Of all the versions of this tale, this is by far the least notable. Who knew this story could be so DARNED CUTE
starting with the appallingly chirpy Ms. Harris. Of course, any trace of the gayness and decadence of 30's Berlin has been edited out, but in fact, any trace of the atmosphere whatsoever has been edited out. (The only vestigial evidence which remains is Shelly Winter's rather terrible German accent). This lapse is unutterably sad, considering the sexuality of Isherwood, Van Druten , even leading man Laurence Harvey. "I Am a Camera" is so bad, that it's a wonder that the story survived it. In fact, though, there was some service rendered to the original story "Sally Bowles". Some of the embellishments made it into the stage version of "Cabaret" where they then were transmuted with great style and depth into the superb film version. Also, Harris's virtually accent-less Sally Bowles proved that the nationality of the heroine was completely irrelevant, paving the way for Liza Minnelli to own the role. It is a shame that Van Druten's gayness found full flower only in his coded "Bell, Book and Candle". Knowing how cleverly he managed that, however, one feels he could have found some way to be truer to the spirit of Isherwood and his source material.
Review of I Am a Camera
