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Click above to purchase "Funny Girl" at amazon.com
Funny Girl
review by Anthony D.
Rated PG-13
Running Time: 155 minutes
Starring Barbra Streisand, Omar Sharif, Walter Pigeon,
Kay Medford
Written by Isobel Lennart
Music by Jule Styne
Lyrics by Bob Merrill
Directed by William Wyler
Studio: Columbia/Tristar
Retail Price: $24.95
Features: Barbra In Movieland Featurette, This Is
Barbra Streisand Featurette, Filmographies, Trailers, Song
Highlights
Specs: 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, English Dolby
Digital 5.0, English Dolby Surround, French Dolby Surround,
English Closed Captions, English Subtitles, French
Subtitles, Spanish Subtitles, Portuguese Subtitles, Chinese
Subtitles, Korean Subtitles, Thai Subtitles, Scene
Selections
Released: October 23rd, 2001
"Funny Girl" purports to be the musical biography of
1920's comedian, Fanny Brice: a backstage love story
combined with the rags to riches tale of the "ugly duckling"
becoming a swan (literally, in this case) under the
spotlights of The Ziegfeld Follies. Though "Funny Girl"
takes many, many liberties with Fanny's true story, the film
itself is a benchmark film, if for no other reason than it
introduced cabaret performer and Broadway star Barbra
Streisand, only really a name on the East Coast, to
filmgoers across America. And what a debut performance this
is, as well it should be since Streisand created the role on
Broadway, then took it to London for a fourteen week limited
engagement, four years before the film opened to
international accalim. Remember, back in 1968, there was not
a STREISAND, there was only the voice known to record buyers
(she had already won several Grammy Awards), and television
audiences (yep, she won Emmy Awards for these) who tuned
into her classic television hours "My Name is Barbra" and
"Color Me Barbra." (There was a young, and I mean Y-O-U-N-G
man who got his first taste of Babs with these specials,
creating quite a stir when that young man insisted on buying
every Streisand album he could get his little hands on, then
playing them over and over again; much to the chagrin of his
parental units who just didn't "get" Barbra. FYI - the
record collection still sits proudly upon my shelves - -
each and every note that Barbra has ever recorded). Cut
quickly to 1968, and the announcement that "Funny Girl"
would be having a "Gala Premiere" (for the benefit of The
Old Newsboys Fund) at the Fulton Theater in Downtown
Pittsburgh on an Autumnal October evening, and the
announcement from my lips, that I would be there "come Hell
or high water."
Then it happened, a leopard-furred woman was followed by
the camera into The New Amsterdam Theater, and in a long
tracking shot, move through the backstage area, until she
stops at a mirror. She lowers her collar, looks into the
mirror, and in a deadpan voice speaks the words, "Hello,
gorgeous." With those two words, Streisand became "The
Legend." The gawky, not-exactly-beautiful woman won millions
upon millions of new fans. But the story that follows those
immortal words presents the best that Streisand could
possibly give, and "Funny Girl" remains one of the best
musical films of all time, one that even Streisand's
detractors should find to be a fine example of well-crafted
filmmaking.
William Wyler, one of the best directors ever, tackles
the musical genre, for the first time in his illustrious
career with "Funny Girl," creating a film that is almost
constantly entertaining. Isobel Lennart's screenplay follows
Fanny's rise to Ziegfeld star from humble beginnings on New
York's Lower East Side, with a fine attention to period
detail. Armed only with the belief that "I'm the greatest
star, but no one knows it," Fanny works her way into a
chorus of roller-skating chorines - - trouble is, Fanny
can't skate! Her antics on the skates lead to a solo spot
("I'd Rather be Blue") and the attentions of a
ruffled-shirted gambler, Nick Arnstein (Omar Sharif,
decidedly exotic, suitably charming). A few months pass, and
Ziegfeld summons Fanny for an audition ("Second Hand Rose").
