Music at the Movies - Week of 10/27

[lora]

This week, in honor of my latest (and next) album review, I have decided to cover the phenomenal musical Funny Girl, starring Barbra Streisand.

Funny Girl (1968)

Directed By: William Wyler
Screenplay By: Isobel Lennart
Produced By: Ray Stark
Original Music By: Jule Styne and Bob Merrill
Cinematography By: Harry Stradling
Musical Numbers Directed By: Herbert Ross

Starring:
Fanny Brice...Barbra Streisand
Nick Arnstein...Omar Sharif
Rose Brice...Kay Medford
Georgia James...Anne Francis
Florenz Ziegfeld...Walter Pidgeon

Synopsis, From Yahoo! Movies:
In Funny Girl, the highly fictionalized musical biopic, Barbara Streisand makes her film debut in a reprisal of her Broadway role as Ziegfeld star Fanny Brice. Brice, a poor Jewish girl from New York's Lower East Side, rose to fame and won audience's hearts everywhere with her comic antics and powerful singing. Unfortunately, she had far less success in her personal life, and the film focuses on her doomed romance with her first husband, gambler Nicky Arnstein.

My Comments:
This movie really established Barbra as an entertainer, and it even won her an Oscar. Unfortunately, the less-superior musical Oliver! stole the Best Picture title from Funny Girl that year.

I really love this movie. All of Barbra's vocal performances are great, and her version of "My Man" at the end of the film is incredibly moving. My only bone to pick about this film is the way it ends. It seems so incomplete. Of course, there was Funny Lady that picked up where this left off, but I have yet to see that.

My favorite part of this movie is the "Most Beautiful Girl in the World" number during the Ziegfeld Follies. When Fanny emerges in that wedding dress...it's priceless! I also love the ballet number, "The Swan". I don't know many lines from this movie, but the one I quote is from "The Swan": "Vat are you gonna do, shoot da schvans? Dees lovelies?" Love it.

I'm grateful to this film for exposing me to the brilliant Fanny Brice.

Also, I'd like to add this little quote that I found while trying to get all the production info on Funny Girl. It's from a movie review by Pauline Kael: "It has been commonly said that the musical Funny Girl was a comfort to people because it carried the message that you do not need to be pretty to succeed. That is nonsense; the 'message' of Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl is that talent is beauty."

Now, your turn!

[SAT-I need more room!!]

Up until "powerful singing", it sounded like they were describing Fran Fine from The Nanny.

Nice review. Heard of the movie all my life, but never watched. In fact, the only Babs movie I have even seen part of is The Owl & the Pussycat, with Babs' nighty with the strategically placed hands!

[kathyb]

Good review!

I've never seen this movie. I guess I didn't realize this was Barbra's film debut. Pretty good accomplishment to win an Oscar for your first film!

Love the "talent is beauty" line!

[lora]

SAT-Sissy's said:

Up until "powerful singing", it sounded like they were describing Fran Fine from The Nanny.

Nice review. Heard of the movie all my life, but never watched. In fact, the only Babs movie I have even seen part of is The Owl & the Pussycat, with Babs' nighty with the strategically placed hands!

I've never seen The Owl and the Pussycat, but I'm familiar with the nightie!

[lora]

kathyb said:

Good review!

I've never seen this movie. I guess I didn't realize this was Barbra's film debut. Pretty good accomplishment to win an Oscar for your first film!

Love the "talent is beauty" line!

I can't believe YOU haven't seen Funny Girl. It is such a great movie!

When Babs won the Oscar for this, she actually tied with Katharine Hepburn for The Lion in Winter. The first, and only, time there's been a tie for Best Actress.

[athompsen]

Saw it a long time ago. And it's true...people who see "Funny Girl" are the luckiest people in the world.

Are you going to be doing "Yentl" any time soon?

[KittyKat - RIP Luciano]

One of my faves, most definitely. I've seen it enough that now I can't really sit through the whole thing. I want to fast forward to certain scenes. I could watch the ending with her singing "My Man" over and over again. It gives me goosebumps each and every time.

Other treasured parts:

• the whole "Don't Rain On My Parade" sequence
• the dinner scene and the song "You Are Woman, I Am Man"
• "Sadie, Sadie" - ever since I saw this movie for the first time at the age of 8 I have called married ladies, "sadie".

By the way, if you haven't seen Funny Lady you should only for the great music. However the story is not as moving or believable as the first film and it suffers a little from the fact that Babs was an established star in 1974 and she doesn't seem as invested in the role. But again, the music is amazing in the sequel.

[Ken]

I think I may have seen some of it - My mom liked Barbra's music - I seem to remember her watching it on TV.

[lora]

athompsen said:

Saw it a long time ago. And it's true...people who see "Funny Girl" are the luckiest people in the world.

Are you going to be doing "Yentl" any time soon?

I hope so, but I haven't seen it yet! I'm really anxious to get to it though.

[lora]

KittyKat said:

One of my faves, most definitely. I've seen it enough that now I can't really sit through the whole thing. I want to fast forward to certain scenes. I could watch the ending with her singing "My Man" over and over again. It gives me goosebumps each and every time.

Other treasured parts:

• the whole "Don't Rain On My Parade" sequence
• the dinner scene and the song "You Are Woman, I Am Man"
• "Sadie, Sadie" - ever since I saw this movie for the first time at the age of 8 I have called married ladies, "sadie".

By the way, if you haven't seen Funny Lady you should only for the great music. However the story is not as moving or believable as the first film and it suffers a little from the fact that Babs was an established star in 1974 and she doesn't seem as invested in the role. But again, the music is amazing in the sequel.

So you're a fan of the movie, I guess? The Sadie scene is another favorite of mine. This movie is just perfect in every way, really. I can't find a single thing wrong with it.

I'll see if I can find Funny Lady. I've been wanting to rent it, but no where around where I live has any movies made before like 1985, if that old!

[lora]

Ken said:

I think I may have seen some of it - My mom liked Barbra's music - I seem to remember her watching it on TV.

Your mom's a smart woman. ;D