I AM A CAMERA

UK, 1955, 98 minutes, Black and White.
Julie Harris, Laurence Harvey, Shelley Winters, Ron Randell, Anton Diffring.
Directed by Henry Cornelius.

I Am a Camera is based on a play by Jan Van Druten (The Fourposter, Bell, Book and Candle). This, in turn, is based on the writings of Christopher Isherwood who is the hero of the film. Isherwood became a well-known novelist and during the 60's lived in Hollywood and contributed to film screenplays such as The Loved One. I Am a Camera was made into a musical, Cabaret (just as Van Druten's The Fourposter became I Do, I Do).

The film is a comedy, but one of those wry comedies of human observation with a social setting. The heroine, Sally Bowles, is meant to be one of those vital types who survive anything and live life with zest, a kind of feminine Zorba. Here she survives in a rather bleak Berlin of 1931 on the eve of Nazi power. Julie Harris plays the role with verve, although she would probably have seemed better on stage. Laurence Harvey, in one of his first films shows a flair for comedy and drama, which he later developed. The supporting cast is good. Shelley Winters shows that early in her career she could do character parts well and need not have been cast so often as a blonde moll. Ron Randell embodies the big spending American.
Fans of World War II films will be surprised to see Anton Diffring acting a fairly sympathetic part in younger days. He has become too often the Nazi villain.

The film looks a little dated at times. In 1955 it was daring. Today it is not, but it is quite entertaining.

1. Was this meant to be merely a laugh and forget comedy, or was there more to it?

2. Was the flashback technique well used? It meant that all through the film, the audience knew that ultimately there would be success for Chris and Sally?

3. How did Christopher Isherwood emerge from the film as a person? How 'young' was he? How naive and idealistic? What effect did Sally Bowles have on his personality?

4. What impression did Sally make on you during the cabaret in her first predicament?

5. Did you like Sally Bowles? What good qualities did she have? By what standards did she live? What type of attitude to life did she represent?

6. What was the significance of the sub-plot between Fritz and Natalya? was it just for comedy contrast? what social comment did it make about Germany in 1931 (Fritz the dilettante, Natalya's father and shops, Natalya's free-thinking, the Jews)?

7. What was the significance of the Clive episode? What did it show of Sally's character? How satirical of the Americans was it? Did you enjoy the farce of Chris's treatment for fever?

8. What was the effect on Sally of her imagined pregnancy? Did it show her as different - as what she could be?

9. Did Chris really feel the dilemma between the start of his career and marrying Sally?

10. What was the significance of the title? Is this what the film was all about?