Upon becoming a genuine, glorified Ziegfeld girl, Fanny
assures the ulcer-ridden Mr. Z. that she will do anything
that he asks. Anything, that is, except appear in his finale
proclaiming to be "a beautiful reflection of my love's
affection," because with her funny face, audiences would be
laughing at her. Ziegfeld insists that if Miss Brice does
not appear in the finale, she will not appear in The Follies
at all. Opening night arrives, the theater is packed, and
the finale, saluting "Beautiful Brides" begins as any other
number that glorifies the American Girl would, with bevies
of beauties dripping diamonds and little else. The chorus
introduces a singing bride, who vocally encompasses the
happiness and harmony that marriage truly promises: Fanny,
who has stuffed a pillow beneath her billowing bridal gown,
appearing for all intents and purposes, pregnant. What a way
to stop the show, and who should be in the audience to
witness this comic genius come into her own? Why none other
than the gorgeous Nick, who decides that though they are
worlds apart on the surface, Fanny and he are the same kind
of people. Fanny agrees with the score's best known song,
and a classic Streisand interpretation, "People who need
people are the luckiest people in the world." But Nick and
Fanny cannot be together as Nick always has a train to
catch, a game to play, or a horse to bet on. That is until
The Follies touring company arrives in Baltimore, where Nick
is overnighting before hitting a big game on a
European-bound luxury liner. Reluctantly accepting Nick's
invitation to dinner, Fanny finds herself in a lush, private
dining room, where the sparks fly, and musical seduction
ensues. Knowing that she has missed out on so much by living
her life only on the stage, Fanny quickly decides to abandon
The Follies, and follow her heart, and join Nick at sea.
With the highly personalized anthem, "Don't Rain on My
Parade," and the impeccable musical staging of Herbert Ross,
the First Act of "Funny Girl" closes on the indelible image
of Streisand on a tugboat steaming past the Statue of
Liberty.
With a first half so full of vibrant performances and
musical numbers, it's only logical that the second half of
"Funny Girl" is not as engrossing as that which came before.
Fanny's marriage to Nick, Nick's gambling problems and its
effect on that marriage are addressed simply and concisely.
But when Nick gets involved in a phony bond deal, and faces
prison, the picture regains it momentum, building to a
finale ("My Man") that allows audiences to once again
witness the sheer, unadulterated force of nature that would
become legend.
"Funny Girl" is a great film from a year of strange
goings on at the Academy Awards. This was the year that
Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" mesmerized viewers, Paul
Newman led wife Joanne Woodward to an Oscar nomination,
Peter O'Toole played second fiddle to regal cinematic legend
Katharine Hepburn, Franco Zefferelli proved that casting
"Romeo and Juliet" with real teenagers was not a gimmick,
Mel Brooks had people singing "Springtime for Hitler," Steve
McQueen took the wheel to San Francisco streets, and another
film musical of a hit Broadway musical took home the prize
for Best Picture of the Year. Against nearly insurmountable
odds, though "2001" was not nominated as Best Picture, Carol
Reed's imaginative "Oliver!" was the voters' choice. There
really should not have been any doubt that Barbra would also
take home the award as Best Actress, but as shocked
presenter Ingrid Bergman declared, "It's a tie..."(only the
second one in the Academy's history) stunned audiences heard
Bergman read the winners' names: Katharine Hepburn for "The
Lion in Winter" and "Barbra Streisand for "Funny Girl." As
Streisand accepted her award, in a Scaasi-designed
see-through pants suit, tripping on the stairs to the
podium, she began her speech with a close look at the naked
golden statuette, and proclaimed, "Hello, gorgeous."
Three years of solid restoration work has granted "Funny
Girl" the best of all possible presentations. The print is
as close to perfection as one could ask for - - and no,
perfectionist Streisand was not involved in a hands-on
function - - with nary a blemish of indication that this
film is thirty-three years old. There are a couple of odd
edits within the film itself which could be mistaken for
drop-outs, but trust me, those little jumps were always
there: following Fanny's triumphant Follies opening, in the
dressing room, there is an odd occurrence as Walter Pigeon
repeats the word "beer," and the editing of the production
number in the second half "The Swan" has been that way since
nearly two minutes of humor were removed from the number
following its roadshow engagements. The black level is
excellent, once again astonishing for a film of this age.
