Product: Funny Girl [VHS] (1968)
Rating: 3.0
Some Good Aspects, Some Not So Good
I have strangely mixed feelings about this movie.As I'm sure you know, this is the first part of the story of Fanny Brice, famous comedienne discovered by Flo Ziegfeld (Walter Pidgeon). She does some great songs, and one totally hilarious scene with the song "His Love Makes Me Beautiful" and a pillow under her wedding gown! Ziegfeld had hired her as a singer, but the audience loved her as a comedienne, so of course she did both.Of course the sets and the costumes are grand, not only in Ziegfeld's Follies but off the stage. The private dining room where Fanny discovers that pate is just chopped liver, and where she figures she's going to be dessert, is red velvet and gold trim, just like those marvelous old luxury palaces in San Francisco.But there's something about the story that bothers me. For one thing, Nick is a gambler, and has never done anything else except breed horses and bet on them, play poker (going on a cruise for the poker games), and wear his beautiful ruffled shirt. So why is he so determined to support his family when his wife is rich? And if he was really determined, why doesn't he accept the offer to manage a club and casino just because Fanny is one of the investors? I guess you'd have to say it's pride, but I can't see that kind of pride being consistent with being a professional gambler.Just before he goes to prison for embezzlement, he tells Fanny to divorce him, because he will never "catch up to her," in the sense of have as much income as she does; be as famous as she is. She says wait until you get back home, and if you still feel that way, I won't fight you. But when he does come back, she tells him she realized he was right. Still, she loves him, and goes out on stage and sings "My Man" with heartbreaking intensity. I guess I just don't understand how the Beautiful People feel.Anyway, it's not a bad movie by any means, and in some ways quite good.