Funny Girl (film)

Funny Girl
This poster used for the film's widespread release promotes Streisand's Oscar win
Directed by	William Wyler
Written by	Isobel Lennart
Produced by	Ray Stark
Starring	Barbra Streisand Omar Sharif
Cinematography	Harry Stradling, Jr.
Edited by	William Sands Maury Winetrobe
Music by	Jule Styne
Production company	Rastar
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	September 19, 1968
Running time	155 minutes
Country	Template:FilmUS
Language	English
Budget	$14.1 million
Box office	$52,223,306 (US)

Funny Girl is a Template:Fy American musical film directed by William Wyler. The screenplay by Isobel Lennart was adapted from her book for the stage musical of the same title. It is based on the life and career of Broadway and film star and comedienne Fanny Brice and her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nicky Arnstein.

The film was produced by Brice's son-in-law, Ray Stark. The score is by Bob Merrill (lyrics) and Jule Styne (music).

Barbra Streisand, reprising her Broadway role, won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance, an honor she shared with Katharine Hepburn for The Lion in Winter.

In 2006, the American Film Institute ranked the film #16 on its list commemorating 100 Years of Musicals. Previously it had ranked the film #41 in its 2002 list of 100 Years ... 100 Passions]], the songs "People" and "Don't Rain on My Parade" at #13 and #46, respectively, in its 2004 list of 100 Years ... 100 Songs, and the line "Hello, gorgeous" at #81 in its 2005 list of 100 Years ... 100 Movie Quotes.

Plot

Set in and around New York City just prior to and following World War I, the story opens with Ziegfeld Follies star Fanny Brice awaiting the return of husband Nicky Arnstein from prison, and then moves into an extended flashback focusing on their meeting and marriage.

Fanny is seen as a stage-struck teenager who gets her first job in vaudeville and meets the suave Arnstein following her debut performance. They continue to meet occasionally over the years, becoming more romantically involved as Fanny's career flourishes and she becomes a star. Arnstein eventually seduces Fanny, who decides to abandon the Follies in favor of Nicky.

After winning a fortune playing poker, Nicky agrees to marry Fanny. They move into an expensive house and have a daughter, and Fanny eventually returns to Ziegfeld and the Follies. Meanwhile, Nicky's various business ventures fail, forcing them to move into an apartment. Refusing financial support from his wife, he becomes involved in a bonds scam and is imprisoned for embezzlement for eighteen months.

Following Nick's release from prison, he and Fanny briefly reunite long enough to agree to separate.

Production

Isobel Lennart originally wrote Funny Girl as a screenplay for a dramatic film entitled My Man for producer Ray Stark, but when he offered it to Mary Martin she suggested it might work better as a stage musical. Lennart consequently adapted her script for what eventually became a successful Broadway production starring Barbra Streisand.

Although she had not made any films, Streisand was Stark's first and only choice to portray Brice on screen. "I just felt she was too much a part of Fanny, and Fanny was too much a part of Barbra to have it go to someone else," he said, but Columbia Pictures executives wanted Shirley MacLaine in the role instead. Stark insisted if Streisand were not cast, he would not allow a film to be made, and the studio agreed to his demand.

Mike Nichols, George Roy Hill, and Gene Kelly were considered to direct the film before Sidney Lumet was signed. After working on pre-production for six months, he left the project due to "creative differences" and was replaced by William Wyler, whose long and illustrious award-winning career never had included a musical film. Wyler initially declined Stark's offer because he was concerned his significant hearing loss would affect his ability to work on a musical. After giving it some thought, he told Stark, "If Beethoven could write his Eroica Symphony, then William Wyler can do a musical."

Streisand never had heard of Wyler, and when she was told he had won the Academy Award for Best Director for Ben-Hur, she commented, "Chariots! How is he with people, like women? Is he any good with actresses?" As for Wyler, he said, "I wouldn’t have done the picture without her." Her enthusiasm reminded him of Bette Davis, and he felt she "represented a challenge for me because she’s never been in films, and she’s not the usual glamour girl."

In the film's finale, Streisand sings "My Man," a tune closely associated with Fanny Brice

Jule Styne wanted Frank Sinatra for the role of Nicky Arnstein, but the actor was willing to appear in the film only if the role was expanded and new songs were added for the character. Stark thought Sinatra was too old and preferred someone with more class like Cary Grant, who was eleven years older than Sinatra. Marlon Brando, Gregory Peck, Sean Connery, David Janssen, and James Garner were considered before Egyptian Omar Sharif was cast to star opposite the Jewish Streisand after Wyler noticed him having lunch in the studio commissary. When the Six-Day War between Israel and Egypt broke out, studio executives considered replacing Sharif, but both Wyler and Streisand threatened to quit if they did. Later, the publication of a still depicting a love scene between Fanny and Nicky in the Egyptian press prompted a movement to revoke his Sharif's citizenship. When asked about the controversy, Streisand replied, "You really think the Egyptians are angry? You should see the letter I got from my Aunt Rose."

