I watched Funny Girl this week.

It would be a better piece if it ended at "Don't Rain on My Parade."

Who would you have cast instead of Omar? Not being a bitch, because I somewhat agree he was miscast.

George Segal.

[quote]Who would you have cast instead of Omar?

Good question. Leading men circa 1968 who can sing and be "dashing" enough to play Nick Arnstein...

Robert Goulet? Richard Kiley?

The leading man wouldn't need to sing.

The ultimate problems of the Broadway FUNNY GIRL can be traced to the meddling of Brice's daughter Fran, who was married to producer Ray Stark. The original scripts were considerably darker, and second-act Fanny was surprisingly unsympathetic, shown as a self-centered star, harshly critical of the performances of her Ziegfeld colleagues and whose attitude pushed her husband away. Other performers had specialty numbers: Eddie Ryan was given a solo mourning his unrequited love with Fanny and the Ziegfeld girls at the Baltimore train station opened Act 2 with "Baltimore Sun", a number bemoaning life on the road. Showgirl Georgia was an alcoholic party-girl who had a juicy drunk scene in act 2 where she sarcastically apologized to Fanny for not living up to her "high standards" ruefully noting that fading showgirls were usually kicked out of the Follies after a few years, but Fanny had nothing to worry about since she had talent (a nice corrective to "If A Girl isn't Pretty"). Fran Stark wanted nothing to cloud her mothers memory and insisted on a Fairy-tale romance with Fanny and cardboard-prince Nick, while giving Streisand more numbers and scenes at the expense of her co-stars.

One wonders what the FUNNY GIRL sure might have been if its original lyricist Sondheim had not bailed (before Streisand was cast). IMHO, Bob Merrill was a poor substitute and his FUNNY GIRL lyrics are often workmanlike and clunky.

I love the opening scene. All of Barbra’s charisma and glamour in that leopard-print “Hello Gorgeous.”

r4: Steve Lawrence????

Styne wanted Sinatra, who understandably didn't want to be second-fiddle to Barbra. Stark thought that Sinatra was too old.

It wasn't just Fran's meddline. Sydney Chaplin couldn't handle almost any material he was given. Of course, they didn't get rid of him. He aided the production remaining The Streisand Show.

Why not Sinatra, Jr?

*meddling

George Segal?? Sinatra, Jr????

OY

Frank Sinatra would have been a horrible choice, unless the film were made about 20 years earlier.

Robert Goulet? Richard Kiley? HA HA HAAA!

Steve Lawrence????

Scraping bottom.

Why not Elliot Gould? They were sort of considered a hot couple, and he went on to become one of the biggest movie stars of the early 70s. And his singing couldn't have been any worse than Shariff's.

FUNNY GIRL'S cut scenes.

[quote]Robert Goulet? Richard Kiley? HA HA HAAA!

Curious as to why you don't like those options. They can sing, they were handsome in their day. They certainly couldn't have been worse than the stiff non-singer Omar Sharif.

[quote]Why not Elliot Gould?

I don't think Gould was ever capable of being the dashing, heart-throb leading man type.

They were TV level at best.

Gould was in a London revival of "On the Town."

[quote]Why not Elliot Gould? They were sort of considered a hot couple

Oh, man. Elliott Gould was a schlub when he was BRIEFLY a star, a nerdy guy nerdy guys identified with. He could possibly be the Eddie Ryan character, nothing more.

Babs and Gould were NEVER a "hot couple." He was the nobody she was married to in the 1960s.

What about Harve Presnell or Robert Preston?

R6 that sounds like a much better show! I wish someone would revive the original concept.

Steve Lawrence? Funny Girl wasn't the Carol Burnett Show.

The Broadway producers didn't even want Steve Lawrence.

I'll tell the whole behind the scenes story of Funny Girl in my memoir BUT it has been delayed a bit. I keep changing my mind about the font and have to start over every few days.

Great movie. Lovie it. Babs was fabulous.

R16, great link. As I suspected, it appears most of the scenes with actual character development were cut. But I'm also grateful that they cut scenes that had Omar Sharif singing even more.

That’s a no on George Segal. Nick’s feet can’t be a size 5.

I liked the Barbra Streisand movie For Pete's Sake

sweet, funny, comedy about a woman who loves her husband to the ends...

Oh, looky-looky...

The only reason Funny Girl is of any significance is that it was the birth of a true movie star. Even back in 1968, you knew Streisand would become iconic. "I'm the Greatest Star" was and will always be about Babs. It has very little to do with Fanny Brice.

