I Am A Camera

Based on characters created by English novelist Christopher Isherwood for his book ‘Berlin Stories’, this 1955 film (an early forerunner of ‘Cabaret’) provides (or should have) a glimpse into early 1930's Berlin and the waning days of the Weimar Republic before the rise of the Nazi Party. Here it is Julie Harris who takes on the immortal character of decadent cabaret singer Sally Bowles whilst a young Laurence Harvey (complete with 1950’s rockabilly quiff!) portrays Isherwood.

The opening shot shows a middle-aged Christopher Isherwood walking down Wyndham Place (a fashionable West End location and the film's only real location) in order to attend a cocktail party and book launch (in this case a memoir) thrown by his publisher. While chatting away with colleagues one of the guests hands Isherwood the book in question and he’s more than startled upon realising that the author is none other than one Sally Bowles… Realising how perplexed he is they ask him whether he knows the author. Smiling and looking out of the large window, Chris then recounts to his colleagues just how he came to meet Sally some twenty-four years earlier in Berlin – back then he was a struggling writer with no ideas and even less money though able to speak some German… and off he went to the Fatherland’s very own Babylon, the year being 1931.

The film then goes into flashback and we see how Chris's best friend Fritz (Anton Diffring) invites him to a nightclub to witness a performance by the 'outrageous' English singer Sally Bowles (Julie Harris) with whom he has become smitten. No sooner are greetings exchanged than Sally's then boyfriend arrives and promptly dumps her leaving her distraught and in a flood of tears alone at the table. A dejected Fritz, who is desperate for romance, leaves but the kind-hearted and curious Chris joins Sally. It would seem Sally now has nowhere to stay. Chris Isherwood (the real Isherwood was gay) displays no ulterior motive and thus invites Sally to stay in his ramshackle room, gallantly offering her his bed whilst he sleeps on the couch – of course, seeing how the film was made in 1955 any mention of homosexuality would have caused problems with the censors. Pretty soon it's all aboard for the skylark as the considerably larger than life Sally with her emerald-green fingernails proceeds to paint the town red with Chris in tow though never shying away from flirting with prospective sugar daddies. It should be pointed out that Chris is 'writing a famous novel' although it would have been more correct to say 'wants to write a famous novel' whereas Sally, an aspiring actress hoping to make it big at UFA studios, is adamant she will be the next sensation of the silver screen! If only she had the discipline… Though of course, her antics will indeed provide the basis for the famous novella.

Meanwhile, Fritz soon finds a steady girlfriend in the kindly and wealthy Natalia Landauer (a small part for Shelley Winters) to whom Chris gives English lessons. However, for Fritz who is Jewish there will be major troubles ahead with the political climate in Germany changing. Little does he know that the Landauers are themselves Jewish.
Such obvious warning signs are of little concern to our exuberant Sally who is more interested in a decadent lifestyle which clearly she can’t afford. One evening after a night out Sally coaxes Chris into buying her “only one glass of champagne” in an expensive restaurant but no sooner has she downed it decides to indulge herself (at poor Chris's expense) a bit more and not only orders countless champagne cocktails but caviar too (Beluga no doubt). There is no way Chris can pay for this! Never mind, for Sally has already come up with one of her tricks: sitting next to them is a filthy rich American named Clive Mortimer (Ron Randall) and within no time our Sal has inveigled the man into their company and he's only too happy to pay the bill and then take the pair out to other bars and clubs, mind you, it does help that Sally makes it clear Chris is not her lover - her brother perhaps. Soon Clive and Sally are romantically involved and the generous American - 'the life and soul' of any party - is only too happy to take the by now long suffering Chris along with them.

Unlike in the 1972 smash-hit ‘Cabaret’ where this particular ménage-a-trois exists through the bi-sexual Baron von Heune (Helmut Griem), in ‘I Am A Camera’ the Clive character is straight – despite this he invites both Sally and Chris (as a private secretary) to travel the world with him. Chris in particular is pleased about this after a nasty run-in with some Nazis, in short, he can’t wait to leave Berlin. However, Clive decides to move on without them – not only leaving Chris disappointed but Sally in the lurch as she finds herself pregnant. Chris, who some might find a little too good to be true, even offers to marry her (he had earlier made a pass that was rejected). The real Isherwood confessed to a few straight flings - but like fellow gay English poets Auden and Spender was in Germany mainly for the young boys.

Fortunately there doesn't have to be a marriage as Sally, although at first excited about the prospect of becoming a mother (what, champagne-swilling and eternally chain-smoking?) then informs Chris that she had ‘miscalculated the dates’ and was never pregnant to begin with. Anyone who ever read the actual book (in particular the lengthy chapter ‘Sally Bowles’) will be aware that Sally was indeed pregnant and had an abortion (also depicted in ‘Cabaret’) – something that simply couldn’t be mentioned in this 1955 film just like Isherwood’s homosexuality. Despite this good news, Sally decides to go to Paris and promises to regularly write to Chris though apart from one postcard he was never to hear from her again, himself waving goodbye to Berlin a short time later.

Which brings us back to present day London and the book launch… after Chris had finished revealing his tale one of his colleagues points out that the author is in attendance and indeed, after all those years Chris finds himself re-united with Sally Bowles who – despite her new-found fame – is as penniless as ever! Just as well that Chris has such a good heart and once again invites her to stay with him…

The film has its moments and is quite heart-warming in places but really only lightly touches on what times in 1930s Berlin would really have been like – on the one hand we had the Weimar Republic with all its decadence whilst on the other the Nazi Party was already on the rise – with a dwindling economy and the Jewish people made scapegoats. Unfortunately ‘I Am A Camera’ doesn’t display enough decadence to make us believe we are in Weimar Republic Berlin – even Julie Harris looks way too tame and wholesome to personify Sally Bowles. That said, Harris won a Tony Award for her portrayal of Bowles in the original Broadway stage production (which caused a scandal upon its opening). The leads (Harvey in particular) provide satisfying performances nonetheless although despite a screenplay by John Collier (author of a number of inspired short stories and the classic 'His Monkey Wife') it really is an opportunity missed thanks to the Lord Chamberlain’s Office which refused to approve any film adaptation unless substantial changes were made. Consequently, most of the play's dialogue was rewritten to remove all objectionable material and key plot developments were removed. Despite these alterations, the film still received an 'X' certificate on release. On the plus side, we can enjoy spotting a number of faces in comparatively small parts (later to become famous) such as Patrick McGoohan as a Swedish water therapist. Malcolm Arnold supplies a catchy score for this adaptation of John Van Druten’s play.

Newly restored, I AM A CAMERA is available on Bluray, DVD & Digital with the following Bonus Material: Peter Parker on Christopher Isherwood and Sally Bowles, Interview with journalist/film critic Anna Smith, Stills gallery and Trailer.