Choreographer Herbert Ross, who staged the musical numbers, had worked with Streisand in I Can Get It for You Wholesale, her Broadway debut.

Principal photography began in August 1967 and was completed by December. During pre-recording of the songs, Streisand had demanded extensive retakes until she was satisfied with them, and on the set she continued to dislay her perfectionist nature, frequently arguing with Wyler about costumes and photography. She allegedly had so many of her scenes with Anne Francis cut before the film's release that Francis sued to have her name removed from the credits, but lost.

In 1975, Streisand reprised her role of Brice opposite James Caan as Brice's second husband, impresario Billy Rose, in a sequel entitled Funny Lady.

Cast

• Barbra Streisand ..... Fanny Brice
• Omar Sharif ..... Nick Arnstein
• Kay Medford ..... Rose Brice
• Anne Francis ..... Georgia James
• Walter Pidgeon ..... Florenz Ziegfeld
• Lee Allen ..... Eddie Ryan
• Mae Questel ..... Mrs. Strakosh

Song list

• I'm the Greatest Star ... Fanny
• If a Girl Isn't Pretty ... Fanny, Rose, and Mrs. Strakosh
• Rollerskate Rag ... Fanny and the Rollerskate Girls
• I'd Rather Be Blue Over You (Than Happy With Somebody Else) ... Fanny
• Secondhand Rose ... Fanny
• His Love Makes Me Beautiful ... Fanny and Follies Ensemble
• People ... Fanny
• You Are Woman, I Am Man ... Nick and Fanny
• Don't Rain on My Parade ... Fanny
• Sadie, Sadie ... Fanny and Nick
• Funny Girl ... Fanny
• My Man ... Fanny

In the 1985 book Barbra Streisand: The Woman, the Myth, the Music by Shaun Considine, composer Jule Styne revealed he was unhappy with the orchestrations for the film. "They were going for pop arrangements," he recalled. "They dropped eight songs from the Broadway show and we were asked to write some new ones. They didn’t want to go with success. It was the old-fashioned MGM Hollywood way of doing a musical. They always change things to their way of vision, and they always do it wrong. But, of all my musicals they screwed up, Funny Girl came out the best."

Because the songs "My Man," "Second Hand Rose," and "I’d Rather Be Blue" frequently were performed by Fanny Brice during her career, they were interpolated into the Styne-Merrill score.

Critical reception

In his review in Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert called Streisand "magnificent" and added, "She has the best timing since Mae West, and is more fun to watch than anyone since the young Katharine Hepburn. She doesn't actually sing a song at all; she acts it. She does things with her hands and face that are simply individual; that's the only way to describe them. They haven't been done before. She sings, and you're really happy you're there." But he thought "the film itself is perhaps the ultimate example of the roadshow musical gone overboard. It is over-produced, over-photographed and over-long. The second half drags badly. The supporting characters are generally wooden . . . That makes the movie itself kind of schizo. It is impossible to praise Miss Streisand too highly; hard to find much to praise about the rest of the film."

Variety said Streisand makes "a marked impact" and continued, "The saga of the tragi-comedienne Fanny Brice of the ungainly mien and manner, charmed by the suave card-sharp Nick Arnstein, is perhaps of familiar pattern, but it is to the credit of all concerned that it plays so convincingly."

David Parkinson of the film monthly Empire rated the film four out of five stars and called it "one of those films where it doesn't really matter what gets written here - you will have made your mind up about Babs one way or the other, but for the rare uninitiated, this is a fine introduction to her talents."

Awards and nominations

In addition to Streisand's Oscar win as Best Actress, the film was nominated in the categories of Best Picture, Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Kay Medford, Best Cinematography for Harry Stradling, Jr., Best Film Editing for William Sands and Maury Winetrobe, Best Scoring of a Musical Picture for Walter Scharf, Best Original Song for the title tune by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, and Best Sound.

Streisand won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and nominations went to the film, Wyler, and Styne and Merrill for the title song.

Streisand was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and nominations went to Stradling for Best Cinematography and Irene Sharaff for Best Costume Design.

Isobal Lennart won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Musical, and Wyler was nominated for the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing - Feature Film.

DVD release

The film was released on Region 1 DVD on October 23, 2001, It is in anamorphic widescreen format with audio tracks in English and French and subtitles in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Georgian, Chinese, and Thai. Bonus features include Barbra in Movieland and This Is Streisand, production information, and cast filmographies.

External links

• Funny Girl at IMDb
• Funny Girl at AllMovie