In retrospect, Omar Shariff is kinda creepy, and the movie is a chore to sit thru, especially the second half until her final number.

The Broadway producers had trouble casting the part but at one point were very interested in Eydie Gorme. She killed her chances when she demanded Steve Lawrence as Nick.

When Barbra left the Broadway production to open the show in London, Mimi Hines took over. Although her performance was very different, she got great reviews and kept the show running as long as Barbra had. Hines' husband Phil Ford took over as Eddie Ryan.

[quote]Even back in 1968, you knew Streisand would become iconic.

Dearest R32, Barbra Streisand was already the biggest star on the planet before a minute of Funny Girl was filmed.

Get this - Richard Harris was considered as a co-star for another Streisand movie musical, On a Clear Day. I can see equal chemistry there, but they went with dud Yves Montand. Perhaps they were afraid of Harris overshadowing her, she was what they were selling.

This is so serendipitous! I also watched the movie again this week, and agree; IT IS NOT GOOD, ESPECIALLY FOR A FILM DIRECTED BY THE GREAT WILLIAM WYLER. So much of Streisand's performance is repetitious schtick, and ending the film with "My Man" is powerful but wrong. "Don't Rain on my Parade" is far more appropriate. Sharif is awful, but then, it's a nothing role. Will be amazing if the revival on Broadway is successful since there's really no there there without Streisand's voice.

Walter Matthau should have been cast as Nicky. I mean, look how successful the pairing of Streisand and Matthau were in 'Hello Dolly'.

Yul Brynner as Nick Arnstein?

I understand both Tony Curtis and Gregory Peck were possibilities. And hard to believe - David Janssen was considered too.

R6 Thank you for the interesting commentary. I knew none of this. I did read somewhere that Nick Arnstein threatened to sue if they didn’t change the way we was portrayed. Apparently he was a complete shit heel. If you google there is a lot of Fanny Brice biographical information. Very very well to do family. Her mother made a lot of money owning not just one, but a string of bars which she then sold and invested in real estate. They lived in a big house with servants and a liveried horse and carriage. She lived with Arnstein for years before marrying him. The musical Funny Girl is to Fanny Brice as Gypsy is to Gypsy Rose Lee, it’s a musical fable. What I never understood about the movie was the opening credits. What was that all about? The reverse color psychedelic effect. It was very 60’s and didn’t fit in with the movies’ period at all. It really is a flawed movie.

The opening TITLES, R40? That's my favorite part of the movie.

[quote]Dearest R32, Barbra Streisand was already the biggest star on the planet before a minute of Funny Girl was filmed.

I'm guessing that R32 was referring specifically to her film career ("it was the birth of a true movie star'), since FG was her very first movie.

r40-41. The opening titles as we see them now were a replacement for another opening. I'd love to know what those looked like.

[quote]It was very 60’s and didn’t fit in with the movies’ period at all.

Much like Barbra's asymmetrical bob, Cleopatra eyeliner, and frosted claws (which I actually enjoyed as camp).

If you were around in 1968, you already knew Funny Girl was about Barbra Streisand and not Fanny Brice since it was an extremely successful Broadway show, and the songs were played and covered excessively.

r44: And "His Love Makes Me Beautiful" looks like a floor show at Caesar's Palace.

It really does, r46.

I watched it over the summer for the first time. While Barbra Streisand certainly has star quality, the overall film was mediocre.

I've watched it a few times over the years, and I'm not a big fan of Babs. Her early films are okay in small doses, but I can't really take much of her.

I think it's a terrific movie musical, funny and with good songs, Sharif was no actor but he was as sexy as hell, it's very entertaining overall, and is a great showpiece for Streisand as it shows off everything she does well. AND she dominates the movie the way a star should, but her ego isn't allowed to run rampant over everything the way it does in her later work.

Part 1...

That’s nice. I just listened to “Fucker Face”.

According to Babs...

[quote]Sharif was no actor

That should be Sharif is no singer

Why not Rock Hudson as Nicky Arnstein.

If the actor can't sing, it's a bad suggestion no matter who it is.

The first half works just fine. The second half meanders along

Funny Girl the movie drags in many places. The production numbers are mostly good. Omar Sharif was brilliant casting as the sophisticated Jew. Why not this debonair and elegant Egyptian leading man? Even as a boy I noticed how much he was from another world. Dreamy and seductive. That is the impact the character is suppose to have on Fanny. And it works.

