Queen were known for regularly referencing movies in their work. Beloved for their theatrical take on rock, the band borrowed a lot from musical theatre soundtracks and cinematic influences. Freddie Mercury, especially, was deeply inspired by the characters he loved in movies as he built his on-stage persona.
Born Farrokh Bulsara in 1946, the Freddie Mercury world is built off the influence of some of cinema’s most infamous characters. Back at St Peter’s school in India, Mercury never missed one of their movie nights as they screened classics from the decades gone by. Then, once he’d become the superstar he was to be, friends commented that the singer rarely slept more than a few hours a night, staying up to watch films instead.
Some of Mercury’s favourites include the Marilyn Monroe classic Some Like It Hot, which Roger Taylor called the singer’s “absolute favourite film”. It seems the singer had a particular love for upbeat, cheery cinema, with the 1959 Lana Turn flick Imitation Of Life also being a favourite of the singer, as he recalled, “It’s just a camp joy”.
You can see traces of movies throughout Queen’s music, videos and artwork. Take the cover of their 1974 album Queen II, for instance. Taking direct inspiration from a photo of Marlene Dietrich shot by George Hurrell for the film Shanghai Express, Mercury decided to copy the pose for the album cover as another piece of movie magic in the Queen history books. Two of their albums were even named after classic vaudeville movies that “cheered up the band”, dedicating their 1975 and 1976 records A Night At The Opera and A Day At The Races to the Marx Brothers films of the same name.
However, no film provided more inspiration to Freddie Mercury than a certain Liza Minnelli classic. Freddie Mercury took a lot of inspiration from musicals, with the 1972 film Cabaret also regarded as one of his favourite films. Talking about his inspirations, he said, “I like the cabaret-ish sort of thing. In fact, one of my early inspirations came from Cabaret. I absolutely adore Liza Minnelli, she’s a total wow.”
In fact, the film reminded him of his own shows, as he added: “The way she delivers her songs – the sheer energy. The way the lights enhance every movement of the show. I think you can see similarities in the excitement and energy of a Queen show.”
The admiration between Freddie Mercury and Liza Minnelli was mutual as Minnelli performed at Mercury’s memorial concert at Wembley Stadium, calling the singer “one of the best of all time”.
