straight, I can’t imagine any fan of classic cinema not being enchanted by the sight of so many brilliant dramatic actors displaying such a talent for comedy.
British actor Laurence Harvey, a long favourite of mine yet so unaccountably stiff and affectless in so many of his American roles, is appealingly naïve and boyish as Christopher Isherwood and I easily rank his work in ‘I Am a Camera’ alongside ‘Room at the Top’ and ‘Expresso Bongo’ as among Laurence Harvey's best film performances.
As for the strikingly Diffring, so chilling as an actor who literally made a career out of playing cold-hearted Nazis, I never would have guessed he’d be so charming a light comedy player. To be honest, I think this is the very first film in which I've ever seen him smile! Shelley Winters, several years away from the grating, undisciplined performances which would later brand her a camp film favourite, has a surprisingly small role and displays a worrisome German accent, but she is endearing beyond belief. It's easy to forget what an accomplished comedienne she could be.
But hands-down, it is Julie Harris who walks off with my highest praise. She's nothing short of sensational. I've seen Julie Harris in many things over the years, but I've never EVER seen her so perky and playful, because Julie Harris in ‘I Am a Camera’ and I had no idea she could be such a flirtatious, funny, physical, and a vivacious personality. Julie Harris’s versatility is on full display here, capturing the many shades of Sally Bowles's mercurial personality, from her childlike vulnerability to her flashes of self-interested callousness, as well as the all self-centred chatter and ostentatious show, but ultimately touching and that is why Julie Harris is such an accomplished brilliant actress.
‘I Am a Camera’ is a whirlwind without the romance, a chance meeting leading to a meaningful, if chaotic, friendship. It’s bursting at the seams with energy, creating a gentle chaos which is constantly one-upping itself. Julie Harris and Laurence Harvey lead the way beautifully, they create a genuine connection and are hugely enjoyable to watch as they scramble through the crazy times in Germany. The tone can get messy at times, and the inclusion of the incoming war feels perfunctory but it’s otherwise an adventure that feels surprisingly reminiscent of modern cinema.
I Am a Camera Music Track List
Ich Hab Noch Einen Koffer in Berlin (I Still Have a Suitcase in Berlin) (written by Ralph Maria Siegel) (English lyrics by Paul Dehn) [Performed by Julie Harris but dubbed by Marlene Dietrict]
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Blu-ray Image Quality – A Remus Production, Independent Film Distributors and STUDIOCANAL presents us the film ‘I Am a Camera’ with an upgraded 1080p black-and-white image compared to the DVD release and of course it is shown in the standard 1.37:1 aspect ratio. Needless to say, the picture quality shown on this Blu-ray is totally spectacular and is also very pleasing as is very satisfying, with decent contrast, greyscale and no egregious encoding errors. So overall the upgraded restoration of the black-and-white print is totally sharp and is the best way to view this new Blu-ray release to view the film in its full glory! Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – A Remus Production, Independent Film Distributors and STUDIOCANAL brings us the film ‘I Am a Camera’ with just one standard 2.0 LPCM Digital Audio. It is totally free of any strong background hiss like you previously heard on the inferior DVD release, and obviously they have stabilised the strong background hiss and there are no high-frequencies distortions, and is very well stabilised, especially when hearing the wonderful and haunting Malcolm Arnold's composed music film score, that is an added bonus for this film. But with the improvement in technology the dialogue is so much crisper, clearer, and better all rounded than it sounded on the audio track on the inferior DVD release.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: Peter Parker on Christopher Isherwood [2022] [1080p] [1.78:1 / 1.37:1] [28:36] Here we meet Peter Parker and the author of “Isherwood: A Life” and mentions that Christopher Isherwood the Anglo-American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, auto biographer and diarist, and was born in 1904 on his family's estate in Cheshire near Stockport in the north-west of England, and moved to America in 1939 and his best-known works include “Goodbye to Berlin” [1939], a semi-autobiographical novel which inspired the musical ‘Cabaret.’ Christopher Isherwood previous novels included “All the Conspirators” [1928], “All the Conspirators” [1928] and “Mr Norris Changes Trains” [1935] to name just a few. At Christmas 1925, he was reintroduced to a prep school friend, W.H. Auden and through W.H. Auden; Christopher Isherwood met the younger poet, Stephen Spender, who printed W.H. Auden's first collection entitled “Poems” [1928]. In March 1929, Christopher Isherwood joined W.H. Auden in Berlin, where W.H. Auden was spending a post-graduate year and the ten-day visit changed Christopher Isherwood's life. In Berlin, Christopher Isherwood completed his second novel, “The Memorial” [1932], about the impact of the First World War on his family and his generation. Christopher Isherwood also continued his habit of keeping a diary. In his diary, he gathered raw material for “Mr. Norris Changes