Sharif was a matinee idol in mid-century Egyptian movies. "The golden age". He played comedy and drama and he was devastatingly handsome. These movies are very little known in Europe and North America and its a pity.

Christopher Plummer could have played Arnstein. Not a great singer but he had had a starring role in the most successful musical of all time.

What about DL fave John Gavin? Sufficiently small fry to play distant second lead to Babs...

This clip shows off his physicality. He was the toast of Cannes and the beautiful people, who invited him to jump to Western cinema, with great success.

[quote]Christopher Plummer could have played Arnstein. Not a great singer but he had had a starring role in the most successful musical of all time.

And his vocals were dubbed in TSOM. It's just bizarre to me that they didn't choose to do the same for Omar Sharif in FG. Surely they could have found someone whose singing vocals were close enough to Sharif's speaking voice to make it work. Hell, Marni Nixon did it for a lot of different actresses.

Jack Cassidy!

Jerry Orbach!

Memorialized in song...

[quote]Who would you have cast instead of Omar?

Slim Whitman

Boxcar Willie

Liberace

[Quote] It's just bizarre to me that they didn't choose to do the same for Omar Sharif in FG

Do you think it was bizarre that Mandy Patinkin didn't sing at all in "Yentl"?

Good ol' Slim Whitman!

You think Barbra was going to let Irene Molloy sound like this, r66?

Or let Irene Molloy look like this...

Why not Merv Griffin?

Rock Hudson was too tall for the role

It's a decent movie, but it bears next to no resemblance to who Fanny Brice actually was. And Streisand doesn't even bother to understand Brice's unique vocal characterizations.

Funny Lady is actually closer in spirit to who she really was, and it's one of the rare instances that Streisand actually attempts a character.

WHY SHOULD SHE, R71? Funny Girl was a Broadway show that showcased Streisand, you expect that they'd alter it to Brice specifications for the movie? Funny Lady was a fucking debacle.

[quote]Funny Girl was a Broadway show that showcased Streisand,

It was a musical about Fanny Brice.

You're supposed to have some understanding about the character you're playing. That's acting.

Barbra only worked with guys she wanted for a mate. Never worked out for her.

Sandy wasn't testing for Molloy, r69.

[Quote] Sandy wasn't testing for Molloy, [R69].

No, but she was testing opposite "an" Irene Molloy, the very pretty and assured Trisha Noble.

Barbra was playing a character that the writers and composer handed to her, r73. It wasn't a documentary.

Hardly. The show was built around Streisand. Jerome Robbins insisted on making it the Barbra show.

Oops, sorry, r76. Yes, Barbra wouldn't have gone for Trish.

R73 = unfamiliar with Broadway musicals

Fucker face I love you. Fucker face I need you…

Look out, Beanie!

Brice's ashes are now at Westwood Cemetery in the Stark family plot. They paid $400,000 for back in 1997/98.

Despite her Broadway show and then films experience inhabiting the role, Babs does not conjure Fanny Brice to me at all. If only somehow it could've been made a few years later and gotten the rights to let Bette Midler play the part -- I think that the lead performance would've been much more fun and satisfying.

Sergio Franchi IS Nick! ;D

R84, DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND that the object was not to conjure Fanny Brice to you or anyone? Nobody gave a shit about the real Fannie Brice, and if Bette Midler went all Borsht Belt for two hours, they still wouldn't give a shit.

I realize the movie jumps ahead in time in the second half, but the character change in Brice is a bit jarring. She goes from a goofy, funny naive girl to this sophisticated starlet in like ten minutes. The scene where she is waiting for Nick to come home after missing her opening night was a bit jarring, in terms of her character development. She's smoking a cigarette ('cause you know, that's what sophisticated people did in the movies back then) while reclining on the divan, and her character takes on a whole different demeanor, including the way she speaks. (It kind of reminded me of when Madonna married Guy Ritchie and moved to the UK and suddenly started speaking with an accent). I'm sure a lot of this had to do with the film editing, as it seems pretty clear by now that a significant amount of footage was cut. While I know this is common in movie making, they just seemed to lose sight of any kind of continuity. This really is not a good movie at all.

[quote]as it seems pretty clear by now that a significant amount of footage was cut.

Yes, and the stories on that are legendary. The rumors at the time were that Streisand was co -directing the picture.

