PLOT SUMMARY
Funny Girl, a musical dramatic comedy film directed by William Wyler and produced by Ray Stark in 1968, follows singer and comedienne Fanny Brice, portrayed by Barbra Streisand, on her pursuit of realizing her dream to be a stage performer. In contrast to the female entertainers surrounding her, Fanny lacks the conventional feminine beauty of the early nineteenth century in New York City, with her thin legs and rather large nose. Having acknowledged her physical shortcoming, Brice resolves to appeal to the audience’s sense of humor.
After being fired from a chorus line, she overstates her roller skating ability in order to take part in a disastrous performance that takes a turn for the better when the audience is amused at Fanny’s obvious lack of skill in roller skating. Backstage, Fanny encounters Nick Arnstein (Omar Sharif), a charming gambler who helps the former increase her weekly wage from $25 to $50. She declines his invitation to join him for supper, and she sees him out of the dressing room, believing she will never see him again.
Before long, Fanny’s impressive performances land her a role in the Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld’s show, “Follies,” though she initially loses his favor when she gives the finale number a humorous twist by appearing through the curtains as a pregnant bride. However, the audience’s warm reception of Fanny’s talent and humor prompts Ziegfeld to rescind his hasty decision to dismiss her from the role, and he even grants her creative control of song selections.
Nick appears backstage, once again, and congratulates Fanny on winning over the crowd. He joins her in attending a party, though they depart from the festivities in order to converse in the alleyway. Nick reveals that he never makes concrete plans because he does not like feeling tied down, but he promises to call Fanny when he returns from Kentucky.
After a series of chance meetings between traveling for shows in which Fanny consents to joining Nick for an intimate dinner, she recognizes the strengthened yearning for his constant companionship. Fanny subsequently quits her job, relaying her decision to Ziegfeld through the phone, and swiftly joins Nick on his ship to hasten their wedding.
After the birth of their daughter, Fanny returns to the stage, but Nick had amassed a large debt from gambling to the extent of having to sell his house. At this point, their conflicting passions result in heated disagreements, as Nick prioritizes a poker game over his attendance at Fanny’s opening show. Fanny attempts to assist Nick in alleviating his financial struggles, but he refuses her help and immerses himself in a fraudulent bond deal. When he is caught and charged with embezzlement, he follows his lawyer’s advice to turn himself in.
Nick implores Fanny to give him a divorce, and she suggests that he use his time in prison to reconsider his request. 18 months later, Nick visits Fanny in her dressing room prior to her performance to say his final goodbye, and Fanny acknowledges that she will always love him.
PRODUCTION
With the success of the stage musical, producer Ray Stark sought to create a film adaptation, and casting Barbara Streisand for the lead role had been long established, as she effectively embodied the spirit of Fanny Brice in the stage musical. Despite her lack of film experience, Stark was adamant about Streisand’s participation in the production of the film. Should the endeavor be a success, Streisand would be a trailblazer for the transition from the stage to the big screen.
William Wyler was the second person approached to take on the role of director for Funny Girl, with the first, Sidney Lumet, relinquishing his title due to “creative differences.” In spite of hearing loss and inexperience with directing musicals at 65 years of age, Wyler withdrew his initial refusal after his encounters with the enthusiastic Barbra Streisand. He accepted the challenge of tackling a new area of film in hopes of building a solid foundation for realizing Streisand’s goal of becoming a movie star.
Funny Girl was nominated for a plethora of awards including eight Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and three BAFTA awards, among others. Barbra Streisand won the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy. Funny Girl had catapulted Barbra Streisand’s name in Hollywood, and Fanny Brice remains the most significant role of her film career.
RECEPTION
Top critics on the Rotten Tomatoes website offered reviews of Funny Girl with a common theme of praise for Barbra Streisand’s performance and criticism for the film overall. Reviews from ordinary viewers echoed a similar sentiment of Streisand’s extraordinarily charismatic acting carrying the rest of the film along.
Robert Ebert, an established film critic, emphasizes that the movie was not spectacular and had many flaws. He states, “It is over-produced, over-photographed and over-long… And in this movie, believe me, everyone who ain’t Barbra Streisand is a supporting character.” He notes the negative aspects of the movie which included the drawn out scenes in the second half of the show. It dragged on and the movie began to lose its audience when there were long periods without action. Additionally, Funny Girl mainly focused on the talents of Streisand and her outstanding vocal ability. Like Ebert states, she is able to impress the audience with her skills, but this overshadows the other events and characters in the play. The audience expects Streisand to continuously impress with her performance and interest in the movie is lost beyond that point.