Trains” [1935]. For his novel “Goodbye to Berlin” [1939], brought to life his portrait of the city in which Adolf Hitler was rising to power — enabled by poverty, unemployment, increasing attacks on Jews and Communists, and ignored by the defiant hedonism of night life in the cafés, bars, and brothels. “Goodbye to Berlin” included stories published in the leftist magazine, “New Writing” and it included Christopher Isherwood's 1937 novella “Sally Bowles,” in which he created his most famous character Sally Bowels, based on a young Englishwoman, Jean Ross, with whom he briefly shared a flat in Berlin. During a certain period, Christopher Isherwood returned often to London where he took his first movie-writing job, working with Viennese director Berthold Viertel on the film ‘Little Friend’ [1934]. Christopher Isherwood collaborated with W.H. Auden on three plays “The Dog Beneath the Skin” [1935], “The Ascent of F6” [1936] and “On the Frontier” (1938) and all produced by Robert Medley and Rupert Doone's Group Theatre. Eventually Christopher Isherwood to get a one way ticket to Berlin and based himself in Berlin to write his life and hedonistic times in that German city, until one day he eventually decided to leave Berlin. At this point of the video, Peter Parker reminds us that all future novels by Christopher Isherwood were autobiographical and again most of the novels were about his time in Berlin and all the characters he had met and helped Christopher Isherwood to provide endless anecdotes of all the colourful characters he had encountered and again the one person that helped, was the wonderful young Englishwoman, Jean Ross, with whom he briefly shared a flat in Berlin. Who was originally known as Jean Iris Ross Cockburn who was a British writer, political activist, and film critic. During the Spanish Civil War, she was a war correspondent for the Daily Express and is thought to have been a press agent for the Communist International (Comintern) and was a devout Stalinist and a lifelong member of the Communist Party of Great Britain and Jean Ross had a really massive influence over Christopher Isherwood. During her itinerant youth in the Weimar Republic, Jean Ross was a cabaret singer and fashion model in Berlin. Her Berlin escapades inspired the heroine in Christopher Isherwood's 1937 novella “Sally Bowles” which was later collected in “Goodbye to Berlin,” and Jean Ross excursion to Central Europe proved less successful than she had hoped. Unable to find acting work, she worked as a nightclub singer in Weimar Germany, ostensibly in lesbian bars and second-rate cabarets, but they said her singing voice was not very good and they today said it compared to how Dame Judi Dench sang in the theatrical production of “Cabaret.” When not singing or modelling, Jean Ross often visited the offices of the UFA GmbH, a German motion picture production company, in the hopes of gaining small film roles. By late 1931, Jean Ross obtained a job as a dancer in theatre director Max Reinhardt's production of Offenbach's opéra fantastique “Tales of Hoffmann,” and played Anitra in Reinhardt's production of “Peer Gynt.” When the 19-year-old van Peter van Eyck met Jean Ross, he often moonlighted as a jazz pianist in Berlin cabarets. Either during their brief relationship or soon after their separation, Jean Ross realised she was pregnant. As a personal favour to Jean Ross, Christopher Isherwood pretended to be her heterosexual impregnator to facilitate an abortion procedure. Jean Ross nearly died as a result of the abortion procedure due to the carelessness of the doctor. Following the procedure, Christopher Isherwood visited an ailing Jean Ross in a Berlin hospital. Wrongly assuming the shy gay author to be her heterosexual partner, the hospital staff despised him for callously forcing Jean Ross to undergo a near-fatal abortion. These tragicomic events later inspired Christopher Isherwood to write his 1937 novella “Sally Bowles” and serves as its narrative climax. Peter Parker talks about the real life Natalia Landauer who was of course played by Shelley Winters and the real Natalia Landauer came from a really wealthy Jewish family and Peter Parker compare the real person compared to the one played by Shelley Winters. Peter Parker talks about how Christopher Isherwood kept getting annoyed that all people only want to ask him about his novel about his experiences in Berlin, bit more wanted to talk about his later novels. When the film ‘I Am a Camera’ came out, Christopher Isherwood was totally furious and thought the film was trash and the only saving grace was the actress Julie Harris. And thought the actress was very badly directed and also Christopher Isherwood described the film as “Ooh La La, near pornographic trash.” Peter Parker thought Christopher Isherwood was a brilliant author for the Twentieth Century, because he felt Christopher Isherwood reflected life in all of his novels and what it was like living in through the Twentieth Century, especially regarding films in America and London in that era and also living in Berlin, and he had such a good eye and the writing was at its best and feels his novels are still very fresh today. At the point the interview finishes and was quite a journey and totally fascinating hearing his personal views on Christopher Isherwood and is well worth viewing. Throughout this featurette, we get a plethora of clips from the film ‘I Am a Camera.’
