The Laser Bin : <i> Reviews of recent laser discs</i>

“Sweet Charity” (MCA, 148 minutes, color, digital sound, four sides, two extended-play CLV, two full features CAV, $39.95).

Director Bob Fosse’s choreography can only be appreciated in its original wide-screen format and, luckily, that’s what MCA goes to for most of the 13 musical numbers. But, alas, MCA didn’t have the courage to use this method all the way; the rest of the film looks as if the image was squeezed into one eyepiece of a pair of cheap binoculars. Still, seeing Shirley MacLaine’s dynamic performance with the Fandango Chorus (led by Chita Rivera and Paula Kelly) and watching Fosse’s dynamic use of the wide screen makes up for the rest of this claustrophobic rendering. There are some other bonuses. Two of the sides are CAV, making it possible to analyze Fosse’s dance steps in detail; the theatrical trailer is also included. But the real showstopper is the alternate ending shot by Fosse to give the film an upbeat conclusion. It offers a glimpse into some of the pressures Fosse must have been under to give his rough-and-tumble Broadway show a more palatable finish. Happily, it wasn’t released that way.