"I Am a Camera" (1955) Laurence Harvey, Julie Harris, Shelley Winters

I first saw the Original Broadway cast of Cabaret when I was about 12 years old. It was wonderful. It was so good that it took me about 15 years until I could even watch the film with Liza Minnelli. Now it is one of my favorite films. They dropped a few of my favorite numbers from the show, but added a few new ones which are equally superb.

But, before there was a Broadway show, or the subsequent Hollywood film, there was this often overlooked gem based on the original play called "I Am a Camera" which came from a story in the book "The Berlin Stories" by Christopher Isherwood. He is the Chris in the story. The play, by John Van Druten, used this story to craft it. The plot and the characters are the same, minus the music.

Just before the Nazis come to power in Berlin, Chris, a would be novelist from England, played by Laurence Harvey meets the cabaret entertainer Sally Bowles, played here with great exuberance and charm by Julie Harris. The two form an unusual friendship borne of financial necessity. Shelley Winters plays the part of Chris' English student.

As Sally indulges her fantasies of becoming a great star, Chris goes along for the ride, much to the detriment of the great novel he is intending to write. Little does he realize that this interlude with Sally will become that great novel. The play, and film, are told in flashback years later at gentleman's club of writers years later, in London.

The format of the link below is a bit different than You Tube, but you should be able to figure out all the bells and whistles involved. If you cannot cast it to your TV then just access it direcly on your big screen.

https://archive.org/details/IAMACAMERA1955