Special Feature: Interview with journalist film critic Anna Smith [2022] [1080p] [1.37:1 / 1.78:1] [10:27] Here Anna Smith is mainly here to talk about the film ‘I Am a Camera’ and of course compares it with the film ‘Cabaret,’ but feels the film ‘I Am a Camera’ is a much more interesting film, but slightly naïve dues to the harsh censorship of the 1950’s. Anna Smith really loves the actress Julie Harris, but of course feels that Ms Liza Minelli is so much bolder in her attitude in her performance in the film ‘Cabaret,’ and much more musical. Anna Smith feels Julie Harris is much more vivacious and a lot more fun, and Julie Harris embodies the character she plays. But Anna Smith feels she would have liked to have met the Sally Bowles character played by Julie Harris, but also feels after an hour in her company would drive you bonkers, because of her rapid fickle changed of mood and is always easily distracted and is constantly thinking about something else from one subject to another subject. Sadly at the time of the film’s release, Anna Smith informs us that the film was not very well received, especially from the critics. But of course at the time of the film’s release, they had to be very careful of the sensitive difficult subjects of the film, like abortion and homosexuality and certain parts of society knew that Laurence Harvey’s character Christopher Isherwood was a closeted homosexual, but of course with today’s modern audiences, knew what that hidden agenda was, because today’s modern audiences are much more savvy and knowledgeable, bit of course gay people when seeing the film, knew instantly that Laurence Harvey playing Christopher Isherwood was a homosexual. Anna Smith feels one of the best scenes in the film is when Julie Harris as Sally Bowles is introduced to us the first time singing [dubbed by Marlene Dietrich] in the nightclub and feels her performance is far better than the one Ms Liza Minelli performed at the start of the ‘Cabaret’ film. The other scene Anna Smith enjoyed and loved immensely is when Sally Bowles and Christopher Isherwood enter the Champagne Bar and Sally Bowles insists on indulging with everything that is offered to her, despite Christopher Isherwood has only got enough money for the rent and again Sally Bowles insisting on having loads more champagne cocktails and indulging with a massive amount of very expensive caviar, but of course Sally Bowles in her own inimitably way, gets away with it by pouring some champagne cocktail on the head of the rich American below them, who of course pays for the whole bill. Anna Smith now reckons that modern audiences should now indulge in viewing ‘I Am a Camera’ and especially with all the interesting and eccentric characters and a total insight of when on in Berlin the period with the rise of Adolph Hitler, that of course hopefully will not happen again, but Anna Smith also feels the film is a right giggle or a look at is political comment on Germany at the time and has so many layers. At the precise point in the Anna Smith featurette it comes to an end and despite it being very short, it is still worth a look, as Anna Smith gives a very interesting point of view on the film ‘I Am a Camera’ that I know you will enjoy what you view. Anna Smith is a freelance British film journalist and broadcaster, regularly featuring in publications such as The Guardian, Sight & Sound, Empire or Time Out, in addition to hosting the film podcast “Girls On Film," voted No. 1 in Stylist Magazine's Best Feminist Film Podcasts. The show features guests such as Akua Gyamfi, creator of “The British Blacklist” or Francine Stock, host of “The Film Programme” on BBC Radio 4 as well as The Film Review on the BBC News Channel now and again to discuss film in a refreshing and original ways. Anna Smith’s career has taken many twists and turns through her experiences, ranging from how to create relevant content, film journalism in practice, to the importance of paying journalists for their work.
Special Feature: Stills Gallery [1955] [1080p] [1.37:1] [1:10] Here we get a wonderful selection of black-and-white publicity photographs from scenes the film ‘I Am a Camera’ and some of behind-the-scene images and runs like a sort of slide show.
Theatrical Trailer [1955] [1080p] [1.37:1] [2:28] This is the Original Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘I Am a Camera’ and is voiced by the actor Laurence Harvey.
Finally, ‘I Am a Camera’ features a very strong central performance from Julie Harris as this is a very simple a tale of the friendship between two interesting people. Laurence Harvey is perfectly fine as Christopher Isherwood but he can’t match the energy that Julie Harris brings to the screen. ‘I Am a Camera’ will forever have a place in history thanks to how it inspired the film ‘Cabaret.’ There are moments that you’ll laugh out loud and you’ll likely be pulled in by the Julie Harris’s performance as Sally Bowles, ‘Cabaret’ fans should check it out to see the source material of the much-loved stage show and the film ‘I Am a Camera,’ for most viewers, it is still well worth venturing into the world of the hidden mystery of Berlin in the period between the two World Wars. Very Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
