Editing All That Jazz (film) (section)

==Production==
While trying to edit ''[[Lenny (film)|Lenny]]'' and choreograph ''[[Chicago (musical)|Chicago]]'' in 1974, Fosse suffered a massive heart attack and underwent open heart surgery.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Julie |first1=Miller |title=Fosse/Verdon: How Bob Fosse's Near-Death Experience Inspired All That Jazz |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/05/bob-fosse-heart-attack-all-that-jazz-gwen-verdon |magazine=Vanity Fair |publisher=Vanity Fair. |access-date=1 October 2019 |date=15 May 2019 |archive-date=15 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715160522/https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/05/bob-fosse-heart-attack-all-that-jazz-gwen-verdon |url-status=live }}</ref> After recovering, Fosse became interested in the subject of life and death and hospital behavior. Alongside his friend Robert Alan Aurthur, they set out to make a film adaption of ''Ending'' by [[Hilma Wolitzer]] which had similar themes of death and marital problems. However, after completing the screenplay, Fosse decided against making it a film as he found the material too depressing and felt he wasn't strong enough to stick with it for over a year. Still wanting to stick with the subject matter of death and wanting to use what he felt were his best tools of song and dance, he instead decided to make a film based on his own experiences with making ''Lenny'' and ''Chicago''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fosse |first1=Bob |author1-link=Bob Fosse |title=Bob Fosse on All That Jazz |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUxvqC2nIbI |website=youtube.com |publisher=[[The Criterion Collection]] |language=en |format=video |date=September 3, 2014}}</ref> The story's structure closely mirrors Fosse's own health issues at the time and is often compared to [[Federico Fellini]]'s ''[[8½]]'', another thinly veiled autobiographical film with fantastical elements.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9803E2DF1538E732A25753C2A9649D946890D6CF |title = Movie Review - All That Jazz - the Screen: Roy Scheider Stars in 'All… |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710101215/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9803E2DF1538E732A25753C2A9649D946890D6CF |archive-date=10 July 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[https://www.avclub.com/content/node/7299 DVD review in ''The Onion: A.V. Club''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926223116/http://www.avclub.com/content/node/7299 |date=2007-09-26 }}</ref><ref name="Leonard Maltin page 26">"Leonard Maltin's 2009 Movie Guide" page 26</ref>

The part of Audrey Paris—Joe's ex-wife and continuing muse, played by [[Leland Palmer (actress)|Leland Palmer]]—closely reflects that of Fosse's wife, the dancer and actress [[Gwen Verdon]], who continued to work with him on projects including ''[[Chicago (musical)|Chicago]]'' and ''All That Jazz'' itself.

Gideon's rough handling of chorus girl Victoria Porter closely resembles [[Bob Fosse]]'s own treatment of Jennifer Nairn-Smith during rehearsals for ''[[Pippin (musical)|Pippin]]''.<ref>''All His Jazz: The Life & Death of Bob Fosse'' by Martin Gottfried, Da Capo Press, 1990</ref> Nairn-Smith herself appears in the film as Jennifer, one of the ''NY/LA'' dancers.

[[Ann Reinking]] auditioned for and received the role of Katie Jagger, a role loosely based on herself.

[[Cliff Gorman]] was cast in the titular role of ''The Stand-Up''—the film-within-a-film version of ''[[Lenny (film)|Lenny]]''—after having played the role of Lenny Bruce in the original theatrical production of the show (for which he won a [[Tony Award]]), but was passed over for Fosse's film version of the production in favor of [[Dustin Hoffman]].<ref>{{cite web |author-link1=Robert Simonson |last1=Simonson |first1=Robert |title=Cliff Gorman, Broadway's Lenny, Is Dead at 65 |url=http://www.playbill.com/article/cliff-gorman-broadways-lenny-is-dead-at-65-com-108241 |website=Playbill.com |publisher=Playbill, Inc. |access-date=19 July 2018 |date=13 September 2002 |archive-date=19 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719083905/http://www.playbill.com/article/cliff-gorman-broadways-lenny-is-dead-at-65-com-108241 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The part of Joe Gideon was offered to [[Paul Newman]], who turned it down as he didn't feel the character was redeemable and also didn't take Fosse into consideration. Newman would later call it a "dumb mistake".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Taylor |first=Clarke |date=1981-02-01 |title=Paul Newman and the Roles That Got Away |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1981/02/01/paul-newman-and-the-roles-that-got-away/2dd4d2e3-5685-4b4e-a351-0a7fd332c725/ |access-date=2025-05-16 |work=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>

With increasing production costs and a loss of enthusiasm for the film, [[Columbia Pictures|Columbia]] brought in [[20th Century-Fox|Fox]] to finance completion, and the latter studio acquired domestic distribution rights in return.<ref>{{cite news|work=[[Daily Variety]]|title='Kramer' Wins Five-Oscar Judgment|date=April 15, 1980|page=1|last=Harwood|first=Jim}}</ref>