[quote]unfamiliar with Broadway musicals

The musical was actually much more of an ensemble piece that delved into the Ziegfield Follies and Fanny's relationship with the company . Kay Medford even had a bigger part in the musical.

Had that stuff remained when they transferred it to the screen, it might have made for a better picture. But of course, you know who wouldn't have allowed that in her debut picture.

R188, you kind of beat me to the comment I was going to make. Someone was complaining about Streisand's on set behavior and he said "You'll have to excuse her. It's the first film she ever tried to direct."

Arlene always has to show up in a FG thread.

I fucked that all up at r89. I'll try it again.

[R88], you kind of beat me to the comment I was going to make. Someone was complaining about Streisand's on set behavior and Wyler said "You'll have to excuse her. It's the first film she's ever tried to direct."

I saw it on the big screen for the first time a few years ago.

I like Barbra enough, but I thought it was dated and boring. Some fun moments, but....I started to think they should have left in "Rat Tat Tat" and "Henry Street", I mean how could they hurt?

[quote] I don't think Streisand would have won an Oscar if not for the final My Man scene. That was the best scene in the entire film and it's what people remember as the credits roll.

You lost all credibility with that statement. The movie is at its greatest in the beginning and deteriorates rapidly after she is married. Her singing My Man at the end is a total bore.

[quote]Her singing My Man at the end is a total bore.

Yeah, you and .000000001% of the population agree. The final scene is fucking iconic. It's what people remember about the movie. Not much else.

People remember "My Man" over "Don't Rain on My Parade" and the tugboat?

I know the screenplay is different from the book of the stage production, but what number in the movie, if any, replaces "The Music That Makes Me Dance"? That to me is the most egregious cut from the film version.

"My Man," silly.

People remember both, r95, but My Man won her the Oscar.

Anne Francis (looking very pretty in the movie) expected a much bigger part but when she saw the finished product and that it was all about Babs she asked that her name be taken off the credits.

I find it hard to believe that Anne Francis was that naive. Allyn Ann McLerie had already departed the show pre-Broadway. I expect Francis just took the opportunity to be in an 'A 'picture even if she knew the part wouldn't amount to much.

Poor Anne Francis just couldn't catch a break. She had to go through the indignity of having Gilbert make her doll really homely.

R100 Anne was under the impression that it could possibly launch a successful film comeback for her but then Wyler and Babs got ahold of the editing scissors and.........

Yes, excising "The Music That Makes Me Dance", wtf. Great great song.

Regardless of how you feel about My Man, r103, it was the right choice.

Reminds me of the article Frank Pierson, the director of the Streisand "A Star is Born" wrote entitled "My Battles With Barbra and Jon" in which he broke standard privacy protocol and talked about his horrible experience working on the film. Streisand contractually had final cut, so Pierson turned in his cut, only to have it re-edited by Barbra. After he viewed her work [emphasis mine]:

[quote]All night the movie plays over in my head. Kris's character often seems an unpleasant drunken dangerous bore: she seems silly—why would she love him? I see she has speeded up the film by cutting his establishing scene, moments of boyishness, of feeling the pain of his existence, that make us feel for him and with him; she has cut his reactions—when something happens to him, she cuts away from his reaction, so we fail to know how he feels. The sadness, the wonderful wasted quality Kris brought the part, the exhaustion and the playfulness with which he courts her, his delight in finding her is diminished or gone, [bold]in order for the film to dwell on her[/bold].

[quote] I find it hard to believe that Anne Francis was that naive. Allyn Ann McLerie had already departed the show pre-Broadway.

Who is Allyn Ann McLerie and what has she got to do with Anne Francis?

Shariff hardly has any singing in "Funny Girl" anyway. He looked great, and his character looked like he really liked Fanny. The second half of the movie is really kind of boring with the exception of the "Sadie, Sadie" number the "My Man". But since they cut the gorgeous "Music That Makes Me Dance', they also cut the fabulous overture, which is on par with Jule Styne's "Gypsy", since that song is pretty prominent in the overture. Barbra knows how good it is, since she's used the "Funny Girl" overture in her recent live shows as the opening.

Nick Arnstein was a German-born Jew, so it's logical that they would cast a heavily-accented Egyptian guy. Sharif was stiff and looked bored and was just awful in the entire film.

Arnstein also looked more like Steve Lawrence, but Fanny Brice's daughter wanted to glamourize him, especially since at first she as so against having Barbra play Fanny. She wanted some really traditionally very pretty to play the reasonably attractive but much more charactery in real life Fanny.