The edge enhancement is negligible as it only appears on
highly contrasted objects, but edge enhancement is there
nonetheless. Speaking of gorgeous, though, one cannot see
this DVD and not be astounded by the trueness of the
Technicolor hues. "Funny Girl" encases a full spectrum of
colors in its costume and set design, and speaking of true
reds: check out that private dining room in Chapter 13.
Unless you've been watching "Gigi," you haven't seen this
many shades of red in one single set, and breathtakingly
enough, each and every single shade of red is solid - never
once veering into oranges or pinks. As befitting a
theatrically-themed film, "Funny Girl" boasts quite a
three-dimensionality in its newest video format. To say the
very least, this presentation - anamorphically encoded at
the proper 2.35:1 aspect ratio - is stunning.
The three year restoration also included a fairly
faithful recreation of the film's original six-track, 70mm,
stereo sound mix. Though this mix was only used for the
roadshow engagements, its elements are far better sounding
than the deplorable, muddy and thin mix used for each of
"Funny Girl's" VHS editions. (I can't compare the
hard-to-find, out-of-print laserdisc's mix, but I would
assume it's nothing like this). The restoration has been
processed into a Dolby Digital 5.0 surround mix, and without
that independent bass channel, the highs are crystal clear
but the bass clearly suffers. Being a musical, though, the
restored mix is a very accurate account of the film's
subdued surround effects as well as a few choice discreet
effects within songs. The songs, each and every one of them,
come across in all their glory. For a truly fascinating
comparison, though, there is a snippet of Streisand filming
"Don't Rain on My Parade" in the Bonus Features' "Barbra in
Movieland," where her phrasing in noticeable different than
in the final film. The French language soundtrack preserves
the songs in English, and herein Fanny has a husky, smoky
speaking voice, while Sharif's tenor speaking voice is now
nearer to a basso! The French track has a charm all its own,
and I wish that there were credits given somewhere for the
substitute voices.
With all that the DVD has to offer in terms of picture
and sound, the Bonus Features are quite a disappointment,
even to a Streisand fan. Full-framed Trailers appear
for three Streisand vehicles: "The Mirror has Two Faces,"
"For Pete's Sake" (both currently available on DVD) and the
soon-to-be-released "The Prince of Tides," but where, oh
where, is the original trailer for "Funny Girl?" The
Filmographies are nearly useless, as they are simply
career highlights for director William Wyler and stars
Barbra Streisand, Omar Sharif and Walter Pigeon. Babs'
credits are lacking "All Night Long." The two period
production shorts are both rather bizarre. First up is
Barbra in Movieland which allows bit player Charlie
Peterson center frame to gush about the filming of "Don't
Rain on My Parade." There are some interesting shots of
Barbra however, and the thrilling tugboat ride past Lady
Liberty is here in a different angle than the film. This
is Streisand could easily be a trailer for "Funny Girl,"
as it is composed of stills of Barbra through the years (the
few years before "Funny Girl," of course) accompanied by a
sonorous voice extolling the virtues of Babs. It's pure
hokum, and utter admiration at its kitschiest.
This sparkling restoration deserves to be recognized,
along with those of "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Citizen Kane,"
for the incredible work that it is. I'm nearly certain that
even those who have an aversion to Streisand (and there are
many) could possibly come away from "Funny Girl" with a
new-found appreciation of the talent that came before the
legend. Though it is a star vehicle, it is very difficult to
discount the brilliant direction by William Wyler, who
obviously taught Barbra a trick or two. Wyler's
contributions to "Funny Girl" - his use of framing devices
(both story-wise and literally framing Fanny in nearly every
shot with a mirror, a door frame, or lighting), his
incredible feel for the early twentieth century as well as
his great story-telling style are less easy to ignore upon
multiple viewings. For Streisand fans, and we are legion,
THIS is the Holy Grail of DVD releases, and Columbia has not
disappointed us.
 (5/5 - NOT included in
final score)
 (4.5/5)
 (4/5)
 (2/5)
(4/5,
NOT an average)
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