It may not be explicitly a gay film, but there are very few movies with as openly gay a tone as the cherished 1972 classic 'Cabaret,' featuring Liza Minnelli in the defining role of her career. Fittingly for a hit musical, 'Cabaret' was on Broadway long before it was on cinema schools, appearing on Broadway in 1966. The stage show wasn't the first iteration of the tale though; that would be the book 'The Berlin Stories,' a war novel first published in 1951.
Despite the showy centerpieces and all the singing, 'Cabaret' actually captures a dark era in German history, set in Berlin as the Nazis are taking their first strides towards power. While ostensibly about gay sexual relationships, many of which are depicted on screen, the film is really about the threat that Nazis presented to the personal freedoms of German citizens, and the shocking speed with which the public came to accept those views.
To insure one’s house, one’s car or to underwrite a life insurance policy, that is common practice. But who would pay an insurance premium for his/her thumb, legs or smile? Stars, of course.
At the top of the ranking are the legs of Mariah Carey, worth 810 million USD: The diva became, in 2006, the Gillette brand muse for the advertising campaign «Legs of a Goddess». She then took out an insurance policy with London Lloyds to protect her legs, a decision that is far from being insignificant. Among its customers, the London insurer then included several icons of music, such as Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart.
David Beckham’s body insured for 195 million USD: European champion with Manchester United in 1999, David Beckham was in 2006 the most renowned footballer of the planet. In relation to his sporting activities, he took out an insurance cover for his legs. The huge amount paid for his insurance would reportedly exceed the 103 million USD disbursed by Real Madrid for the cover of Christiano Ronaldo in 2009. The fashion model would later extend his insurance cover to his entire body.
15 million USD in insurance for Kim Kardashian’s curves: The curves of Kim Kardashian are her number one beauty asset. The reality TV star, who is crazy about plastic surgery, has underwritten an insurance policy worth 15 million USD to protect her famous butt.
The culinary critic Egon Ronay assured his taste buds: The famous Hungarian culinary critic has insured his taste buds since 1957, for the amount of 400 000 USD. An original insurance policy which allows him to cover his sense of taste without which he will no longer be able to practice his job.