Fucker face I love you

Fucker face I need you

Casting hot James Caan as Billy Rose in "Funny Lady" took real Hollywood chutzpah.

[Quote] Who is Allyn Ann McLerie and what has she got to do with Anne Francis?

They played the same role, basically. The role was cut for Broadway and cut down for the movie.

r111: Robert Blake was initially considered, but Streisand thought he wouldn't "look good with her" (she was probably right) but Blake would have gotten Rose perfectly.

And though r71 is correct about Barbras performance in FUNNY LADY, her look in that film is even more off-kilter. Brice was never a blonde, and Streisand looks more like she's playing Alice Faye in ROSE OF WASHINGTON SQUARE (Brice sued Fox for ripping off her life story) .

Fun Fact: Faye was taught to sing "My Man" in ROSE by Fox's vocal coach Juke Styne,.

R113, in reality, Robert Blake walked out after the reading in a mental snit. The original story was - he was told he got it (the part), and said "I just did it," and left. Blake resembled the character, and I wonder how the movie would be if he was cast as Billy Rose, how the whole movie would be if they went realistic. To me, Funny Lady is about clothes and wigs more than anything else.

[quote] She's smoking a cigarette ('cause you know, that's what sophisticated people did in the movies back then)

The smoking is supposed to show how "upset" the character was, she didn't smoke earlier.

[quote]"I just did it"

Clarification - that's what Blake was supposed to have said after a reading

Threads like this always remind me of this brilliant movie scene...

Blake had done a similar part to Rose? Or they wanted to screen test him after the reading?

Yeah, Blake's comment is indecipherable without a little more context.

Blake's looking , or even "acting" more like Billy Rose wouldn't have made that film any better. And audiences in the 1970s really had no clear reference or interest in what Rose was really like. At least Caan brought some sex appeal, which Blake IMHO couldn't have done, with Barbra.

R118, I disagree. If they had done a real 1970s movie, that means make it gritty and realistic instead fluffy pseudo 1940s shit, the movie would have been infinitely better. They could have done that with Caan as well, of course.

Dat's da name a dat tune

- Robert Blake

Well, they would have had to make it without Streisand, r119, because when did she ever allow herself to be filmed as gritty and real?

Gritty and real would have ruined my nails.

But she played a very believable two-bit nasty street hooker in Nuts! Oh wait….

The Owl and the Pussycat role was better and more believable.

How about Tony Bennett? Unconventional, but he certainly was well known at the time as a singer. I suppose they would've had to give him more music, taking away time from Babs.

Are ther any good biographies on Brice?

Bennett got bad notices for the film "The Oscar" , so that was probably that for any consideration. Again, Arnstein doesn't sing much in the film (and not too much more in the original show).

[quote]How about Tony Bennett?

HA HA HA. Tony was my favorite boy singer, but he was no actor as R126 said. Actually, he was unbearably bad in The Oscar. Pius Tony is short and hardly the heartthrob type that the role requires.

Can't blame Anne Francis for being upset after seeing R16; all of her best scenes were cut.

Has anyone seen Anne Francis' call girl movie with Kay Medford as her Madam?

I watched Hello Dolly again a few years ago and Marianne McAndrew's Molly Malloy was one of the very few recognizable human beings in the film. Everyone else overacts like crazy.

r119: Vilmos Zsigmond working only two and a half days before he was fired. Zsigmond, who would later win the Oscar for his cinematography on Close Encounters of the Third Kind, explained: “I spent six weeks researching the film, I wanted the movie to look less like Funny Girl and more like Cabaret. Realistically a theater is dark when a performance begins. When the curtain rises you do not see the audience. And that’s how I lit the scene.”

One of the dancers in “Great Day,” Larry Vickers, relayed that he heard Streisand question the amount of lighting on her. “Herb, Herb,” she said, “it feels kind of cold up here.”

Zsigmond’s camera operator Nick McLean elaborated: “There [were] 40 black dancers coming down the staircase and we were pushing the film two stops, force developing it and doing all these tricks, and when we watched the dailies all you could see was 40 sets of teeth coming down the stairs. The black guys just totally disappeared. The result of that was they took Vilmos aside and fired him.”

“They said it was too dark,” Zsigmond stated. “They wanted Funny Girl or Hello Dolly! They wanted the old concept of musicals. They were not interested in art, but in making it safe.”

