And The Winner Isn't: Roy Scheider
How could the Oscars ignore Scheider's performance in "All That Jazz?"
(This is the second in a series of posts highlighting great films and performances that were not given Oscars at the Academy Awards.)
1979 was a great year for movies. Just take a look at all the wonderful films released during that twelve month period: Woody Allen’s Manhattan; Hal Ashby’s Being There; Robert Benton’s Kramer vs. Kramer; Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now; Walter Hill’s The Warriors; Alan Parker’s Midnight Express; Ridley Scott’s Alien; and Peter Yates’ Breaking Away.
And then there was Bob Fosse’s musical extravaganza: All That Jazz.
For those unfamiliar with the film, All That Jazz is a surreal musical fantasy-drama that has elements of comedy, cynicism, and irony spread throughout the story.
Billed as a semi-biographical portrait of director Bob Fosse’s own life as a womanizing workaholic stage director/choreographer and filmmaker, All That Jazz stars Roy Scheider as Fosse’s alter-ego, Joe Gideon.
At the film begins, Joe Gideon reflects on his life as he sits next to a female angel of death in a sort of purgatory as they, and by extension, we, flash back to the final year of Gideon’s life. As George Benson’s, “On Broadway” plays on the soundtrack, Gideon holds auditions for the new Broadway musical he’s directing and choreographing starring his ex-wife. At the same time, Gideon is also editing his latest movie about a Lenny Bruce like comedian called, “The Stand Up.”
Throughout all of this, Gideon juggles a variety of personal and professional relationships (along with one night stands) while he ignores his own declining health. Eventually, it all catches up with him and Joe Gideon is forced to confront his own mortality.
Sprinkled throughout all of this are spectacular musical numbers featuring Bob Fosse’s brilliant choreography and sense of style.
Yet, the glue that holds all of these elements together is Roy Scheider, who appears in almost every scene as the main character, Joe Gideon.
Scheider is probably the last actor you’d expect to be cast in this role. Until Fosse cast him for the role, Scheider had never danced before except at his local disco.
In fact, until All That Jazz, Scheider was primarily known for playing cops in movies like The French Connection, The Seven Ups, and even Jaws.
Interestingly, Scheider’s Jaws co-star Richard Dreyfuss was originally cast as Joe Gideon, but Dreyfuss never felt comfortable with the role and he and Fosse didn’t get along, so eventually Dreyfuss quit.
Once Dreyfuss left the project, Scheider’s agent, Sam Cohn, got Scheider a meeting with Fosse. It went well, so the two men got together every evening for a week at Fosse’s apartment to go over the script.
By Sunday, Roy Scheider was cast in the role.
During this time, Fosse was also rehearsing his Broadway musical, Dancin’. Scheider began shadowing him, attending every rehearsal and making notes about Fosse’s mannerisms, the way he talked to dancers, the way Fosse smoked cigarettes, and even the way Fosse continuously coughed.
Soon, Scheider also began to imitate Fosse’s appearance: he grew a goatee, wore only black clothes, and started chain-smoking cigarettes all the time. It was as if Fosse had been cloned.
Later, Fosse put Scheider through a grueling two and half weeks of intense dance lessons so Scheider would be prepared for musical sequences in the film.
You see, for the role of Joe Gideon, Roy Scheider not only had to act, he had to convincingly “direct” the other dancers on-screen, perform dances himself, and occasionally sing - all while smoking the ever present cigarette in his mouth, just like Bob Fosse.
The result is an amazing multi-layered performance by Scheider that is not only the best acting of his career, but also perhaps the best dramatic portrayal of a director-choreographer shown in any Hollywood musical.
From the moment we meet Scheider’s Joe Gideon in the film, we believe he really is a brutal but extremely talented choreographer/director. This is because Scheider exudes authority in the way he talks to the other characters, especially during the open cattle call audition at the beginning of the movie.
