Stepping Out *** (1991, Liza Minnelli, Shelley Winters, Ellen Greene, Julie Walters, Bill Irwin) – Classic Movie Review 6750

Liza Minnelli and Julie Walters are the making of Lewis Gilbert’s 1991 musical comedy Stepping Out.

Liza Minnelli steps out in director Lewis Gilbert’s old-fashioned, likeable and mildly enjoyable 1991 British musical comedy Stepping Out as has-been Broadway performer Mavis Turner, now a tap-dance teacher of a bunch of misfit amateurs who have to put on a big number at a charity show.

They include Julie Walters as an obsessively tidy and nosey Englishwoman called Vera, Ellen Greene as Maxine, Bill Irwin as Geoffrey, the only man in the class, and Shelley Winters as the none-too-helpful piano player Mrs Fraser.

Gilbert tries to open out Richard Harris’s London West End hit play as he did so successfully with Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine but finds it won’t work nearly so well this time. He gets stuck making the mistakes of transferring the location to the US and pulling the play out of the claustrophobia of the dance hall.

Also he breaks things up into short scenes when he should train his camera obsessively on his good actors and swing the lens round in long, rhythmical takes. So there is little build-up, pace or atmosphere, and all that is left is a warm-hearted mood, some amusing jokes and a couple of truly admirable performances from Minnelli and Walters, both of whom are tremendous, as well as some good turns from the other performers.

Also in the cast are Robyn Stevan, Jane Krakowski, Andrea Martin, Sheila McCarthy, Carol Woods, Luke Reilly, Nora Dunn, Eugene Robert Glazer, Géza Kovács and Raymond Rickman.

Stepping Out is directed by Lewis Gilbert, runs 108 minutes, is released by Paramount, is written by Richard Harris, based on the play by Richard Harris, is shot by Alan Hume, is produced by Lewis Gilbert, is scored by Peter Matz and choreographed by Danny Daniels.

It tanked in America after a belated, half-hearted release but it ran for an extroordinary ten weeks at Bev Mahon’s Varsity Theatre in Des Moines, Iowa, where it was heavily promoted. And it did OK in the UK, where Walters gained a BAFTA Film Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. She won BAFTA Film Awards as Best Actress for Educating Rita (1983) and Best Supporting Actress for Billy Elliot (2000).

The Broadway stage production opened at the John Golden Theatre in New York on 11 January 1987 and ran for 73 performances. Carol Woods re-creates her stage role in the film. Carole Shelley was nominated for a Tony Award as Maxine.

It is Minnelli’s last musical and last major film.

RIP Lewis Gilbert (1920–2018), among the best of the best.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 6750

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