I liked Mae Questel.

Her name is Bobbie Williams, r129.

Mae...

R131 - Jon Peters, the culprit

[quote]Blake had done a similar part to Rose?

Are we talking Funny Lady or Gypsy?

They replaced Zsigmond with James Wong Howe, the veteran Hollywood cinematographer who won Oscars for "The Rose Tattoo" and "Hud". He was nominated again for "Funny Lady", his last feature, and died soon after. They were both incredibly talented, but Howe was a product of the studio system and Zsigmond had worked with Altman and other younger directors who wanted a different look for their movies. Zsigmond later won an Oscar for "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", but said they had wanted to fire him several times on that movie too.

I always heard that Al Pacino was a favorite for the role but since it was a supporting part, he said no.

I watched Bones but....nope...I don't remember him. I remember the name Epps, but I'm not remembering his episodes.

^oops

[quote]I always heard that Al Pacino was a favorite for the role

WHAT ROLE?

R141 For the love interest in Funny Lady played by James Caan. I've read that as well. It's amusing to imagine Babs and Al working together.

Al was perfect casting for Nicky back in the day just way too big a star for a supporting role.

R143 You mean in 1968? Al was barely a stage actor then. He won a Tony in 1969, got his first leading role in 1971 (Panic in Needle Park), and hit stardom in 1972 (The Godfather.). I do think he would have been a great casting for Nicky in retrospect, don't know about his singing chops though.

Al Pacino was a red hot non-singing actor in 1974. Under no circumstances would he have agreed to do a Streisand musical. And, R142, there was absolutely no talk about him being considered. If you read it in some book, forget about it, it's bullshit.

True, r144. I was thinking of Funny Lady.

Could Paul Newman have worked as Nick? Joel Grey as Eddie Ryan?

Stop, just stop, R147.

Gene Wilder!

James Wong Howe convinced Babs he could achieve good lightening without diffusion. “I’m not using any diffusion, because this is a beautiful lens. It must have cost five or six thousand dollars and it has wonderful resolution. I’m not going to ruin it by putting a $2.50 piece of glass in front of it. I’d rather get the effect with lights.”

He also convinced her that a little extra care with camera angels and ligth would take care of her good side/bad side fixation . She´s filmed from both sides more times than in any other of her films.

Bob Mackie said she had one of the best titts in hollywood and wondered why she didn´t show them more. It did´nt prevent him though to put her in the most unflattering wadrobe of her career.

And that terrible hairdo makes her look like a relative of Yetta and Sylvia Fine in "The Nanny"

[quote]Bob Mackie said she had one of the best titts in hollywood

Which one?

It sucks. The musical sucks. If it wasn’t for Gypsy then MAYBE I would like it better. But as it is, Funny Girl and Gypsy, both are about an awkward girl who climbs to fame in the vaudeville system, and Gypsy does it all better.

[quote]And that terrible hairdo makes her look like a relative of Yetta and Sylvia Fine in "The Nanny"

HAIRDO? Is Streisand's hair present in the film? HA!

Bot Streisand and Shariff have among the best entrances in film history. Streisand in Funny Girl and Shariff in Lawrence.

R151 Oy dearing myself.

SET of tits.

It's not a good stage show either, but it was a hit Streisand vehicle and it hit in both formats.

Funny Girl has the better score. I never want to hear Gypsy again.

The Funny Girl movie is basically like Barbras 60ies TV-Specials only on a cinematic scale.

.....and i like it that way because she got the talent, charisma and voice to pull it off.

If you are familiar with her work over the decades some of it may seem shtick & gimmicks because she has milked the persona and the songs again and again. At the time she gave the audience something groundbreaking, new and fresh in terms what a movie star is.

I also think it was the only time she attended all major premiers of a movie of hers (LA;NY;London,Paris) and looked fab in Scaasi, till Yentl opened.

New York

London

Paris

with Maurice Chevalier as her escort and she was seated at a table with Callas.

Thanks for clips, R159-161. Never saw those before.

I’m listening to “Fucker Face”.

Only two movies have played the Palais Garnier(for one night each) Gance's Napoleon and Funny Girl.

Little Jason almost ruined the Scassi frock with his crayons.

The film was huge hit and the #1 at the BO for 1968 and a Best Picture nominee but, I've tried watching it several times over the years and just can't get into it. It seems so boring. I actually prefer Hello, Dolly!