SEMINAR THEMES
The morals and norms of society during the early nineteenth century in New York City were standards to which women were expected to adhere, especially if they sought to be entertainers. The primary reason for Fanny’s first dismissal from her job in the chorus line was her average appearance in comparison to those around her, according to the employer. Fanny describes her own struggle with the metaphor of being “a bagel in a plate full of onion rolls,” demonstrating acknowledgement of the disadvantages thrust upon her by societal norms.
Fanny’s and Nick’s strikingly different lifestyles were prevalent throughout the film, and the consequences of their respective decisions were good indications of whose lifestyle was ultimately more rewarding. Fanny started out believing that a salary of $50 per week made her “practically a millionaire,” and ended up living a life of relative luxury as a result of earnest effort. In contrast, Nick’s tendency to treat everything as a gamble led to the loss of his house as well as a prison sentence. Though Fanny and Nick may have initiated their relationship on common ground, they were on entirely different levels of stability by the time they agreed to go their separate ways.
Works Cited
Ebert, Roger. “Funny Girl Movie Review & Film Summary (1968) | Roger Ebert.” RogerEbert.com. N.p., 18 Oct. 1968. Web.
League, The Broadway. “IBDB.com.” IBDB: Internet Broadway Database. N.p., n.d. Web.
Lennart, Isobel, Jule Styne, and Bob Merrill. “Funny Girl.” Funny Girl (1968) – Rotten Tomatoes. N.p., 12 Mar. 2017. Web.
Passafiume, Andrea, and Frank Miller. “Funny Girl (1968) – Articles.” Turner Classic Movies, Turner Classic Movies, 2005.
Written by Stephanie Tam and Joyce Chan
December 15, 2017 at 11:34 am
I always wondered how Barbara Streisand acted in her famous movies, but I never got around to actually watching them. From your clip I could see why people were obsessed with her. She has this confidence to her that most likely inspired many young women at the time. It is interesting to see how critics responded to this film. Often times, movies include a famous actor in it in order to gain publicity and earn more money. This sometimes results in a weak plot and a strong attention to the famous actor. This is similar to the recent movie “Mother” that starred Jennifer Lawrence. She is an academy award winning actress and the movie was sure to get high ratings because of her. However, critics commented how the only thing good in this movie was Jennifer Lawrence herself.
December 17, 2017 at 5:21 am
Quite a tragic ending, but that seems common in many productions. The whole spiel of how the love between Fanny and Nick not working out doesn’t seem that unique of a story trope anymore. A lot of the films that were discussed in our class revolved around tragic, romantic relationships and such. What struck me different was the funny girl herself. I feel like this was a very progressive film in terms of the image of a woman in show businesses. A lot of the times, women are portrayed to be slim, beautiful, and have a beautiful voice in order to be a successful entertainer, a living doll per-say. But within this film, watching Fanny push through with her raw talent and humor was endearing and reminded me of the progression and development of the “American Dream”, where anyone who works hard enough can succeed.
December 19, 2017 at 4:43 am
Something I found interesting about the plot of Funny Girl is its bringing together of two individuals who are, although wildly different, similar in the sense that they are not “ideal” in the eyes of society.
Fanny and Nick come from completely different backgrounds, and are members of different social classes. Fanny is initially willing to settle for a salary of $25 week, and is convinced that a salary of $50/week makes her “practically a millionaire.” Meanwhile, Nick is a very well-established wealthy man, who is later also able to provide Fanny with life of luxury. In terms of additional differences between the two, Fanny is slightly awkward, self-deprecating, and is able to make a living as being humorous and gaudy. Nick, on the other hand, is a charming smooth-talker, and is able to use that to his advantage in his life.
However, despite their many differences, Fanny and Nick are both flawed in the eyes of society. Fanny doesn’t fit the times’ notion of beauty, and lacks an hourglass figure and shapely legs. Nick is a gambler and is essentially unable to control his addition.
Funny Girl provides viewers with a demonstration of how two individuals who are both not only societal “outcasts” (to some extent,) but who are also incredibly different in many ways, can find happiness together.