Scheider also does a great job of showing Joe Gideon’s dark side: the cynicism, misogyny, endless lying, promiscuity, unfaithfulness to his wife and girlfriends, contempt for those around him, and even his homophobia. Scheider doesn’t hesitate to show us all of these sides of Joe Gideon, along with his many contradictions. Often, there is some humor mixed in too.
A good example of this takes place the morning after Gideon’s girlfriend, Katie, catches him in bed with one of his female dancers. While Gideon is in the bathroom, Katie uses the phone in his bedroom to call another man and make dinner arrangements. Of course, Gideon overhears the conversation. Afterwards, Gideon tells her, “how dare you use my phone, my telephone, to call someone who’s not gay.” Thanks to Scheider’s comic timing, this line is funnier and more ironic than it should be and perfectly captures all of the contradictions in Gideon’s personality.
The truth is that Joe Gideon is a loathsome person. Yet, somehow through his performance, Scheider makes us believe there is still something good underneath all the terrible things Gideon says and does to everyone in the film.
I believe it’s Roy Scheider’s ability to show Joe Gideon’s vulnerability that makes his performance so memorable.
For example, every morning, we see Gideon go through the same routine: he plays a cassette tape of Vilvaldi’s The Four Seasons, pops a few dexedrine pills in his mouth, washes them down with an Alka-Seltzer, and puts drops of Visine in his eyes. Afterwards Gideon looks in the mirror, smiles, and proclaims, “It’s showtime, folks!”
However, as the movie goes on, Scheider brilliantly uses his facial expressions and body language to show the physical toll all of the drugs, carousing, and overwork is taking on his health. Little by little, as Joe Gideon says his mantra, “It’s showtime, folks,” Scheider’s enthusiasm fades as we see him start to crack and fall apart.
Another example of the vulnerability Scheider brings to his portrayal of Joe Gideon is the scene where Gideon is strapped to a gurney as he’s being pushed down a hallway in the hospital. The nurses are taking him to the operation room for his heart surgery. As the chloroform takes effect, Gideon looks at the nurse on his left and sees her turn into his ex-wife, Audrey. He says, “If I die, I’m sorry for all the terrible things I’ve done to you.” Then Gideon looks over at the nurse on his right and sees her become his current girlfriend, Katie. He looks at her and says, “and if I live, I’m sorry for all the terrible things I’m going to do to you.”
But it’s in the last part of the film as Joe Gideon realizes his death is inevitable that Roy Scheider’s performance really shines.
This is made clear when Joe Gideon escapes from his bed in the intensive care unit. As Gideon wanders around the hospital, he mutters out loud to himself while going through the five stages of grief. Ironically, this mirrors the footage of the comedian’s stand up routine Gideon was editing earlier in the film.
During this sequence, Gideon runs around the basement of the hospital, jumping in and out of puddles of water on the floor. In this sly reference to Singin’ in the Rain, Gideon breaks the fourth wall and looks up at the camera as if he’s talking to God. He says, “What’s the matter? Don’t you like musical comedy?” It’s an eerie and discomforting moment.
Later, Gideon walks into the room of a dying woman moaning in pain. Gideon goes to her bedside and kisses her, telling the shocked patient that she’s the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. We see the woman’s face change from agony into a brief smile of contentment as she passes away. It’s a very touching moment. It’s also one of the few times we see Joe Gideon do something nice for another person.
In his positive review of the film, New York Times critic Vincent Canby praised Scheider’s performance and said, “with an actor of less weight and intensity, All That Jazz may have evaporated as we watched it. Mr. Scheider is a presence to reckon with.” Other critics were divided by the movie but all of them praised Scheider’s work in the film.
At that year’s Academy Awards, All That Jazz received 9 nominations, including best picture, best director, and best actor in a leading role. Scheider’s competition for the award that year were Dustin Hoffman (Kramer vs. Kramer); Jack Lemmon (The China Syndrome); Al Pacino (And Justice For All); and Peter Sellers (Being There).
On the night of the ceremony, Dustin Hoffman won the Oscar for his performance in Kramer vs. Kramer.
