Funny Girl is based on a Broadway musical whose producer was married to the daughter of its subject, the wonderful singer and comedienne Fanny Brice, famous for popularizing the song “My Man” and (on the radio) the character of Baby Snooks. Of Hungarian-Jewish descent, Brice was born Fania Borach in New York in 1891 and died months shy of her sixtieth birthday. She was one of the stars of the Ziegfeld Follies. Her three failed marriages included ones to gambler and convicted criminal Nick Arnstein, which is portrayed in the film, and show producer/songwriter Billy Rose. The film provides only limited appreciation of the magnitude of Brice’s talent and stardom.
William Wyler directed; there is, surprisingly, an almost complete absence of period “feel.” The film is also ungainly and ridiculously long. But the worst offense, surely, is that the result is so generic that it bears little relation to Fanny Brice.
Barbra Streisand had played the role on stage, but is hampered here by many things, including her congenital coldness, meanness, self-absorption. Above all, she does nothing to adjust her condescending bourgeois manner; Brice’s background was lower-class, and Brice herself was a scrapper. By contrast, Streisand’s Brice is a kvetcher.
It doesn’t help either that the two most shimmeringly lovely songs from the show, “Who Are You Now?” and “The Music That Makes Me Dance,” and the funniest song and number, “Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat,” have all been deleted. Strikingly but coldly, the film ends with Streisand against a black backdrop belting out (with laughably fake intensity) “My Man.” Streisand sings heartlessly; Brice sang bravely and with incredible soulfulness and heart. Their styles could not be further apart.
Arnstein is played by the Egyptian star Omar Sharif. Press at the time stressed Sharif’s teaming with a Jewish actress.
B(U)Y THE BOOK
MY BOOK, A Short Chronology of World Cinema, IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM THE SANDS FILMS CINEMA CLUB IN LONDON. USING EITHER OF THE LINKS BELOW, ACCESS THE ADVERTISEMENT FOR THIS BOOK, FROM WHICH YOU CAN ORDER ONE OR MORE COPIES OF IT. THANKS.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Dennis+Grunes&x=14&y=16
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Dennis+Grunes&x=14&y=19
Like this:
Like Loading...
Tags: Wyler
This entry was posted on November 29, 2008 at 1:36 pm and is filed under Formal Capsule Film Comments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
FUNNY GIRL (William Wyler, 1968)
Funny Girl is based on a Broadway musical whose producer was married to the daughter of its subject, the wonderful singer and comedienne Fanny Brice, famous for popularizing the song “My Man” and (on the radio) the character of Baby Snooks. Of Hungarian-Jewish descent, Brice was born Fania Borach in New York in 1891 and died months shy of her sixtieth birthday. She was one of the stars of the Ziegfeld Follies. Her three failed marriages included ones to gambler and convicted criminal Nick Arnstein, which is portrayed in the film, and show producer/songwriter Billy Rose. The film provides only limited appreciation of the magnitude of Brice’s talent and stardom.
William Wyler directed; there is, surprisingly, an almost complete absence of period “feel.” The film is also ungainly and ridiculously long. But the worst offense, surely, is that the result is so generic that it bears little relation to Fanny Brice.
Barbra Streisand had played the role on stage, but is hampered here by many things, including her congenital coldness, meanness, self-absorption. Above all, she does nothing to adjust her condescending bourgeois manner; Brice’s background was lower-class, and Brice herself was a scrapper. By contrast, Streisand’s Brice is a kvetcher.
It doesn’t help either that the two most shimmeringly lovely songs from the show, “Who Are You Now?” and “The Music That Makes Me Dance,” and the funniest song and number, “Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat,” have all been deleted. Strikingly but coldly, the film ends with Streisand against a black backdrop belting out (with laughably fake intensity) “My Man.” Streisand sings heartlessly; Brice sang bravely and with incredible soulfulness and heart. Their styles could not be further apart.
Arnstein is played by the Egyptian star Omar Sharif. Press at the time stressed Sharif’s teaming with a Jewish actress.
B(U)Y THE BOOK
MY BOOK, A Short Chronology of World Cinema, IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM THE SANDS FILMS CINEMA CLUB IN LONDON. USING EITHER OF THE LINKS BELOW, ACCESS THE ADVERTISEMENT FOR THIS BOOK, FROM WHICH YOU CAN ORDER ONE OR MORE COPIES OF IT. THANKS.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Dennis+Grunes&x=14&y=16
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Dennis+Grunes&x=14&y=19
Like this:
Tags: Wyler
This entry was posted on November 29, 2008 at 1:36 pm and is filed under Formal Capsule Film Comments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.