Funny Girl (1968)

I don't think I can watch the whole thing on TCM this minute. or ever. Tune in and listen a bit an turn away is enough. Better to listen to my CD, and get the Cast album if I can, as they dropped many songs; I've read. I am just young enough to know the name Fanny Brice, but not Nicky Arnstein; and wondered do they mean Sophie Tucker! Sounds silly but was confusing. Brice was not movie star(?) let alone to ever be possible as a TV star, out of sight out of mind.The lives of Fanny and Nicky and her family in this movie are too sanitized and fictionalized. The movie and earlier play was produced by Fanny Brice's son-in-law and was 'rigged' so to avoid what I read could have been possible lawsuits especially from Arnstein! So I do hove something against it. And there won't be a musical remake of this caliber that can be closer to the real background story.I thought they stopped making up all kinds of fictionalized characters and scenarios to sell the A- musicals of the 50s with THEN old-fashioned music standards and the THEN more "mature" stars. (Tea for Two", "Band Wagon" etc.)I have no idea what Fanny Brice sounded like. Aren't there any recordings? None of the characters ring true in my imagination - songs forced style NY Jewish-ish, and sometimes the lines and sometimes not that way, too. You need to be a Streisand or a movie musical lover to take this in and be able to swoon.

"Show me an actress who isn't a personality and you'll show me a woman who isn't a star," declared Katharine Hepburn when asked about her smashing screen persona. Humble, no. Correct, yes. Take any legendary performer — Humphrey Bogart, Joan Crawford, Cary Grant, Marilyn Monroe — and you will not only find a terrific actor but also a presence that could interrupt the breathing patterns of an entire room just by walking through a door. And if you don't inspire that same breathless room to immediately bow down in a we're-not-worthy Wayne's World dramatization, then you probably aren't a star.Fortunately for us, fortunately for Funny Girl, but unfortunately for the self-proclaimed icon herself, Katharine Hepburn, Barbra Streisand just so happens to be a star — a star that, incidentally, matched Hepburn's explosive performance in The Lion in Winter so well that the two ended up tying for the Oscar win. Now that Funny Girl and The Lion in Winter are nearly a half-century old, it's probably safe to say that Hepburn and Streisand are unofficial gods of the entertainment industry; but Funny Girl is the more important film, introducing the world to a new voice, a new actress, and yes, a new personality.In the years since Funny Girl, Streisand hasn't lost her bewitching zeal, but only a few of her following films have captured the same sort of youthful gusto of her debut. The early days of Babs, with roles in What's Up, Doc? and The Owl and the Pussycat, bring lasting joy. Like many actresses that appeal to the Broadway inclined crowd, she is more fun to watch in quickly-paced adventures in comedy than sappy behemoths like The Mirror Has Two Faces. Funny Girl is a snapshot of everything we've come to admire about Streisand — that immediate likability, that one-million- miles-an-hour comedic timing, those dramatic chops, and that voice. You can bet that the film itself is given the standard Hollywood musical treatment — but what isn't standard is the girl from New Yawk with charisma the size of Alaska and Texas put together.Funny Girl is technically a true story: its leading character, Fanny Brice was, in fact, a famed Ziegfeld girl, and she was, in fact, married to Nicky Arnstein. But Streisand is such a ball-of-fire that we aren't paying much attention to Brice's accomplished (and melodramatic) life. Streisand demolishes every confine a characterization can bring. She's not so much playing Fanny Brice as she much as she is Fanny Brice. She doesn't act out a scene; she is the scene.I suppose for the sake of a plot summary I should cover the basics so you know what you're getting into. The film travels across the life of Brice from the early 1900s to the beginnings of the 1920s, detailing her whirlwind (and lasting) relationship with show business and stormy marriage to gambler Nicky Arnstein (Omar Sharif). There's comedy and music and tear-jerking and romance and overtures and more hoohas that come along with the big-budgeted movie musical genre; Funny Girl has all the makings to become an epic production of the Sound of Music class. But Streisand keeps the film from getting whisked away into unremarkable giganticness. The film is about her, not its supporting characters, photography, or set design. Roger Ebert noted that everything other than Streisand is mostly flat. While this is partially true, I think, on the other hand, that if Streisand wasn't the star, suddenly the supporting characters, photography, and set design would seem bigger-than-life, extraordinary even. But she's like a blinding light from outer space running around a soundstage; you can only wonder why the items surrounding her don't spontaneously combust.I'm not a part of the devoted fan base that refers to Streisand exclusively as "Babs" and lists "Evergreen" as their theme song, but I am a part of the fan base that recognizes her as one of cinema's most unique and versatile actresses. Funny Girl is a loud and proud musical, and Streisand is the microphone. Read more reviews at petersonreviews.com

Okay I don't know much about Fanny Brice's life. This movie is quite a tribute to the Funny Lady that had a funny face. In this film, Barbra Streisand earned her Academy Award for playing Fanny Brice from aspiring singer to comedienne and singer on stage. Fanny's brash talent for singing and comedy go hand in hand at a local stage hall before she makes it big with the Ziegfield Follies. The numbers are big splashy musical numbers with lots of dancing, costumes, and scenery. This film has a first rate cast with Omar Sharif playing Fanny's love interest, Nick Arnstein; Walter Pidgeon as Florenz Ziegfield; Lee Allen as her friend, Eddie Ryan; and others to mention. This film has great sets, costumes, and art direction but I felt it was missing something and that was the script. The script was weak without the singing and it could have been better. Anyway, it's a great classic film.

I just watched the entire film "Funny Girl" for the first time. I of course had seen the tug boat "Don't Rain on my Parade" scene countless times (gotta love DVD select chapter feature) and "People", but had never seen the entire film. How can one even begin to criticize a film with a legend like Barbra over 40 years later? It might not even be worth a shot but here it goes. The worst thing about the film are the inconsistencies in the production. Which time period are they depicting: late 19th century (judging from the costumes and furnishings) or early 20th century (there are motor cars)? The kitsch is never-ending, even for someone who enjoys that sort of thing. But it was Hollywood and the film is over forty years old. The Swan Lake scene is so unfunny and borderline offensive to dancers. I realize that Omar Sharif was the heartthrob of the time but he is shallow and not very convincing in this role. Again, times have changed. The film is too long and drags on between musical numbers. I gather from reading other reviews that this might be due to the hack job they did to the original Broadway musical to make a film out of it. Now for the good parts: Barbra. Her carefree acting and character are still refreshing even by today's standards. Her voice, Lord that voice. It is interesting to hear the crystalline timbre she had at that age, despite the slight technical flaws. Her delivery is always moving and perfect. The high notes are tense and at times scary, but that's what makes her exciting. What else can be said? I know that Barbra Streisand tends to elicit extreme love/hate reactions from people and I have never been a fanatic. But her natural talent has always kept me interested enough over the years despite the eccentricities of her personal life and the plastic side to the Malibu persona she has become. Her recent release "Love is the answer" stayed in my CD player for six months straight and is still my favorite record at the moment. Ironically I love her voice on the album for reasons similar to those I mentioned above. You can hear it crack sometimes on the high notes, but it is so moving, especially in a jazz context. To this day, no one (outside of opera) can make their voice soar like she can. The lady has staying power and it is fascinating (even for non fans) to witness her budding talent in Funny Girl. Brava Barbra!! By the way, now that I've suffered through the entire film once, I'll stick to the "select chapter" function and jump straight to "Don't Rain on My Parade" (Number 16) from now on.