This was rather surprising because Hoffman had always been critical of the Academy Awards, calling them “a garish and embarrassing evening.” Even so, Hoffman still attended the 1980 ceremony in person and gave an emotionally powerful speech as he accepted the award:
I refuse to believe that I beat Jack Lemmon, that I beat Al Pacino, that I beat Peter Sellers. I refuse to believe that Robert Duvall lost. We are a part of an artistic family. . . .And to that artistic family that strives for excellence, none of you have ever lost and I am proud to share this with you. And I thank you.
After the 1980 ceremony, the Academy stopped having presenters say, “And the winner is…” and changed it to, “And the Oscar goes to…” This was most likely due to the effects Hoffman’s speech had on everyone present at the ceremony and watching the show at home on television.
So why did Dustin Hoffman win the Oscar for best actor that year instead of Roy Scheider?
Perhaps Oscar voters were turned off by Roy Scheider’s portrayal of one of the most unappealing characters ever put on film at that time. As mentioned earlier, Scheider’s character, Joe Gideon, has few (if any) redeeming qualities except his talent.
Compare that to Hoffman’s character in Kramer vs. Kramer, Ted Kramer. In this film, Dustin Hoffman plays a workaholic and absent parent who must suddenly learn how to be a good father to his young son after his wife leaves him. As the film progresses, we see Ted Kramer evolve from a self-obsessed advertising executive whose life revolves around his work to become a loving father whose life revolves around his son.
Clearly, Hoffman portrayed a character audiences could root for and admire; just the opposite of Scheider’s Joe Gideon.
In addition, Hoffman had previously been nominated three times for his performances in The Graduate (1967); Midnight Cowboy (1969); and Lenny (1974) but had never won. Perhaps the Academy thought he was overdue for an Oscar.
Even so, I would argue that Hoffman’s performance in Kramer vs. Kramer, while quite good, still doesn’t compare to Roy Scheider’s multi-layered portrayal of Joe Gideon. Scheider’s character is more complex, full of contradictions, and requires Scheider to be cynical, dramatic, ironic, and funny - often all at the same time. On top of all that, Scheider, who previously had no singing or dance training, is required to do both in the role.
Now, 46 years later, I’m not sure most people remember Kramer vs. Kramer or Hoffman’s role in the movie. Sure, they might watch the film if it pops up on a streaming channel, but I don’t think it’s a movie most people talk about or make reference to today.
But in contrast, All That Jazz and Roy Scheider’s performance in the film have grown in stature through the years. According to letterboxd, the film is currently a favorite of both cinephiles and showbiz folk like Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, Anne Hathaway, and Alex Garland. In addition, directors such as David Fincher, Martin Scorsese, Guillermo del Toro, and even Zack Snyder list it as one of their most favorite films on the website.
But perhaps the greatest compliment to both All That Jazz and Roy Scheider is from the late film director, Stanley Kubrick. According to biographer John Baxter, Stanley Kubrick referred to All That Jazz as “the best film I think I have ever seen.”
As Joe Gideon would say, “It’s showtime, folks!”
If you missed part one of our series about great movies and performances that didn’t win at the Oscars, you can read it by clicking on the link below:
Thanks for writing this and posting it. "All That Jazz" is one of my favorite movies, and I have watched several documentaries about Bob Fosse. He was a genius, and his choreography is unmistakeable.
I work with a woman who is a dancer and we could talk for hours about Fosse's work, alas, we have to work. ,
After the recent death of Gene Hackman I watched "The French Connection" again. It's hard to imagine his partner Roy Scheider as Fosse, but in a few years, it happened.
I could keep going, but the cattle call scene of the stage filled with dancers alone is just brilliant film making. And the death scene with Ben Vereen ("And great humanitarian"), all singing, all dancing, was a treat.
Pardon me while I have a quiet moment for the beautiful Ann Reinking - she was stunning!
Right out of deeply personal experience, no filters. They have patches where they’re so raw and brutally honest that they’re chilling. Mixed with a real entertainer’s instincts.
The last time I saw ALL THAT JAZZ, it left me speechless. And so did Roy Scheider in it.